Career Suicide?

I’ve never been one to share a lot of my personal life on LinkedIn. But as I face my new reality of an upcoming career change, I realize I have never been a job seeker in a world of social media, at least not outside FedEx. Knowing that most potential employers will do lots of due diligence to research an applicant, I now actually have a platform to share the story of my career trajectory- up, down, and sideways. As a corporate manager for a publicly traded Fortune 50 company, I have always been conservative about my social media presence. But I am now being thrust into a world where I need to build my personal brand. Maybe I will write a book. But until then, I’ll just have to share my short stories here. This is me, being vulnerable, and putting myself out there....

I have managed many different teams over the years – some onsite, some offsite; internal employees and vendors; small teams and large ones – but everyone knew I was a human being who always put my people and customers first. I wasn’t afraid to share details about my life outside of the office. When I first started at FedEx, I was in my 20’s and was practically a baby amongst most of my peers. Most of them were closer to my parents’ ages than mine. I knew I had to prove myself, and I did- becoming a subject-matter-expert across many different functional areas in the customer experience and revenue organizations. I even got the chance to be an expert witness and give depositions. Working with our legal team was among my favorite experiences since I was a pre-law major and had wanted to go to law school. As I reflect on my career at FedEx, I realize how much my life has changed in those 20 years. I adopted my bio-niece, suffered years of fertility issues and a miscarriage at 20 weeks, then had a perfect pregnancy and gave birth to my son whose first name also happened to be my boss’s last name at the time… His name was chosen BEFORE the boss came along, but you can imagine the giggles about that one in the office! I also became a step-mom to a teenage boy whose mom had just died from stage 4 cancer. I’m a mom of three, and each has a different baby momma and baby daddy!! Haha!! I also completed my MBA and survived a divorce, along with the sudden death of my father that happened when I was on a business trip. For most of that time, I worked at FedEx World Headquarters. But after years of balancing being a mom and a career with regular overnight travel, I chose to take a lateral position that wasn’t at headquarters.

Why?? Because I realized that my children were missing out on time with their mom because of my travel schedule and my responsibilities for 24 x 7 staffing coverage. My teenage daughter was struggling at the time and needed me to be there for her. My young son needed his mom home after school. I needed to pivot and take a position with less responsibility and minimal travel, so I did. And with that came a much more present mom who could put my kids first and still maintain a career. That was in 2018, and since then I have missed being involved in big corporate projects and strategic planning. I missed the interactions with VP’s across the company. But I have loved being able to be home with my kids each night.

Then Covid. My entire department went from “never-in-a-million-years can you work from home” to “OMG-GTFO and work from home ASAP” within a matter of a few days. That was four years ago. And since then, I haven’t wanted to give up working from home with no travel for a position that would have guaranteed a full-time return to the office. I did apply for a handful of promotions internally from 2020-2024, but I struggled to even get interviews for internal roles for which I was overqualified. Resume-wise, it looked like I was demoted, even though it was technically a lateral move and was my decision. I basically committed FedEx career suicide that was impossible to recover from, especially while working remotely. But almost 6 years later, I have no regrets. My then teenage daughter is thriving. She is now a junior in college, works full-time at a law firm, and just recently got her first apartment. My son- the one who my coworkers watched grow inside my belly for 9 months– he will graduate from high school in 2025. And my step-son is finishing his second year at a local community college and will be attending the University of Arkansas in the fall. I am a very proud mom of all three. I know I made the right decision.

I wouldn't be who I am without all the smart talented professionals at FedEx. I will be forever grateful for the relationships I developed throughout my career, along with the knowledge and experience I have gained. But now that my career at FedEx is coming to an end, I am an “almost-empty-nester.” I am eager to pivot back into a more challenging role and look forward to what’s next!! If you've read this far and know of a company that could benefit from my knowledge and experience in contact centers, customer experience, process improvement, legal, sourcing, vendor management or contract management, please add me to your network and reach out.