New Boudica

Oh dear...where do I begin?  Are we going back to the start?! Are you interested in knowing about my blue-collar, eastern European roots and how my father was a hardworking electrician, who worked sun-up to sun-down for over 40 years in the same steel plant in downtown Cleveland, Ohio?  And my mother, they are still married to this day, also worked outside of the home my entire life.  She held a variety of accounting positions at banks and insurance companies throughout my life.  I have been told I used to run the show in our home at an early age...until my brother showed up when I was seven.  He was a bit of a drag at times but I really enjoyed his company more than I didn't.  I got bored of telling my parents what to do all the time, so it was great to have another human to boss around the homestead. 

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I grew up in Garfield Heights, Ohio, in the 'burbs of Cleveland.  It was a quaint, simple, reasonably safe, middle-class town.  No complaints.  I have so many treasured memories of my time in Garfield Heights.  My parents had a dream of owning property and "spreading out" so we moved out to the "country" scene in 1995...about 40 minutes east of Cleveland, there is a small village called Burton.  I went to high school in this town and it was also very amazing.  The people of Burton were so very good to me.  I made authentic, high-integrity relationships there.  My new, small, farm-town home was quite different than Garfield Heights and its diversity and activities.  I am sure I played the part of some "city girl," intruding into the small town scene my freshman year, but many people embraced me regardless of being the outlier.  I remember my first boyfriend in high school broke up with me because I was "too city."  I assimilated and found my way and developed amazing relationships with people and the community.  Burton played an incredible role in shaping my character and pushing me forward.  My parents and brother still live there today.  So that has to tell you it must continue to have magic.

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As I looked at colleges, my parents made it clear that I wasn't leaving Ohio.  After deciding to play basketball at Case Western University, even meeting onsite with the team and signing, I remember my dad celebrating with a conversation saying he could drop in on the way home from work any day I wanted.  Long story short, I backed out of my decision and took myself to the furthest college I could get to while respecting the boundaries of Ohio.  And that rebel in me ran far away to Miami University in Oxford, Ohio about 40 minutes west of Cincinnati).  I wanted to go "away" and be independent, or so I thought at that time. 

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I graduated from Miami with an MIS major, scored a pretty great opportunity at General Electric and entered the workforce in July 2004 in Cincinnati, Ohio.  This was about a 4ish hour drive on the interstate from my hometown.  I met my husband on Halloween that year, got engaged the next year, and married the year following.  I received my MBA in May of 2008 and then 5 months later, had our first child.  I went back to work after 9 weeks and continued to invest in my career and worked to manage my working mother's guilt away.  Two years later, I took my first time manager role at GE and then had our second child.  Two year's later, I moved to a larger engineering manager role in Supply Chain and then had our third child. 

 

GE was very good to me...I remember flying internationally and domestically for different work trips and being able to FedEx my breast milk home for each baby.  The support and female leadership that existed at GE Aviation during my tenure was the best female support network I have ever experienced in my life thus far.  I do want to take a moment to brag about the fact that I breastfed all my babies while I worked outside of the home full time, until each child turned 12 months of age.  Breastfeeding is not easy.  I also want to say that my milk production was plentiful and each child did not have any formula supplements.  It was not a small task and a huge commitment I made to my kids since I chose to be working outside of the home while they were infants.  It was how I felt connected to them.

 

I ended up having our fourth child in September of 2015.  By January of 2016, I started toying around with my marketability outside of GE.  Microsoft came knocking hard and I gave them a chance.  I eventually ended up accepting a very big SAP gig with Microsoft in June of 2016.  Microsoft was amazing and did everything to move me and my family of 6 across the country from Cincinnati to Seattle.  When I think back, I can't believe how amazing their relocation services were to us.  We landed in Seattle, Collin was 9 months old.  Going back for a moment on breast milk, I remember pumping in my rental car in between interviews for my Microsoft job.  It's crazy to think about this...it feels so long ago since Collin is now 8 and sneaking Sprites and Coca-Cola drinks now!   

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After three years traveling and working with the SAP engineering team, I moved to Azure.  Around this time I also made some personal changes and became divorced and a single mother of four.  Part of me moving to Azure was to take a product engineering role so I didn't have to travel anymore and I could be available at home since I was now a single parent.  Both decisions accelerated my life and career.  I started developing a niche level of expertise around cloud commerce capabilities.  And because of this, I got a call from Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, based in Seattle, to consider a VP role in their organization.  I entertained the discussion and then decided to go for it.  And I got it!  I started at Oracle in April of 2021 and I have been there ever since.

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My personal life has not changed very much since my divorce.  I have experienced a few romances but nothing that has worked for my lifestyle and for my personal situation with what I expect and what my kids need.  I believe romance has a time and place and one day, it can happen again.  But in the meantime, I am going to invest in myself, my independence as a mother, and my career.  Honestly, I have been tied down and always hustling to make someone else happy.  I need a break.  I am going to prioritize me now.

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I’ve been resistant to pursue something new for a few years now…I love to write. I find so much peace and inspiration when I can bring my thoughts into a string of words and when those words create energy for the reader. It’s like the energy I feel when I write moves into the reader and we are connected. I don’t make time to do this and I’ve been avoiding writing the last year because I’m afraid of rejection and not being able to connect.  As of late, many signs are beginning to push me into this new realm of uncertainty. 

 

As you probably inferred, I’m used to being vulnerable and making leaps of faith. But this is different than anytime before. I’m facing a new level of scary. If people don’t like anything I have to say and think I’m crazy, then that’s scary. And if I’m successful, then this new world will bring a lot of change to my life and why should I face that when I’m in a great spot?  Why add stressors of change if it's unnecessary?

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Through my experiences, my successes and my failures, I feel like the words I can share will make magic inside those readers who are looking for some magic. That’s all I care about. I want to create magic.

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Peace and love my friends.  Here I go!

~Lisa