It truly was a bolt of lightning idea that came to me. I was in a workshop with a friend and we were having lunch. We were talking about our interests and I said to him, "Wouldn't it be great if I could be a storyteller." I had never heard about story telling as a business or an art form. I had never seen a storyteller, but this idea came to me. From that moment on, I knew that's what I was going to do. I never wrote down a plan. I had had 20 years of that. I decided I was going to follow my heart on this one and I'm going to balance against my priority of raising Dylan.

I began telling people what I was going to do once the center in Jacksonville closed, that I was going to be a storyteller. They were like, "What!?!" It was a crazy idea to them. All these people I was working with, management and professional people, were scrambling to find a "good" job that would pay more. It was like they were in panic mode and I was just chillin'. Some of them thought I lost my mind because I was always known as a career professional with no kids. So for me to go off and do something artistic while staying home, it was so out of character for me.

But once I made the committment and began talking about it, all of these things and people came out of the woodwork to help me. After talking to people, I started mapping out some things and began volunteering to tell stories at schools and libraries and it was the most magical thing in the world. I can't say I wasn't nervous, but there was this place in me that I knew it was what I was supposed to do. The minute I would get up and start telling the story, whether it was kids or adults, all nervousness would fade away. I've never had a bad experience telling stories. It's the wonderfully perfect match for me to do. Right now my plan is to do this part time when Dylan is growing up. When he gets older then I'll take on more activities, but right now it's important for me to have that balance.

Success is nothing more than doing what you like to do. It has nothing to do with how much money you're making or how many hours you work or how many people you supervise or how big your job is. If you're doing what you want to do and it makes you happy, then you're a success. I had a woman interview me for a local paper and she asked me when I thought my story telling business would be successful, implying that it couldn't possibly be successful at this point. Intuitively I knew she was looking for some kind of quantified measurement and I told her the same thing. I think it's a success right now. People who I perform for are asking me back, so I know I'm touching people. I'm enjoying it and I think it's successful. I can't visualize ever going back into a corporate, political environment again. I just can't. I was making very good money at American Express and I had a good job and I had achieved what most everybody would define as success, but I would never want it again.

The hardest part of this (changing paths) was letting go of the relationships I had with the people at work. I grieved the loss of those relationships. So it wasn't hard letting go of the trappings of the money and status, but it was hard letting go of the day-to-day relationships.

I think the training sessions and retreats I went through at American Express were very important to finding my passion. I don't know if I would have ever stumbled across it myself, but these programs allowed me to become open up to possibilities. I'd been so long in an environment that was very analyzed, fact based, and structured that I wasn't operating on a very intuitive basis or open level. I think most people get caught up in their need for status or they get caught up in obligations, but it's important to remain open.

Listen to your heart. If your heart is telling you that your life needs to be transformed then that's the first clue that something needs to happen. If you can be still and set aside all the noise in life, and just focus your intention on what is important to you, then the opportunities will come your way. If you're not listening though, you may miss it. You will get pointed in the direction you need to go. You have to be able to give it a go and go with the flow.