What many people don't know is that despite being in a marriage that was on the brink of disaster, we were also riding high on the success of our growing business.
We had created from the ground up a children's sports and entertainment business, that had over a dozen employees, a 3000 square foot facility, with a second facility almost complete, a private soccer league boasting 500 kids and programs running in six major cities throughout the GTA.
Not only were we successful on paper and at the bank, we were beloved by our clientele...hundreds of families that supported us and trusted us with their most precious little people. We were a great team, my husband and I, that had everything going for them....from the outside in anyways.
I loved our business, our clientele and I took so much pride in what we had built in a few short years....it's what made the eventual fall so much more devastating. I wasn't just walking away from a very toxic marriage and the father of my daughter but I was walking away from our dream, my career, my second home, my staff and my financial security.
Though I tried to make a go of our business relationship post separation; it only made the process more volatile. Trying to act like everything was status quo at work for our staff and clients, while everything was falling apart behind the scenes was beyond stressful. We carried on for a full year, bringing fun and entertainment to families as our own crumbled around us.
As custody battles and divorce lawyers loomed, I arrived to work one morning to find my office torn apart, phones and computer smashed...the time had come to walk away from everything I had built. The writing was literally on the wall. I would return the next day to begin to get things in order for my departure only to find he had changed the locks on my own building over night. A company I was 50 per cent shareholder of now left me standing in the parking lot gutted in disbelief.
This isn't a story from a page of my life to evoke feelings of pity, this is a story for those who know me now (as a mother of four, a yoga teacher, an entrepreneur and a friend) to find inspiration. An anxiety ridden single mother, walking away from everything she had to start over at 33 years of age are shoes I didn't think I would ever walk in. But if you too find yourself currently in these shoes, know this. It is possible to start from scratch, child(ren) in hand with the most ruthless forces against you. It isn't easy and it doesn't happen over night but I can guarantee you with love and faith, you will find happiness and purpose again.
I grieved loosing my business like I did my marriage and the life I had built. But one day at a time, first stepping stones and then brick by brick solid walls ....remaking a new life....starting over this time a little wiser and alot stronger.
This might not be an easy time
There's rivers to cross and hills to climb
And some days we might fall apart
And some nights might feel cold and dark
But nobody wins afraid of losin
And the hard roads are the ones worth choosing
Some day we'll look back and smile
And know it was worth every mile
Starting Over ~ C. Stapleton
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