Advice: Logic Doesn’t Always Apply
Jennifer Van Buskirk
EVP & GM Mid-Markets, AT&T Business – Connecting people to greater possibilities with simplicity, expertise, and inspiration | Leadership | STEM | Innovation | Culture
“Step away from the spreadsheet.” I recall my husband, exasperated, saying these words to me as we started family planning as a young couple. After weeks of analysis and financial modeling, I was having trouble calculating how we could make ends meet with a baby in the mix. Diapers, baby food, clothes, child care…who could afford all this?? What if I lost my job?? How do I tell my boss??
I was in my full Engineer glory, thinking through every possible scenario and financial implication of our choices. My husband had done none of this… but he was right (he usually is).
What he was leaning on, that I was not… was intuition and the big picture. He looked around and saw that people in every walk of life – from rich to poor - were finding a way and thriving with their new bundles of joy. He saw parents gainfully employed all around us. He saw friends and neighbors, even strangers in the park, overwhelmed by love for their family additions. They were finding a way; we could too.
With my husband’s encouragement, I stopped sweating the details and agreed it was time. It took longer than we expected to have our first child, and the timing wasn’t perfect. I will always share a special bond with the supportive people at work (and at my MBA program) who knew me when I was walking around the halls 9-months pregnant.
Looking back, my husband gave me one of my life’s greatest gifts. I learned a valuable life lesson and picked up two of the most incredible blessings – our amazing children.
For all my fellow analytical thinkers out there, don’t miss the big opportunities ahead. Sometimes you need to rely on your instincts, look up, and see the big picture. Sometimes the best things that happen in your life (and your career) can be far from logic and reason. Sometimes you just need to step away from that spreadsheet and just find a way to welcome what can’t be planned.
#UnusualAdvice
President at Northampton Growth LTD
7 年I agree! We are all humans and we have lots of expectations but also have many unexpected events as well. So stick to plans but have fun and tak one day at a time.
Client Director at Konsileo. Commercial Insurance Specialist. 07597951454 or [email protected].
7 年Reading this reminded me of when me and my husband first thought about having children. Yes, everything does work out because we make it work out. We step out of our comfort zone and tap into a source of energy and power which comes together simultaneously to create the most amazing experiences and life lessons which we could not even have imagined!
President Hansen Office Solutions Inc. Previously Manager Executive Support AT&T Services Inc, Entrepreneur and Real Estate Investor.
7 年I love that story! I was the same way, waiting until I felt we could afford to start having a family. It was my Sister who said to me "if you wait until you can afford to have children , you'll never have them!" Like your story that was enough for me and we started our family. Today we have 5 children and 5 grandchildren and 2 more due soon! We managed through it all just fine! Some years were tougher than others to make ends meet, but we always managed. Looking back I'm so glad my Sister gave me that advice.
Systems Engineer at AT&T Technical Services Company, Inc
7 年absolutely, we all have a 6th sense, usually better developed in women.
MD - Pathologist / Chief of Diagnostics at Retired, Enjoy helping others
7 年Certainly agree. Sometimes logic is the thriving force that takes you far in off to the point of no return. it could mean success or failure. it doesn't matter because what you have learned in the process is what is important in life.