Returning to the work world?

This past week was the first board meeting for Curbed.com which we recently became investors in.  We meaning Fred and I but me meaning I am the one who is involved.  I would not exactly call this investment returning to the work world but it is certainly an entry (small that it may be) back in to having conversations with other people who spend the majority of their time interfacing with working people.  Yes, working is a term that can be defined in a variety of ways.  I am certainly working when preparing dinner for the family or booking our vacations or taking care of our projects but this is the type of work when a group of people all have their own Rolodex, information and ideas on how to execute on a project together, in this case, the project is a new company and their growth, productivity and profitability.   

I was excited to sit down and look around the table and discuss the business at large.  Everyone sitting at the meeting is involved with a variety of other businesses mostly in the Internet world.  Everyone seemed to know each other.  Names were being tossed about.  Models that had worked and hadn't were talked about.  I did something that most women have talked about in their careers.  I sat there, at the beginning, saying very little and thinking to myself.  What am I doing here?  What exactly do I bring to this table?  Will they all figure it out and ask me point blank, "hey, you aren't involved in the work world these days, what exactly are you doing at this party"?.  Then I would have to admit, omigod, have I been found out?  But as the meeting went on, my juices began to flowing and I found myself right back in the groove.  In many ways, my dislocation from the business world at large gives a completely fresh face on the business.  I am not jaded by the notion that local advertising can not be done with national advertising.  You have to do just one or the other.  Admittedly some of the bullshit that was being thrown about the table I wasn't that familiar with but my gut told me it was just bullshit.  Lots of talk. 

Last night we went to a 50th Bday party.  It was really nice.  Lots of speeches and admiration for the woman turning 50.  She has obviously been the backbone behind her husband's success.  They are a unit. Very commendable. His success is her success.  She manages their lives, the kids school, the vacations, the homes, the day to day, the non-profits she is involved with, etc.  She is the classic super Mom. Fred and I were talking about it on the way home.  She is part of the Super Mom club.  I have a lot of friends who are part of that club.  I guess I am one of them too.  Glad to be part of that club.  Unfortunately the club doesn't ever meet.  God knows how many there are of us.

Any of my "super Mom" friends could walk right back into the work world any time of the week and make an impact.  As we get older, we will all be in a position to decide what to do with time on our hands.  I am attempting to balance my time by dabbling back in the work world through an investment and being involved peripherally in a start-up.  I hope I make an impact.  But, I continue to do the work that I made my first commitment to which is my family.  Some how or other I ended up being the CEO of our family unit.  If you asked me 20 years ago, I would have told you that I'd be running some big company and juggling everything else.  Life didn't turn out that way.  I am juggling the world of our home and hopefully making a mark in our kids lives as their grow up to be adults and helping my husband in his world.  What is nice about Curbed, is that it is my own thing, small as my role may be, it is some place where I can be a person returning to the work world, slowly and on my terms.