For a long time, I wanted more space for my own interests. I wanted to bake, learn more about video editing, and travel. But, work and family didn’t leave a lot of room for hobbies. Most of my life outside of work centered on family, and the things that were just for me were easy to put off.

When the kids were younger, I started baking. I bought cute bags, bakeware, and other things I thought I’d use to give baked goods as gifts. Most of it is still sitting in a cabinet untouched. I couldn’t keep up with baking the way I thought I would, and eventually it became something I did around the holidays. I’d bring an Oreo cheesecake to Thanksgiving dinner and cookies to Christmas brunch.

I made videos for birthdays, graduations, and memorial tributes, playing around with apps and equipment as I put together photographs, music and video for family and friends. I was comfortable making something for people I knew. A larger audience was something different.

I had business ideas too, but whenever I considered a plan, a product, and everything it would take to get something off the ground, it felt like too much. Who had time for that?

Then I was laid off.

The responsible part of me did what made sense and started looking for jobs where I already had experience. But when I saw words like “stakeholder”, “strategy”, “governance”, I tensed up.

It’s not that I didn’t like my job. I just didn’t want to rush back into the stress and the amount of time it required.

At first, I didn’t know what to do with the time I had. It took a month or two before I started to settle into it. I went to the library. I didn’t rush in and out of the grocery store anymore. I played music in the morning, cooked and baked. I wasn’t going from one meeting to the next or trying to squeeze everything into a day that ended with me mentally drained.

Eventually, I started thinking again about the business ideas I’d put aside. Maybe I could start something while I looked for work and see where it went.

That’s where Satchel Lane started. Until then, I’d kept those parts of my life separate. Satchel Lane gave me a place to use them together and share the work beyond the people who already knew me.

I’m still figuring out what it will become and what comes next for me.

Kelly