Becoming a teacher was all that Amanda Smallwood wanted to do. But after 25 years in the classroom, the job she once loved left her feeling drained and uninspired. She wanted to get her spark back while still making a salary that allowed her to support her family. Seeking a creative outlet, she took a food photography class in Boston and began experimenting with making homemade granola.
Sara Michelmore was a medical equity research analyst on Wall Street. Like Smallwood, she felt stuck and decided to make a change. Their stories aren't unique. According to a study by Future Forum, 46% of women report feeling burnt out and say they are looking for a new job for a variety of reasons. To explain this statistic, Brian Elliot, an executive leader of Future Forum, shared that "We conducted at that time a quarterly survey of over 10,000 desk workers around the globe, and asked them a panel of questions. One of them was essentially "are you burned out at work." We then compared answers across populations, and as noted in the results found that women were more likely than men to say they were burned out (46% vs 37%)." he continued by saying, "Women value workplace flexibility more than men. Not just because more often than not, they're the primary caregiver at home, but because working in the office exposes them to more discrimination and bias." Women with young children, having a full-time job, and then having to come home and take care of their children, leave them more stressed and exhausted. The numbers may not reveal the true amount of dissatisfaction. With a tough job market, more people have decided to stay at their jobs they dislike rather than risk being unemployed altogether.
When Smallwood's husband brought some of her granola to where he worked, it was an instant hit, and growing demand inspired Smallwood to turn her hobby into a business. She used her savings to start Maple and Thyme , and felt her spark return. She rented a small kitchen in the building where her husband worked and began making everything herself. She came up with the recipes, baked, photographed, and packaged all her granola. Her house was the studio, the factory, and the storage warehouse. After six years, she quit her teaching job and now sells her granola locally at farmers' markets and to larger companies like T.J. Maxx. Smallwood explained,
"I spent 25 years teaching, and I felt that if I quit, those years would have been a waste. But if I didn't, I would be miserable. I had to make a choice."
Smallwood never went to business school. She didn't have any experience running a business. When others might plan before starting a business, Smallwood made it up as she went. "I didn't go into this business with any strategy or plan," Smallwood said. "It wasn't easy to get the business off the ground. Without my husband's help, I don't know if it would have succeeded. I am extremely grateful for his guidance because now I get to make granola for a living."
For Michelmore, burnout started because she didn't know what she wanted to do with her life. "I spent the first five years of my life after college unsure of what I wanted to do," Michelmore explained. "When I was 26, I was approached for a job on Wall Street and I thought it sounded interesting. I was looking for a new challenge, and I took it." She spent 15 years at her job as a research analyst on Wall Street. During that time, she had three kids. "Every time I would come back from having a baby, I felt like I was starting over with some people," said Michelmore.
"I felt like I was being penalized for taking maternity leave... It was not an environment supportive of working mothers."
Michelmore left her job on Wall Street after 15 years and transitioned into a consulting role for MacDougall Advisors. She spent 10 years in the position, and two years ago, she decided to leave and start Milestone Advisors. Michelmore stated, "The biotech industry was very challenging. I felt like my company lost the big picture, and I realized I could be doing a lot of it myself. So I decided to leave. I started my own company with one other partner. I gave myself six months to gain enough clients to pay my bills, and if I didn't match that, I would stop. Luckily, I was able to meet that goal, and I have continued to add 2-3 new clients every six months for the past two years."
Taking the first step towards change isn't easy. "I was scared of starting my own business; I had no experience," Michelmore said. "But I needed more flexibility in my life and a work-life balance where I could spend time with my kids." "My goal was to find happiness in my career, and I found that," said Smallwood. "It was the best thing I could have done for myself…. My career has been a journey, not all of it was positive, but I ended up where I am supposed to be."
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