Chapter 12: My Life In Business - Going Home (2014)

My life as Co-Founder of Thirty-One

20 chapters from my 20 years

Including never before shared stories

The year 2014 brought another big change for me and my family. The business was still going great and yet I was having doubts about what our future as a family in Columbus would look like. Our oldest daughter was in her final year of elementary school and by Fall I wanted her to start middle school wherever we would live long term. By March we had our minds made up that the summer would be our time to move back home to Tennessee.

Our original six ladies that worked together as a team before anyone else came alongside us began to make decisions for their families that meant some of them were moving on to other things. I was one of them and I shared in April that I would be leaving Columbus in the Summer. We had jumped on the purchase of a house in Knoxville, TN that would allow us to relocate on June 1st. While we chose not to return to the Chattanooga area, we would be living only an hour and a half away from most of our extended family.

To add complexity to the move, my parents decided to move back to Tennessee with us too. They had enjoyed the years they lived in Columbus but like us missed a lot about the beautiful South. In a two week period we bought two homes in Tennessee and sold two homes in Ohio. The Ohio homes both sold the first day they went on the market. This definitely gave us confirmation that we were making the right decision.

In April my role at Thirty-One home office was coming to an end. Whatever it was going to look like was not what it had been to this point. My co-workers gave me an awesome going away party and so many shared such kind words with me. It was such a sweet time I will always remember. That day was an emotional step in my transition to working from home (soon to be in Tennessee). I was excited for the next phase in my Thirty-One career, most importantly the fact that it was a very part time role so I could be more present with my three kids.

The moving truck arrived on May 29, which was also our 15th wedding anniversary. What a way to celebrate a big milestone as a couple. The move to Tennessee was absolutely the right decision for us but Columbus had become all that my older two kids knew because they were so young when we moved from Chattanooga. There was a week between the time the moving truck arrived and the time we closed on our new home in Knoxville. The same timing we had experienced back in 2009 when the move to Columbus happened.

In June I was able to attend an event in Chattanooga since it wasn’t a far drive. It was great to see so many familiar faces after two months. Our National Conference attendance was projected to be the biggest yet so we had planned to hold the event in two different parts of the country during July. The first event was in Denver, Colorado and a week after the conference ended we did it all again in Columbus with triple the number of people that had come to Denver. Nearly 17,000 total consultants joined us for the two events. The theme was “Dream It & Be It”. My dream of returning to Tennessee and remaining part of Thirty-One had been realized and I was so grateful.

My family joined me for the trip to Columbus for the 2nd conference. We connected with some of our friends we had been missing for the last six weeks. The time spent connecting with co-workers I no longer saw in a daily basis was my favorite part. The Fall season was very different  for me as I wasn’t contributing in the same capacity at Thirty-One I had been for the prior ten years.

In December my parents and I took a sneaky trip to Columbus to celebrate my sister’s 40th birthday. These were the moments I wanted to take time for. And if getting away from the full-time corporate environment was what it took I was all for it. Only God knew what my future would bring and I was trusting him completely.