Foolish Choices

Foolish Choices

In 2020, in the midst of the pandemic, I decided to quit my reliable nine-to-five job. I went out on my own and opened my own law practice. To most people, it was a foolish decision—and indeed, it probably was. I was leaving behind reliability and consistency, not only in work but in income, for uncertainty in deeply uncertain times. I suppose I was searching for freedom. Freedom to work in a way that gave me more agency—to choose my hours, to dictate my time, to not have to ask permission to take a day off.

It wasn’t a decision I made lightly. Entrepreneurship is not for the faint of heart. It can be lonely, stressful, and demanding. I now work more and carry more responsibilities than I did in my old, reliable job. But I’ve gained something I wouldn’t trade for the world: the ability to decide for myself how I spend my day, what cases I take, and what I focus on. More than that, I get to live and truly enjoy the fruit of my labor. I enjoy my time at home—with my children, with my husband—and the time I choose to spend how I see fit.

Foolishness, it seems, follows me. Leaving my stable job wasn’t the only seemingly foolish decision I’ve made in recent years.

In 2022, I decided to publish a book. In it, I share personal experiences from my childhood—experiences of abuse, neglect, and abandonment. Publishing the book cost me some relationships. I lost family members and friends who couldn’t understand why I’d share something so intimate. What a foolish thing to do, right? And yet, I know I’m not alone in my experiences. I believe the words in that book might help someone else.

The foolishness didn’t stop there. In 2023, my husband and I made the decision to homeschool our children. Never in a million years did I think that would be our path. If you’d asked me five years earlier, I’d have called it foolish. Our kids were enrolled in a perfectly good private school. My law practice was doing well. Why disrupt that?

At the time, the decision felt daunting. How would I manage to run a business while homeschooling our kids? Would we regret it?

Now, as we prepare to start our third year of homeschooling and my fifth year of running my own practice, I can say it hasn’t been easy. Every once in a while, I question our sanity. But all of these “foolish” choices have transformed us into a family I never imagined possible. I now have a front-row seat to watch my children grow emotionally, spiritually, and educationally. And I get to live my dream of being an entrepreneur.

It’s not easy. It takes sacrifice. It takes all hands on deck. But I know this is where we’re meant to be.

What seems foolish to others might be exactly what you need to choose. Not for their understanding—most people won’t get it—but to walk out your calling.