Hey, We Should Connect
Hey, We Should Connect
Take the Lessons, Leave the Baggage
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Funmi is back from hiatus and ready to dive into the craziness that was 2024. On this episode, she explains how she navigated the challenges of stress, career changes, and personal growth in 2024.
The episode explores the impact of layoffs, mental health, and unexpected life events.
Shout out to @nekpenwerks for her incredible coaching work
Connect with Funmi on Instagram @upswingwoman
Overcoming Stress and Prioritizing Health
Speaker 1Welcome to hey we Should Connect, an intimate space for no-holds-barred conversations about growing your network and thriving professionally. I'm your host, fumi Johnson, and I'm so excited to connect with you. Hello everyone, and welcome to hey we Should Connect. I should say Happy New Year I am recording this at the beginning of February and happy new year. I'm so excited to be back on here. I took a break I feel like this is the third break I've taken since I started this podcast but I'm excited to be back. But when I tell you today's recording almost didn't happen, I'm just like what is going on my mic was having issues, audio on my computer having issues. Today was just. I'm just like. I'm determined to be on here today, so I'm glad to be on here again. Technical difficulties today almost it almost didn't happen and I'm actually nervous recording this because any podcaster or content creator or however you want to call it I don't call myself a content creator, but however you want to call it your worst nightmare is for you to do all this work, all this speaking and engaging and at the end of the day, when you're trying to edit or publish, it's nothing. So I'm glad I'm. I'm hoping it works out for us y'all. I'm so glad to be back.
Speaker 1As I already mentioned, 2024 was a crazy year for me. So much going on. So much I shouldn't say going on so much happened in 2024 right around the time that I kind of went quiet, quiet podcasting, and maybe a little bit more quiet social media wise, in terms of my posting, I think I started to focus a little bit more on not focus, but I did a little bit more of just posting on stories, maybe events or whatever it was I was doing at the moment or wanted to share, versus being intentional about my posts. For upswing women For those of you who are new to the podcast, my name is Fumi and I do have my Instagram page is upswing women. I am the founder of upswing women, which is a women's networking group. I will get to that later. But yeah, 2024 was just, it was a lot, it was a lot, and I'm gonna kind of start with the beginning of the year. Actually, I'm gonna take it back to 2023 gosh, this is becoming a reflective episode but I'm gonna take it to the end of 2023.
Speaker 1I was stressed out, so stressed out. At the end of 2023, I went toia for my friend's wedding, which was good. It was a beautiful wedding and it was good to get away. It was a one week trip, seven days, which is a lot considering. I think two, two out of seven days is just for the flight back and forth, but it was good to get away came back and I always I usually always take PTU at the end of the year, like it's one of the things I just do for myself. I always take the last week of the year to kind of reflect, spend time with my family I have young kids spend time with my kids.
Speaker 1But yeah, I came back and I just felt this sense of numb in December 2023, this sense of uncertainty and I'm just gonna put a name on it with work, there was just a lot of craziness going on. I remember having a conversation with my manager at the time and she had a lot of personal things going on. I remember just having a conversation with her and, um, I'm gonna say because I mean this is my podcast, but it was very emotional I was very surprised she I remember having a frank conversation with her in terms of my expectations and how things kind of played out, and she just burst into tears and that was a curve ball for me, because you know people always talk about don't cry at work. I have shed tears at work. I'm not going to lie. I work in finance and I keep saying I work in finance because that's all I know, but it's a very intense environment and I wore. I have worked for some of the largest banks, so it's even crazier. I work in regular reporting, or my background has been in treasury, regular show reporting, so it gets very, very intense. And so if you haven't shed tears, if your, if your, if your blood pressure hasn't gone up, it it's a crazy environment. I mean it's, it's fine and so it's rewarding, but it can be very, very intense.
Speaker 1Anyway, back to my story december 2023. I promise I'm gonna try not to be all over the place. It was crazy and and I remember thinking to myself, oh my God, when she started crying, I'm like, oh my God, what is happening right now? Because this is somebody I feel like if that was me shedding tears, the reaction would have been maybe pull yourself together. So that threw me for a curve ball and we ended up talking and a lot of the stress that I was under obviously she was also under because she's a higher level up and we spoke a lot about how it was affecting our personal lives. I'm gonna be honest on this podcast 2023 was crazy and again, a lot of that craziness to put a name on it was work.
