I’m so excited to share that as of earlier this month, I’m officially the National Director of Leadership Giving with JDRF! I am thrilled that I get to bring my personal and professional experiences together to work on finding a cure for Type-1 Diabetes (T1D).
The journey over the past 15 months has been a rocky one, with Covid impacting every area of our lives (and those of the lives of everyone we know). While my career transition included a lot of heartache, I was able to immerse myself in being home with Wes and Mimi.
Each day (at first with 100% online learning, then later with hybrid in-person school) I was Mimi’s learning partner. We read together, did math together, played outside together…time I wouldn’t have had otherwise with this amazing little person. Her first-grade year was nothing like we imagined but was filled with fun and adventures that we will treasure. Similarly, for Wes, his freshman year allowed us to see how strong he is – as a student, an athlete, and a young man. He amazed me with his commitment to doing well in his classes, and not once did he miss a zoom class, assignment, or check in with his teachers. He showed up and tried hard. I’m very proud of my kiddos for all that they accomplished during a crazy, uncertain year.
For me, I had the chance to examine what matters most. As I started thinking about my next career, I realized that I wanted to take the time to really understand my values, strengths, and vision for what I wanted in my work. I reached out to Linda Glass, a former Starbucks colleague and now an amazing coach (who often works with people like me who are exploring big career moves). Linda’s process allowed me to take inventory of my life, my work, and where I wanted to go. It prepared me for the job search process and reinvigorated my sense of purpose. And it helped me navigate the rocky waters of finding my dream role. I’m grateful to Linda and her process – it worked wonders!
As I was deeply steeped in my job search, I watched an amazing film about the author Amy Tan, “Unintended Memoir”. In it, she talks about her life, and shares information about her book, “the Opposite of Fate”. I couldn’t stop thinking about this idea – that it isn’t fate that drives us, but something so much deeper. I thought of our life with Hannah, and with T1D and the role it plays all day, everyday with our family. As described by a review of Amy Tan’s work, they summed it up:
What is The Opposite of Fate? For Amy Tan, the opposite of fate is “choice, chance, luck, faith, forgiveness, forgetting, freedom of expression, the pursuit of happiness, the balm of love, a sturdy attitude, a strong will, a bevy of good-luck charms, adherence to rituals, appeasement through prayer, trolling for miracles, a plea to others to throw a lifeline, … the generous provision of that by strangers and loved ones”, and, above all, “hope”.
It is this hope that has driven me through the past decade…from the heartache of loss, to the joy of birth, and through all the highs and lows of being human. I also believe firmly that it is this hope that has landed me exactly where I need to be for my work – partnering with donors and scientists to create a world where no one has to worry about T1D.
From improving lives to accelerating cures, JDRF is on a mission and I am thrilled to be a part of creating a future without T1D. I know it isn’t fate that brought me here. HOPE. It is hope.
