Why hello there . . . and welcome!

Hi friends.  Welcome to my blog! 

I've spend a few months writing posts and exploring what it feels like to put my thoughts into words.  But I realized I haven't yet introduced myself or explained what I'm doing here.  So, about that . . . 

 

I'm Adrienne, known to many as AJ.  I was born in the Midwest but grew up in San Diego, California.  When I was 17 I left San Diego to go to college just outside Washington, D.C.  

Lovely San Diego.  Source.

For nearly a decade I had devoted between 3 and 5 hours each day to competitive swimming, and I went to college thinking I would continue competing.  I was an NCAA athlete for barely a hot second before I realized I wanted to devote myself to something else.  Leaving the sport was a huge moment for me, but a great lesson in knowing when to say goodbye.

But without hours of swim practice a day, I had more time than I knew what to do with.  In all honesty, I felt a bit lost.  I didn't have a lot of guidance at that point - personally or professionally - and had no idea what I wanted to major in or what kind of career I wanted after college.  So I took off to Europe for a semester and when I got back I realized I had to pay the bills after graduation.  So I combined my English major and Technical Communication minor to land a writing job in Washington D.C. 

I spent two years working for the American Red Cross, learning and writing about non-profits, biomedical manufacturing, project management and process design. But before that I worked as a sign maker, a waitress in a pizza joint, a gym equipment mechanic, a cater waiter, a bookseller, a department store clothes folder, and an activities coordinator for a hotel. 

Then one day I read an article in the Washington Post about residents of an apartment building who went without heat until almost Christmas one year because their deadbeat landlord hadn't turned on the heat. The residents didn't know that they had a right to a heated apartment in the winter and so they just suffered in the cold.

I was shocked, saddened and confused. During my few years in the adult world I had gotten glimpses of inequality that seemed to stem from some people knowing how the system worked and others not.  That realization lead to my decision to go to law school: I wanted to play in the adult sandbox, and I wanted to learn the rules.  So I returned to California for law school, and have practiced law for the last six years.  

I love this pup!

Along the way I've moved across town and across the country, gotten a dog, had my heart broken, survived my parents' divorce, struggled with six-figures of student loans, fallen in love, got hit by a car (no, really!), gotten married, bought a house, negotiated raises, been passed over for opportunities, changed companies, and realized that my life will always be a work in progress. 

And there is something that keeps knocking at my heart.  It is that version of me just out of college, looking at the world and wondering where I fit into it.  It is the same feeling I had when I read about people without heat in the winter.  It is understanding that there are things about work, life and money that we don't know and sometimes aren't told, but that can change our lives in gigantic ways.  

If there is anything this journey has taught me so far, it is that professional and financial freedom are key to women having healthier, happier and more satisfying lives. Work and money are HUGE components of our lives, but somehow all the schooling we get often fails to really help us out in these areas. It is entirely possible to get all the way through high school and college, and even graduate school, without taking an honest look at what we want out of life and how to go about funding our dreams.  I know, I did it.  

All this led to you and to this blog, where I hope to share and start a discussion about what it takes to build a career and to establish financial independence, and all the crazy things that happen along the way.  

Thanks for reading, I'm so happy you're here!