Speaker 1What stressed me to the point where there was one day I actually ended up in the hospital, in the emergency room and I am comfortable to say, because I think it's something that needs to be said, and I have spoken to a few people that have shared the same situation. I have an ex-colleague that ended up being so stressed out with work, ended up in the ER and just you know, a lot of health situations. And for me, before I ended up in the ER, I can't remember when I was in the ER. I think it may have been November, it had to have been November, maybe, maybe and my dates might be off it might be November 2023. I didn't tell I oh my god only maybe like two people, maybe three people know this. My family doesn't know this. So, um, mommy, if you're listening to this podcast, I'm okay. I promise that was three years ago, a year and a half ago, almost.
Speaker 1Anyway, it was just one of those things where I was stressed out. It was a ridiculous day. And like everything I work I work in finance we're not saving lives. I keep saying it we're not saving lives. It's not like, if something happens, like we're not dealing with nuclear codes or whatever, but the environment is constantly like I want a thousand percent out of you. Yesterday and if you don't do it, this bill, like like everything is finished.
Speaker 1And for me personally, I know when I'm getting to that point where I'm getting ready to break, just because I have, in the last few years, I went through a lot of craziness, which a lot of people who know my personal story know. And my body, my body, is my biggest, you know, indicator of when I'm stressed out. So my body tells me, my chest tells me. So, leading up to that incident, my body, I was starting to have chest pain and I'm starting to know for me okay, we're getting there, we're getting there, we're getting there. I'm like no, no, no, I'm gonna manage this, we're not gonna get there. We're not gonna get there.
Speaker 1To cut a long story short, it happened at work, I don't know. Panic attack, anxiety attack, whatever you want to call it. I ended up in the er. I ended up. I'm gonna try and wrap this up ended up in the er. They ran all the tests in the world, all the tests, and of course, it's stress. It's stress, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, it's stress.
Speaker 1And I'm glad that I'm talking about this, even though I don't think this is the direction I was gonna go when I started this podcast, because I feel like stress. Yes, this month February, heart Health History Month women stress stress will kill you faster than so many other things. I don't have stats right now, but I feel like stress is one of those things that is a health issue that nobody takes as seriously as other health conditions. But one thing with stress is, if you already have underlying stress on health conditions, stress will further accelerate it and if you don't, stress will give you problems if you don't address it. I can tell you, um I I. You know I'm not gonna make this that podcast, because that's a whole other episode, but I can list out all of the health issues that I went through at the moments in my life when I was the most stressed out. So, to bring it all back december 20 this is before december 23, 23. So I'm having that conversation with my manager at the end of 2023 and she's relating, she's telling me how she also ended up in the hospital, you know, and all the stuff that she's dealing with, and I'm ending this year, 2023, and starting january 2024.
Speaker 1Like this cannot be life. Like this cannot be it. Something has to change. But I'm like I don't know what's going on. There was just this sense of uncertainty and I started 2024. I remember the word for the year. I'm religious, I'm a Christian, I go to church. The word for the year from my church was that it was going to be a year of firm foundation, and immediately the word came out, I just knew something was about to happen. The beauty of everything that I've gone through in my like, in my trying times of the last five years, is that I've gone so close to god that I I feel like god prepares me for when something is about to happen. So it's the beginning of 2024 and I just know something is about to happen.
Speaker 1I remember being in church. There's a song by maverick city no, not maverick city, it's by cody khan's god, I hope I'm not messing it up cody khan's and sean chandler more. Christ is my firm foundation, beautiful song, beautiful, beautiful song. Christ is my firm foundation, the rock on which I stand and that's our theme for the year in 2024. So we're singing it a lot in church and everybody's caught up in the moment and raising their hands and I'm looking around like you have no idea what you're singing about.
