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From Engineer to Writer Terry’s father was an engineer who wanted his daughter to follow in his footsteps. Without a lot of self-reflection, she did. Over a period of 12 years she developed an ostensibly successful career, but she was miserable. When she received the annual award for “Most Valuable Employee,” she slumped into a depression and came to see me. "How could I get an award for doing something I hate so much?" she lamented. Over the next several months Terry gained clarity about what she loved, what she cared about, what kind of life she wanted and how she wanted to live it. She wanted to write. She wanted to work from home. But how? The engineering job became a stepping stone to the dream. When she quit the job, she became an independent consultant uniquely well qualified to write complex engineering reports and articles from home. Her former employer became her first client. She gradually expanded her client base to include individuals and businesses outside the engineering field in need of a variety of writing services. She began doing special stories for a local newspaper and eventually snagged a daily column. She entered a mystery story contest on the internet and won first prize. She joined the Mystery Writers professional organization and joined a powerful writers group full of writers on the brink of publication. At this point Terry is in year four of a thriving communications business and her first mystery novel is being reworked for publication. She is full of gratitude that she was able to develop the clarity and courage to quit the job that was, in effect, killing her, and move into work that makes her feel as if she is “fully alive.” |
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