My Story – How I Left My Job
When I think about my story or how I left my job, my mind goes back to 2013 which was when a tree fell on my head and I handed in my notice a couple of days later but my story began the year before when another freak accident occurred.
Slipped Disc
In April 2012, I slipped a disc sitting in my ergonomically designed office chair. I was the manager of dfs Furniture in Bristol (had been for 11 and a half years) and I spun around to answer a question from a salesperson and felt a sharp pain shooting into my right side. It was excruciating enough to make me stand up and walk away from my desk. This happened at about 4 pm on a Saturday and I kept walking until closing time at 6 pm at which point somehow I drove myself home to Gloucester.
Back in the day, it was not the done thing for anyone let alone a manager to be ‘off sick’ at a weekend but there was no way I could go to work the following day. I was in way too much pain. After seeing my doctor and a chiropractor on Monday, I tried to go back to work on Tuesday. I asked a colleague to pick me up and drive me to Bristol which she did but as soon as I walked into the store a member of my team asked ‘How are you?’ and that was that. I dissolved into tears and was driven straight back home again.
I didn’t go back to work for 13 weeks!
Luckily for me, I found a wonderful Alexander Technique teacher called Rachel who helped with my recovery in more ways than one. For a start, she recognised that my injury had caused me to walk away from my work. This planted a seed that maybe my job was no longer serving me.
However, I wasn’t going to be the kind of manager who goes off sick with a bad back and is never heard of again. I was proud to have been the first female manager at dfs and I wasn’t about to leave under any kind of cloud!
Back To Work
I was back at work by September 2012, determined to be there for my team over the busy festive period but the idea was growing that I wouldn’t be there forever. In the new year, it was announced that a new store would be opened on the other side of Bristol and I would be responsible for recruiting and training the new team. I enjoyed the process but it added to my already heavy workload and gave me a focus. I promised myself that I would leave after the new store opened.
Even with the best of intentions and my Alexander Technique lessons ongoing, I was soon working harder than ever and in danger of burning out.
By May 2013, I was able to take a short holiday to celebrate my Dad’s birthday. He’d turned 70 back in December but there was no question of taking time off then. Not during the Winter Sale!
We booked a trip to Prague.
A Holiday!
The weather was amazing and the city was buzzing. We had a wonderful and rare time as a family – me, my husband, my dad and my stepmum. On the final day, we were having lunch at a riverside restaurant that we’d spotted the day before. The table I’d wanted was already taken when we arrived so we took another table under the canopy to protect ourselves from the bright sun.
After a leisurely lunch, we ordered a second bottle of wine and relaxed, watching the comings and goings on the river and the Charles Bridge. Then I remember hearing fireworks!
Except it wasn’t fireworks and the next thing we knew, there was a huge crash and the canopy fell in.
A Tree Fell On My Head
My dad and I both took a bump to the head but we were very lucky and none of our family were seriously injured. Unlike other diners who were taken to hospital with head injuries. When we looked around us and the dust settled it became clear what had happened.
A huge branch had broken off a tree on a neighbouring piece of higher ground and had crashed down across the terrace, flattening tables and turning parasols into spears.
Another stroke of luck. The diners who were at my favoured table (under the parasol you can see in the image above) had left before the accident and the waiter, whose station was right by that table, was watching ice hockey on TV in the bar. If anyone had been in that area, I doubt they would have survived. And that got me thinking…
Legacy
What if I had died that day? What would my legacy be?
I’d be remembered as the woman who sold sofas and didn’t have much time or energy for anything else.
On the way home from Prague I made the life-changing decision to leave my job. A job I’d loved, that paid well and felt safe. I realised there should be more to life than this.
It wasn’t easy but on my first day back, I drove straight to the new store where I knew my boss would be working that morning. By the time I arrived, I had come out in itchy hives all up my arms and legs – a stress reaction.
As I explained and handed him my letter of resignation, I was in tears but I knew I was doing the right thing. After 17 years with the company, I left my job.
The years since I left my safe, well-paid job have been some of the best years of my life.
- I have been able to work from home, in a flexible way which has enabled me to spend much more quality time with the people who mean the most to me.
- I’ve been able to create my coaching business and operate it in the way that suits me best, working with clients I care about and helping many of them positively transform their working lives in the process.
- We moved home to beautiful Devon to be nearer my parents and enjoy a more relaxed way of life.
- My network has grown and I can now call on people from so many different industries to offer their expertise and advice. Many of them have become firm friends.
- Together with my business partner, Maureen Townsend, I’m developing the Devon Women in Business network and we launched the DWIB Awards in 2021.
My clients now come from all over the UK. They are wonderfully varied but they all have something in common. They want to enjoy their work and progress in their professional lives.
Whether employed or self-employed, they want to feel like they are in or working towards their dream job. They want it to mean something to themselves and others. And that’s important because when you’re in your dream job, everyone around you benefits.
If you’re interested in finding out more about working with me as your career or business coach, please book yourself a free Clarity Session or a Virtual Coffee. I’d love to meet you!
You were the most professional and dedicated manager I have ever worked under also you helped me with some issues that I was having
So pleased that all has worked out so well for you
Hi Sallyann, Lovely to hear from you. Thank you for your kind words. I enjoyed working with you too!