The story within

I want to talk about the best, most humbling, most poetic 11 years of my life. It was my time as a stay at home parent. I remember sitting in New York watching out the window singing quietly as the snow seemed to fall in loud, silent thuds. The only true sounds were of all the sleeping creatures on and around me. A newborn on my chest purring quietly with that perfect "babyness" about her and my four legged children snoring, "protecting" us. The school district I was working for decided literacy coaching wasn't justifiable as an expense, and it created the opportunity for me to stay home. When baby number 2 came along, I didn't even know how I would be able to imagine anything else but raising her and her sister, though make no mistake, it didn't come easily.

Those days were lonely, even though I had created an incredible network of people and started a village around me, because truly parenting takes a village. Honestly, all of life and our happiness requires community.

Some days just leaving the house with everyone in snow gear was enough for the whole day to feel like an accomplishment, only to find that we spent the majority of the time potty-training or diaper changing in the Target bathroom.

During that time at home, I also created book and writing clubs for children, hosted improv classes and online birthday parties during the pandemic, and was a writer and screenwriter, as I am still today. I started a company with a colleague, a space for writers to flourish. I started writing and produced my first movie, A Life Well Lived, and I wrote films, children's books and literacy curricula.

I am forever grateful for that time. I post this story because now co-parenting with my ex, starting a film studio, parenting teenagers, and helping my aging parents from afar is a new chapter and it looks totally different.

Yet, the old story still matters.

An 11 year "gap" in employment stands out. There's no way to explain all of this on a resume. You have to speak with me. You only will learn the complexity that is Rebecca by having the conversation. That's where storytelling matters.

I've started a film studio to allow access to writers to get our films made, to create an atelier, to network, AND to change the world.

This story I'm sharing is one of the most personal. I'm posting it on LinkedIn because it's a plea to you as an employer or a hiring manager to give the stay at home parent the interview. Give the caretaker of an aging parent a second look. Please give the person who overcame obstacle abc and went back to school to try again a chance. Maybe we'll show up with a coffee stain that showed up on our shirt before we made it out the door. Maybe we'll even start our own company!

I care about your stories. I want to know the nuance in your smile and what's behind it. Stories unite us. Stories matter. Stories can change the world for the better. It's realness, tenacity, and love for the win.

Warmly,
Rebecca