Speaker 1First of all, if Christ is your firm foundation, the rock on which you stand, it means that there might be something that might need some foundation right, and so I think that I kind of had that sense that this is going to be one of those years where I'm going to have to hang on. I'm going to have to hang on tight, meaning the wind is going to blow, something is coming, and so I'm going to have to anchor myself and hang on tight, meaning the wind is gonna blow, something is coming, and so I'm gonna have to anchor myself and hang on tight. Anchor is a very, very important word for me. It's something that I've learned in the last how many years. I love that word so much that when I was designing um my putting together my bookshelf I have this really nice book shelf in my room I have an anchor. I actually bought an anchor because it just reminds me that, no matter what life, um happens in life, just to stay anchored. Anyway, you know, I'm just getting that sense january, february that something is about to happen this year and I'm going to need to hang on tight.
Speaker 1For a lot of people, not just me, 2024 was rough and I have to acknowledge that as rough as it was for me, it was rougher for a lot of people that I know, and when I say rougher, I mean that personal loss, loss of loved ones. I didn't lose anyone. Um, I did lose. I don't want to say I lost. There was, I'm gonna get to that. Hopefully I get to that. Um, you know someone that was in a class that I teach passed away very, very suddenly and it shook me. But outside of that, I do want to acknowledge that when I say 2024 was rough for me, I know that it was rough for a lot of people. It was rough but it was. I was centered and I was anchored and at no time did I feel, um, like what am I gonna do with my life? Or like I'm life is falling apart. No, it felt necessary, which is weird. It felt necessary. So, january, february, I remember even calling somebody and, you know, telling him I had this sense that 2024, and like a week after that conversation, the first boom hits I get laid off work. And it was so interesting because Gosh, I'm going in deep on this episode. It was so interesting because I remember thinking to myself oh my God, this is happening to me.
Rediscovering Self During Unemployment
Speaker 1I walked through some major craziness for different organizations. I walked through, I started my career, my career full-time career around the financial crisis, right. So I had a full-time offer before the financial crisis of 2008. And I remember a lot of my friends. Their job offers were rescinded or they lost jobs and I I've worked for some of the top banks that have had layoffs. I've walked through different reorgs and this has never happened to me. I have. I don't remember thinking, oh my god, I've never been laid off, you know. So I'm, in a way, I'm glad that it knocked me off. It knocked me down right, because I'm just like what? I've never been laid off. I've, I've always been safe pride, so I'm glad that that happened. And, um, so I went through that shock of like this is way, and it's kind of like I almost like you see something happening but you're like wait, what? So that was that was one thing. Um, yeah, the. The second thing was I'm not going to lie, it was a breath of relief because losing my job was one of my biggest fears, longer fear.
Speaker 1But I'm not going to talk about the past because it involves more than just me. I'm going to talk about post-divorce. Obviously, I'm a single mom. I am a single mom. I have two kids and so for me, once I filed my divorce, in my head it's always been okay for me it's just you. Now it's just you and these kids. You got to get it together. Not that I didn't have it together, meaning I felt like I was my own. You know, plan a, b, c, d and e.
Speaker 1And so losing my there was always, like, in whatever I did, there was always that sense behind me that you cannot lose your job. You have to. You know, I remember, you know, even when I bought my house, thinking for me, it's just you, it's just you. If anything happens, it's just you, it's just you, it's just you. So when I lost my job, there was a part of me that was like OK, now you've lost the job, and then what? And then what? So there was that sense of relief. I'm going to be honest and say, thankfully I did have a little bit of a cushion. Um, I had some cushion. I, you know, my, my, I, I. It was a layoff, so I had a what's the word? What's the word? I had severance, I had a severance package and I had all of that. And after going through my period of okay, this is happening, this is real I remember I actually cried, I cried, I cried and then I was pissed off too. I was so pissed off because I did the most, I did the most and I'm like what Excuse me. So, um, so, again, all of the emotions. But once that got away, it put me back.
Speaker 1My mind went back to 2023 not even just 2023, yes, 2023. Um, I remember there was one episode I have to go back and see what episode it was. I had interviewed a friend who had gone on a sabbatical and I remember thinking to myself oh my God, I need this, I've needed a sabbatical, and the sabbatical has been on my mind since 2021. And when I had this conversation with my friend, I remember saying I'm going to start saving for sabbatical one day. I'm going to start saving. I'm going to start saving for sabbatical one day. I'm going to start saving. I'm going to put together a sabbatical saving fund Fast forward.
