The Journey to Where I Was Meant to Be
2020 was an unusual year for all of us…for my family and me, it was extraordinary! Since committing to joining the Weiss Wealth Strategies team in January of 2020, we bought, renovated and sold a house, packed up decades of our belongings and, in the middle of a pandemic, moved more than 2,000 miles from where my husband, my children and I were born in Tampa, FL (where we’d spent most of our lives), and settled in our new home in Scottsdale, AZ. Aside from becoming a mother, deciding to join the team and transitioning my family to Arizona has been the biggest leap of faith I have taken in my adult life.
I left behind most of our family and friends and a job that I loved (and was really good at 😊) for the opportunity to pursue a career in wealth management…a chance to take much of what I learned in the role I was leaving behind and apply it to individuals, families, and organizations who entrusted our team to help them create a roadmap to achieving their long-term financial goals. I was confident in the unique and complementary skills I brought to our team. I was open to learning new things, to meeting new people, and to having new experiences. And, I was and continue to be steadfastly committed to giving my best effort towards anything I do. But, if I’m being transparent, I struggled with feelings of guilt, anxiety, and fear.
For months, as our official moving date, June 30th, approached all of these questions and many more swirled around in my head:
- What if my twin sister or my mother needs me urgently and I am no longer a five minute drive or a short, inexpensive flight to the Caribbean away?
- How will my children, my husband and his parents adjust to leaving behind their active social lives and living in a new city, a new climate/landscape where they don’t know anyone, aside from each other?
- What if the job or the team is not what I thought it would be…? What if I/we made the wrong decision?
And then, in what now seems like a flash, the dreaded 3-night/4-day cross-country road trip with four adults, two preschoolers, two SUVs loaded to the brim, and an attached trailer (full of what did not fit in the POD we packed and sent 10 days earlier), literally zoomed by. Though we were prepared with perfectly timed stops, lots of snacks, comfy clothes, and tablets downloaded with entertaining and educational activities and movies, I was still shocked at how well Telaiyah and Elijah journeyed with us with minimal complaining. I was pleased when we arrived at our new home, which we had only seen online and via a virtual tour, and our POD was parked neatly in the driveway, as if it had been expecting us. I was content watching my husband grill steaks and my children splash and swim in the pool on the Fourth of July. I was delighted by the sweet treats and flowers delivered to our home to welcome us. And, I was relieved as we began to unpack, get settled and explore our new surroundings.
But most of all, I was AM GRATEFUL. I am grateful for the many blessings bestowed upon my family and me. I am grateful that we are all happy, healthy, and together. I am grateful for my children who are adjusting nicely and find joy in each other and the simple things. I am grateful for the opportunity to pursue my dream career. I am grateful for my team, Gary, Kelly and Sonja, and their families, who welcomed us just like family. I am grateful for my husband, Jeff, my better half, who has loved, supported and encouraged me since high school. I am grateful for my in-laws, Janet and James, for the son they molded into an incredible man, husband and father and the same effort and energy they pour into our children every day. I am grateful for my parents, Joseph and Sonia, for the wisdom, values and spirit of integrity, humility, and courageousness they imparted upon me. I am grateful for you, our clients, who have embraced me with kind words, warm smiles and confidence that Weiss Wealth Strategies had chosen the right person to join the WWS team. Simply put, I would not be here and I could not do this without them and without you. I am forever grateful.
I am now six months in, and I can say unequivocally, I/we made the right decision. I/we took a leap of faith and landed exactly where we are supposed to be!
-Solitaire Dasher-Smiley, February 2021
