I remember the moment I made the official decision to leave my 9 to 5 job. It was 2022, and I had just returned from filming The Blox. I was riding a wave of creativity, filled with inspiration and determination. The thought of returning to my tiny, drab, windowless office felt suffocating. Each morning, as I dropped my daughter off at daycare and walked through the entrance of my office building, I felt a piece of myself fade away. I was surrendering to fear, and I knew it.
My day job offered predictability and stability. I could rely on my annual salary, knowing exactly when my bank account would be replenished on the 1st and 15th of the month. My role was fairly autonomous; there was no micro-manager breathing down my neck, and those above me trusted my decision-making. I was comfortable. But comfortable had become synonymous with bored, tired, and stuck. I yearned to create things that truly mattered to me, to collaborate with people who shared my desire for a more meaningful life, and to have the freedom to structure my days in a way that prioritized my family and inner peace. Deep down, I understood that pursuing my desires would force me out of my comfort zone and into the unknown, which was downright terrifying.
I began building Make It Happen Sis! while still juggling my full-time job. This meant waking up at 4 AM to dedicate a solitary hour to my business before reluctantly shutting off my creative flow at 5 AM to prepare for my day job. It meant sacrificing weekends and evenings after the “Mommy Second Shift” to work on my business, leaving my loved ones with an exhausted and depleted version of me. I was operating from a place of fear, convinced that if I didn’t pour every ounce of my being into my business, I’d miss opportunities and fail. There was no room for mistakes, no breaks, and certainly no room for self-care.
According to Webster, fear is “an unpleasant, often strong emotion caused by anticipation or awareness of danger.” I, like many of you, believed that by putting myself out there and trusting in my own abilities, I was exposing myself to danger. But why is that?
The true danger lay in living with regret, in endlessly pondering the catastrophic “what if?” The real danger was giving my business every ounce of me while neglecting those who truly mattered. It wasn’t dangerous to put myself out there; it was, in fact, liberating.
I won’t sugarcoat it; life hasn’t been all sunshine and roses since I left my corporate job. It’s been filled with hard work, sleepless nights, failures, and countless tears. It’s pushed me to my limits and dragged me through the mud. But I’ve survived, and I will continue to survive and face everything life throws my way as I rise to meet the challenges.
By Dominique Murray, CEO and Founder of Make It Happen Sis!