Speaker 1I think even at the end of that 2023, I remember saying God, I was so exhausted, I was so exhausted. I remember one day I take the train to work. Well, I used to take the train. Now I take the train to work. Um, well, I used to take the train, now I take the bus. I got off the train, got in my car at the train station and I was so tired I think I started crying and I was just like god, I am so exhausted, I am so exhausted, I am so exhausted, I just need a break. I just need a break.
Speaker 1Anyway, the bread came. It didn't come in the package that I wanted it, but came in um, what's that word? Unemployment? I'm glad I can laugh about it now, but I, yeah, I got three months of not working and, oh, I've fast forwarded. But, yeah, once I got three months of not working and oh, I've fast forwarded. But yeah, um, once I got over my emotions, I started to really lean into it, the first thing that I did. It's so funny.
Speaker 1I'm going to go back. I'm so sorry I keep going back and forth, but I remember 2023, or maybe 2022. I think I was working with a coach. I worked with a coach for a year on better up um, really, really, really amazing coach. And I remember talking about wanting a sabbatical and he asked me a question. He's like, okay, great, everybody wants a sabbatical. If you got a sabbatical, what are you? I'm like, I'm like I'm gonna travel and I'm gonna anyway, I couldn't. I remember him challenging me like you say you need a break, you say you want a sabbatical. What are you gonna do? Are you just gonna do the less of what you're doing or more of what you're doing? Or you're just, what are you gonna do?
Speaker 1So, bringing it back again to 2024, summer of 2024, I am out of work and I'm realizing like, oh, spring into summer. I'm realizing, oh yeah, I prayed for this thing and I didn't make a plan for it, because obviously I was not hoping to get a break this way. And I'm saying this to say a lot of times we make plans or we have dreams, or we have prayers and we're saying this is where I want to get to. For example, I want to get a million dollars. Okay, great, million dollars. And so I can. My challenge to you is whatever it is that you want for yourself, whatever it is that you're hoping for, that you're looking for. Complete the sentence, complete the paragraph. I want this so that I can this.
Speaker 1So, in my head, I was tired, I wanted a sabbatical, but I didn't make plans because, um, first of all, I wasn't expecting it to happen like that. So I think that for the first you know maybe, month, I just went through the motions. I slept more well, not really. I have young kids so well, younger kids, so still had to get, get them up and get them ready. I was, you know, now able to pick them up from school, from from afterschool activities. My kids have had a lot of afterschool activities.
Speaker 1So I'm having to do a lot of the things that, um, you know, just day-to-day things. I'm doing groceries more, I'm cooking more and this is how I spend majority of, like the first chunk of my uh, I don't know why I keep calling it sabbatical of my not working. You know, I'm just like what is going on? And my kids? All of a sudden, it's like my kids know I'm home and so my son is getting, I'm getting called from my son's school. He's not feeling well, he forgot his lunch, all of these different things, and I'm just like, seriously, if I was in the city, would all of this have happened? So this is not happening because, yeah, okay, this is what we're doing, um, but I'm just my point with all of this is that I spent, yeah, so I did rest. Um, I don't know what I did. I think I just I did a lot of house things, um, and I think it was somewhere in the middle of it where I realized you know what, for me, this is such a unique opportunity that you have. I don't know the next time I'm gonna get three months, quote unquote, paid, because I was still getting, you know, I had my severance package. I don't know when this is going to happen.
Speaker 1So I started to live for me. I started to really enjoy it. Only a few people knew that I was out of work, but I started to do the things for myself. I started to go out, started to spend more time to actually enjoy and to be able to feel rested. My point was I did not want to, because I knew this was temporary. I was obviously applying for jobs. I was interviewing, which is work on its own. Oh, my goodness, it is work on its own. Having to apply for jobs and interviewing. That was a very interesting experience on its own. Having to apply for jobs and interviewing, that was a very interesting experience on its own.
