A long time ago, my dad made me read a book called “Who Moved My Cheese?” which talks about change and how uncomfortable or frustrating it can be. It’s a phrase I use a lot. “Don’t move my cheese.” “Someone moved your cheese.” I get some odd looks for it, because frankly I was only 5 when this book came out. My generation wasn’t exactly the target audience during its release.

My cheese has been moved a lot, often times with the majority of the decision coming from outside of my control. Sure, I took a job out of college that meant moving around a lot. Sure, I knew I could be moving at the drop of a hat. What I didn’t foresee was the crazy series of events that landed me in Northeast Ohio of all places with a job I’m probably too excited about, a flourishing career, and a loving family to call my own.

Every single cross-state move I made from 2014 – 2019 was sign unseen. The rental from a Zillow listing, corporate housing I had no choice in, you name it. I had zero outside of work friends at the destination and little in the way of a how-to guide for the area I would land in. Learning how to adapt and make new friends everywhere is a challenge that I, and a lot of others, still struggle with. One adaptation I would love to set aside is my penchant to slip into a southern-ish accent when I listen to audiobooks read by, or talk to, someone with a drawl. ‘Tis inconvenient and my poor husband is often the recipient. No offense to those of you with an accent, I just feel like an imposter since I only lived in Alabama a few years.

I digress.

This month’s invite focuses on the risks we make for our careers. As the primary breadwinner and now a mom, there is so much more to these risks than just a simple change of scenery. Without getting into the whys, 2019 triggered my first major job move. I knew I wanted to be a fulltime DBA, live in the Midwest, have access to maternity leave, and buy a house in a city with a good school district. Well, I got most of those. I cast my net from Tennessee (yes, yes, that’s not the Midwest, but I have family there), up through Ohio and over to Minnesota. As I got job offers, I started to realize where I actually wanted to live. Des Moines? Maybe, but ultimately it didn’t feel right. Minneapolis? Certainly not. Detroit, Chattanooga, Chicago, Cleveland? Cleveland…

We packed up our home and rented an Airbnb for a couple weeks while we house hunted. Trying to house hunt in March 2020 was less than fun, but we succeeded! I didn’t meet any of my coworkers in person for 9 months and missed out on exploring my new city because everything was shut down. It was a scary thing, packing up and relocating with just a job in hand.

In three years, I went from more of a system administrator role to my long-coveted DBA position before being unceremoniously thrust into SSIS and Power BI. My skillset exploded, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I learned about the greater data community, started speaking, took a board position with my local user group, started blogging (thanks for being here), and making such great connections I can’t imagine going back to the way things were. It was a calculated risk, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a big step.

Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.

p.s. Late to the game, but this topic means a good deal to me.