How a Six Week Sabbatical Kickstarted a New Version of Me

I sat cross legged on a chair with a conference lanyard still dangling around my neck staring at a blinking cursor. What do you write to share how much you need a sabbatical??

Until this summer, I’d never taken a break from work. A former colleague once described me as an “energizer bunny” for Empower Work 's mission. And I think that’s been broadly true of my professional career. Even at the lowest lows, I’ve been able to power through. I’ve been so passionate about the work, the impact that it’s having, and the course forward, that I’ve always found another gear.

As the cursor impatiently tapped below my rough notes, I was stuck. I wrote, “I’m criticizing myself for not being clear enough in this application which is one of the reasons I think I need this.”

I’m deeply grateful that as another cursor awaits, I’m filled with anticipation for what’s ahead, not angst. And it’s all thanks to a 6 week sabbatical this summer that has kickstarted a new version of me.

A huge thank you to three funders who care deeply about well-being who initiated the pilot sabbatical program that I took part in this summer: All Stars Helping Kids , Silicon Valley Community Foundation , and Satterberg Foundation . The support to have 6 weeks truly and deeply off plus executive coaching for both me and our team, has been a game changer.?

As I reflect on lessons learned, I wanted to share a few here.?

Some takeaways:

• Even Energizer batteries need recharging: I love our mission - and my work. When I started Empower Work, I knew it would be more of a marathon, not a sprint, and I prepared myself. Living and breathing the work in the early days, I tended consciously to recharging myself. But I lost many of my outlets for that renewal amidst the unforeseen challenges of the last three years. I entered the time away with three goals: release, renew, and rejoice. Release what wasn’t serving me. Renew (including all new) practices, connections, and approaches that will help me recharge going forward. Rejoice - create moments of joy with friends, family, and community! And it worked. I feel more energy - and more consciousness of what supports that energy than ever before.
• Our team is focused, impactful, and amazing. In many ways I knew this already going into sabbatical. But it’s different to have a new lens after being away. Everything moved forward - including the most impactful months of 2023 and our 5 years - to date. Our team hired new roles, met with funders, tackled product challenges. And through it, built connections, improved relationships and communications, and took vacations and rested too.
• It takes work to be at a different altitude internally and externally. It’s easy as a founder to default to getting into the nitty gritty of the organizational details. I started Empower Work doing nearly everything - walking posters around San Francisco, setting up Twilio SMS, building a training model. My role and needs for my input have evolved. And what’s needed of me for the next phase of the organization is different internally and externally. Building off that important lens that the team’s "got this" empowers me to focus at the altitudes that will serve the team and our mission best.
• Spaciousness for reflection and visioning is critical. It’s tempting to think about a sabbatical as a time to do lots of travel, tackle every home project that’s been outstanding, push yourself into professional development trainings, or commit to initiatives outside of work. As I prepared to go on leave, my fantastic sabbatical coach asked me what I envisioned for my sabbatical and I ran through a litany of lists. She paused, “it sounds like you’re replacing work with different work.” I was silent. She was right. We narrowed it down to three activities or actions for each of my goals. And ultimately, I didn’t do all 9 of them, and that felt good. And important. What wasn’t on that list? Creating even more space. As Courtney Martin recently wrote in reflecting on a sabbatical she took this summer, “my wholeness is dependent on hearing myself think.” And that was exactly what I needed.
• Patterns take more than 6 weeks to disrupt. Coming back, I planned for a slow ramp up. I envisioned a few weeks when I incorporated new practices, spaciousness, and approaches from the time away. What I didn’t expect? How easily my brain and body wanted to fall back into what it knew. Turns out, deep patterns may get interrupted for 6 weeks, but not fully disrupted without intentional, continued work. I’m deeply grateful for the time to hit pause and the support from the program, coaches, our team, Board, and more to be so intentional when pressing play again.

It felt like a magical gift - and an incredible privilege - to have this time. I hadn’t imagined a sabbatical might even be possible. It was personally and mission critical for me to tend to the business of being human after trying to be super human for the last several years.

Another founder also part of the program, Jacob Martinez of Digital NEST Digital Nest, wrote that the sabbatical changed his life and that it was one of the best decisions he’s made personally, for his family, and for his organization. As I look towards the future at the next 5 years and more for Empower Work - I couldn’t agree more. I’m a new, better version of myself, ready to step into what I need, the organization needs, our team needs, and the workers we support need to change millions more lives.?

Thank you to our incredible team, volunteers, champions, supporters, Board, partners, program coaches, and All Stars Helping Kids, Silicon Valley Community Foundation, and Satterberg Foundation for making this possible. And to my friends and family who I got precious time and support from.

For anyone curious to learn more, think through their own sabbatical, or how we could bring this to more nonprofit leaders, please feel free to reach out.

#sabbatical #mentalhealth #leadership