Speaker 1Just, I worked with a coach shout out to neck man. She coached me, helped me, um, on the job, career front, just to be able to prepare myself I feel like I hadn't interviewed. Okay, fine, maybe it wasn't a while, um, but just to be able to help me on that front, my resume and all of that, you know, trying to keep active and then figuring out what it is I wanted to do and just be able to design what my next role was going to look like. I didn't want to, just actually I needed employment. But, you know, just being able to say I'm like what do I want for myself and what do I want my next role to look like. Because, I'll be honest with you, my last role that I got laid off from, I thought I was gonna be there for a while. I actually thought that I was going to be there for a while. So even when some crazy stuff was happening, it frustrated me, because I'm like, I actually like this company and I want to be there for a while. So even when some crazy stuff was happening. It frustrated me because I'm like, I actually like this company and I want to be here for a while. So all of the shenanigans is just stressing me out. But, um, yeah, so I I did a lot of work to figure out what I wanted, a lot of.
Speaker 1There were times where I feel like I went on interviews where I knew maybe this wasn't quite it, but let's see, for example, I interviewed with a startup and I interviewed with a startup and I'm saying this I feel like I'm touching on different things, but I'm saying this about just learning to not compromise. I am working on this y'all. I am working on learning not to compromise on what it is that I want. And one of the things that I didn't want was that I was obviously I'm hybrid and I wanted to maintain hybrid. So when I interviewed for this startup, I got to talk about this. Oh my God, I interviewed for this startup, smaller company, it's a startup. So obviously there's risk on my part.
Speaker 1And one thing about me is your girl likes stability. We'll talk about that in another episode but I love stability and God help me because I like stability. But I love stability and God help me because I like stability. I like stability. I don't. My chest cannot take unstable circumstances, so I'm learning. I'm learning to be less risk adverse.
Speaker 1I was just talking to someone about this like a couple of days ago, but it was a startup number two five days in the office. Excuse me, in the year of our lord 2024, five days in the office. Why am I still talking to these people took the first interview and that's my problem. I always end up liking people and so I took the first interview and I'm like you know what, maybe this will be an opportunity to challenge myself and because it's a startup, you get to grow with the company. It's obviously more of a leadership role, but there's five days in the office. We gotta talk about that.
Speaker 1Uh, complication number three the compensation was much lower than even where I was coming from, so I'm just like it was. At this point I should have ended, ended it right. No, but I enjoyed, I actually enjoyed. I get really into things. That's my problem, like in interviews, like when I'm talking about, kind of like the vision of the company and where we could take things like my personality is I like to be a problem solver, so when I'm having those discussions and I'm like gosh, I really cannot wait to jump in here and let's do this. So that's why I'm explaining myself, why I took interview number two.
Speaker 1I remember talking to my friend and she's like why, what, why, why, why, first of all has, why it wasn't even money has those five days in the office. But jokers. I always say I'm like, okay, we can, we can talk about that, we can talk about that, let's see. But lower compensation to be fair, it was a lower base, low is one of those things where, well, well, when you think of the fuller package with equity, blah, blah, blah, blah blah.
A Year of Challenges and Triumphs
Speaker 1But my point saying this is there's always going to be times where you have to make sacrifices, where you have to sacrifice in the short run for the long run. Meaning you, if you are going the startup route, you know that the returns in the immediate might not be, um, it might not be it, but in the long run you win big or you win bigger. There's going to be situations like that. But watch out for those situations that are not like that from the beginning, meaning, okay, I wasn't trying to be a career coach here, but meaning it is a trash offer. It is a trash offer and I'm not just talking monetarily and I'm not talking about jobs. I'm talking about even with people, even in situations we put ourselves, we and what am I saying? We I, for me, lio have put myself in situations where I know that this is trash. Oh my god. We have put ourselves in situations where it's trash, and we know it Again, I'm putting myself on the block. It's trash, it's trash, you know. You can dress it up, but the offer is trash. You can dress it up, but the offer is trash, the relationship is trash, the situation is trash. Yeah, so that was that, um, and at the end of the day, they were slow and it's one of those situations where they didn't get back to me. Eventually they passed on or whatever. And I'm like, excuse me, I remember I think it was the second or third interview, interviewing with somebody else that was on the leadership team, and he's like well, your background isn't something different. And I'm looking at him like, excuse me, I'm like I know you're not talking about me right now, first of all, anyway, sorry, I digress. And um, yeah, so that was that.
