what do you want to be when you grow up

When I was little I wanted to be Walter Cronkite. And then Connie Chung. Then Blondie, Dorothy Hamill, John Hughes and Tootie (from Facts of Life). And with each new person/career I would imagine what my office would look like. My Walter Cronkite office had wall to wall bookshelves and a big mahogany desk. My Tootie office had awesome 80's blinds and a neon sign over my bean bag chair.

Sarah Richardson

My choices might have been... unique, but I think I went about discovering those options the same way everyone does - you see people you like/admire doing things you think look interesting. (or in Tootie's case - people who's skates your admire). Seems like a very logical way to discover and develop your path.

The bummer of all of this though is that when you are encouraged to pick your life's profession, you have yet to meet a quarter of the interesting or admirable people you will encounter in life. Eighteen years old is damn early to make such a decision. I liked to write, so Journalism school it was. I imagined a cluttered dorm full of old books and a bulletin board with all my articles and contacts. Very Woodward and Bernstein.

domino

And while I certainly do love to write, media wasn't my passion. But I stuck with it. I'm stubborn and I had made up my mind - journalism damn it. That is a real job.

I graduated and landed in the tech world just as it was bubbling. I was good at my job and got an apartment filled with the things I thought a young person on their own would have in their first place. Ala early Carrie Bradshaw. I wasn't particularly passionate about my work, but man did I love my apartment.

via

It wasn't until my girls came and I got an old stack of childhood books from my mom that I began to put it all together. All of my favorite books had a common thread. I couldn't have told you the plot in most of those stories, but I could describe to you how each room looked. I got the movies I loved to watch so I could share them with the girls and again, I realized that the movies I loved were not about the stories, but about the interiors. Pollyanna - kinda boring but damn I loved her Aunt's house. The walk in closet in E.T. was about the best thing I'd ever seen with that octagon window and the banquet in the kitchen with those awesome Levolors - loved it.

And once it finally clicked, I couldn't be stopped. All the research and studying I'd done 'for fun' for decades was paying off.  I started to take clients here and there and developed enough of a base that when the opportunity arose, I took my leap. I was able to become what I had always wanted to be, if only I had listened to myself. Sometimes it takes a while for your head to catch up with your soul.

Over the past few months I've experienced several growing pains in my little business which is, as my favorite boss would say, a good problem. But even with the stress and struggle, I really do FINALLY love what I do. I'll share more over the coming weeks about all the good things bubbling up, but for today, I just felt like sharing.

So on St. Patrick's Day this Irish girl considers herself lucky to have finally found out what she wants to be when she grows up.

What about you? Do you know what you want to be? Are you doing what you love?