Those 4 Little Words…

“I Want a Divorce”

Say what now? 😳

My whole world just fell apart with those 4 little words and they came out of my mouth! 
I don’t think I’d ever been more scared and hurt in my life. I physically felt it in my body.
What does this mean?
How could I let this happen?
Why was I not good enough? 

My husband and I had been together for years. We met at work when I was just 18 and now pushing 36, our time together was a decent chunk of my life. We have 2 gorgeous girls Katelynn (14) and Lauren (5) and own/operate 4 franchised fast food stores together. So how could I let those 4 words come out of my mouth! 

Despite seeming to have it all together, I wasn’t happy. And clearly he wasn’t either. I’d love to say I was the perfect wife and the perfect mother but I definitely was not. I used to drag my eldest Katelynn to work with me for hours on end shoving a DS in her face hoping she’d stay quiet enough for me to get through the day. Our lives revolved around the businesses. We loved what we did and we’re very passionate about it, but in hindsight certainly not about each other. Together we built up run down, poorly managed stores and turned them into profitable award winning stores, doubling sales at a minimum for all 7 stores we had owned over the last decade. 

Enter the other woman.
The other woman whom also was our employee. 
I’d like to say I blame her, the homewrecker, the slut, after all it was her M.O. I had later discovered. But in all honesty I left the door open for her in our relationship. Him too, he is an incredible man and wonderful father we just never worked on each other. A hard lesson learned.
Never again. 

“I’m pregnant”

Well… 15 years ago that is. I was 20 and studying a Bachelor of Business majoring in Accounting at QUT when I got the news. I’d always intended on going back, but 15 years later never did. Never had a reason to. Although incomplete, what I’d learnt at uni helped me immensely in climbing the ladder within the franchise. I don’t come from a wealthy family. My mum raised my 3 sisters and I as a single mum on Centrelink. So when my franchisor offered to sponsor me into owning my first store in Melbourne, whilst scared out of my mind, I jumped at the opportunity.

I loved the franchise (sounds so mysterious not naming names lol) but after 20 years am walking away to start again. I’d actually been so lost this last year, I’ve been able to spend so much more quality time with my girls and I’ll never compromise on that ever again, however, I hadn’t been able to shake that lost feeling.

Time to start over

I’m so excited for what I now plan for my future. How did it not occur to me earlier! As recent as last Tuesday I decided I would start my own Accounting business… “Crap! Has uni already started?!” I rang the university office only to discover QTAC applications were due midnight that day. I’m going to go with, it was meant to be.
Application in.  Accepted on Thursday.  😳

I’d actually initially applied for this unit to be credited due to my past experiences at QUT and work.  However, after reading Martin’s Week 1 study guide on how we truely learn, it made me think this unit could be of real value. My primary role in my business (apart from admin) was to train our team members and alot of what Martin touches on makes sense to me based on how I’ve seen people learn in the past.  

I’m looking forward to learning what this unit has to offer and connecting with other students like yourself in the process.

Xx
Jen