Speaker 1On the job front, um, there was another job where the person knew my previous my, my previous boss. It was an odd interview. First of all, I think that interviews I could have a whole episode on interviews. Maybe that's what I should do. I should have a separate episode on interviews.
Speaker 1I think that people can be very disrespectful now if I took my time to apply for this job and you took your time, or whoever it is, scanned my resume, saw my background. First of all, you can read and I'm not saying this to brag you can read, you can see my background, you can see my experience. And then you come to that interview and have an attitude. I have a problem with that. Um, I'm obviously gonna honor the interview and, you know, put my first face forward instead of just being like can we just wrap it up here? But so he had a little bit of an attitude, which for me is already red flag number one, two, three and four of trying to walk in this situation.
Speaker 1And you go into those interviews where they're already stressing that it's going to be hellfire, the job is going to be hellfire. Thank you for letting me know. And then in the conversation we happened to find out that the person he knows my previous manager, and then he spent like, maybe like the last third of the interview, just asking me about the guy. I'm like what is going on here, anyway? So that went to trash. And I'm glad that I'm talking about this because a lot of times people see me, I've seen people talk to people who have gone through job search situations and they're like, oh my god, I've interviewed so much and I'm not saying it to mock anyone, I'm just saying it that you can feel like, oh my god, I've been through so much and nobody's calling me back. What is going on? Is it me? It's so frustrating. Look, all you see is the jobs and the job offers. You don't see the in between.
Speaker 1Granted, this was a little bit difficult, different for me, because this was the first time that I was looking for a job, maybe first, okay, first ish time that I was looking for a job without already having employment, so previously. Sometimes it's taking me up to a year or more to get a new role and let me be honest about that, it's taking me. I mean, the good thing at those times was I already had a job. So you know, it bothered me, but it didn't bother me as much because but it still bothered me, because obviously there's a reason why I'm trying to leave this job. I'm trying to leave whatever it is. So if it's taking longer, it's frustrating, but I'm saying that to say it's not always a smooth process. No matter how high, low, whatever you are, it's not always a smooth process. No matter how high, low, whatever you are, it's not always a smooth process. But ultimately, I did get a job. I did start, um, I switched roles, uh, meaning I said I, I I'm doing something a little bit different. It's still the same world, but a little bit different, which is good, and that's on that.
Speaker 1I am not going to say too much about the job. I think that, at the end of the day and the whole scope of things, I've learned a lot of things. I think that I'm always going to be who I am in terms of giving my best, putting my best foot forward. It's not about the company, it's about me and the quality of my work. It's about my integrity and all of that. So maybe there was a part of me that wanted to be like bump this. I remember all the times that I gave the most, and how did that end up? No, I think that you know, you do what you can. You connect with people the way that you can. You know there may be a part of me that was bitter about my old role, even about the people and all of that stuff, but you can't take baggage from old. You take lessons, you don't take baggage. You take lessons, you don't take baggage. So I'm in a good place and I don't think it's just about the job. Yeah, I think I'm in a better place. Everything is going okay, it's going well, it's going good. That's the most I'm gonna say. Again, it's work. It's one aspect of my life. My career is one aspect of my life and as much as as I am all about career growth that's why I started this podcast is to be the best in everything that we do and to thrive, including thrive financially, and so that's gonna be it.
Speaker 1On talking about that, um, that was not the only crazies of 2024, mind you. When I say I'm ending this like, okay, you lost your job, all of that build up was just to say you lost your job. No, 2024 was crazy for me. I got into. I'm just gonna share some of it.
Speaker 1I got into two car accidents in 2024. Like I totaled two, two cars. I was driving three cars in the year 2024. I came three cars how is that possible? And in one of them my son was with me. It was so crazy and you know, I it was such a learning thing for me too, because you know, sometimes, like when I'm driving, like previously, when I'm driving and someone is driving rough close to me, I'm just like, hey, if you hit my car sorry, I'm getting into my Nigerian accent If you hit my car, hey, you're in trouble. Because, in fact, but no, no, no, no, no, no. Now when I drive, I'm like, please, don't hit, don't hit me, please, please, because you do not come out of it unscathed. You do not come out of it unscathed, financially and otherwise, because I went my, I was driving, I was in a good place, I paid off my car, I was doing good. I was like, but anyway, that's, that's another long story. But I totaled a car twice.
Speaker 1I remember the second one that I totaled. I totaled it in front of my house. I was pulling into my house and this guy who was not paying attention just ran into me and I just burst into tears. I just burst into tears. The officer came and he's like are you okay, ma'am? And I just burst into tears because I just burst into tears. The officer came and he's like are you okay, ma'am? And I just burst into tears because I'm just like what is going on? What is going on? And I think the second thing that kind of made me emotional I'm sharing so much on this episode, oh my God. The second thing that made me emotional was I got out of my car.
Speaker 1I remember picking up my phone and thinking who do I call? Who do I call? Like I think my brain, just you know who do I call? And that's the reality of being a single mom, of being a single parent. Not to say that I don't have amazing people, because I know some of my people will listen to this call and be like, excuse me, as my daughter will say, am I a mosquito to you? Um, but I think in that moment I just felt like who will come and save me, who will come and help me? Who is the person that I can call and just figuratively just say here, take this and deal with this, because I just can't. And that's the reality of being a single parent that I am just touching on. Who did I call? Ultimately, I called my brother, who lives six plus hours away from me to be like I got in an accident. Um, and a lot of my friends, my mom friends like they're rolling their eyes. I, I know two of them called me like excuse me, why didn't you call me? Um? But yeah, 2024, that was it. It was. It was crazy.
Speaker 1He ended on a beautiful note, though. I got to see my my wonderful, amazing and incredible friend get married to the love of her life, and I went to nigeria again. I remember telling my manager he's like I'm still telling him. You know I had been the previous year for a wedding. So he's like oh, maybe the next wedding you're going to Nigeria for is going to be your wedding. I don't know about that. This is me laughing. Um, maybe sometime in the future somebody will pull this laugh back. You know, like, if you're really, if you're a Christian, you know the story of Sarah, where the angel comes and says you're gonna have a baby, and she's laughing. Yeah, I feel like that's what this laughter is right now. But, yeah, 2025 ended on a great note. I have family around. That was amazing. I had family, it was good.
Speaker 1And 2025, oh, my God, I love it. I love it so far and I don't know what this year has in store. I don't know all that. You know it is our year of open doors again. You know 22, uh, my church, 2025, our year of open doors, and I'm really, really hopeful for this year. I'm believing that. Opportunities that's what I'm most looking forward to this year's new opportunities. I'm looking for opportunities for growth, opportunities to experience new things.
Speaker 1As far as my goals, let me tell you what I did for my goals. I dusted off my 2024 goals and I edited them. So my 2024 goals are my 2025 goals because, look, I'm all about simplifying it One two. I'm all aboutifying it one two. I'm all about, instead of just constantly building new things, building new things, the old things that you listed for yourself what have you done with them? So I'm going, I went through those goals and I'm like, okay, did this, could do better, could do more of this? Didn't do this? Okay, we need to do that. That's my goals for 2025 is a copy and paste of my 2024 goals, and I'll say that unashamedly, because there was a lot on that list that your girl did not accomplish and so this 2025, those doors better be popping open. They better be popping open.
Speaker 1Anyway, thank you guys so much for listening to me. I am back. I am back. Pray for me, people Pray for me, but I'm back. I'm so glad to be on here. This was a very this was a little bit deeper than I thought it was going to be, but and please, once I put this, forgive me for any technical difficulties, because the weapons of technical and microphone issues were forming, were forming, so hopefully they do not prosper and this ends up being a good episode with no major audio issues have a wonderful, wonderful day. It is Black History Month, so whoop, whoop, whoop, whoop no major audio issues. Have a wonderful, wonderful day. It is black history month. So it is what else? Heart health history month. Ladies, men, please take care of your hearts, please take care of your hearts, please take care of your hearts and I know it is valentine's month, so so, yeah, take care of your hearts. Thank you for listening, for listening to this episode. Don't forget to subscribe, like and comment. Hey, we should connect. Find me on instagram at upswing women.