Barbara Hester: Court Reporter to Archaeologist

My mom spent 25 years doing a job she hated because of me.

I was still a child when my mom got divorced.

She ended up with sole custody of my brother & I, and bills to pay. Teaching (which she loved) paid poorly, so she became a court stenographer.

She was brilliant at it - got through depositions faster than anyone - and eventually ran her own business to control the attorneys and cases that she took.

But she hated every moment.

Her real passion was Archaeology.

After 25 years, she made the leap: earned her master’s degree in archaeology, and even led a dig after Hurricane Katrina where they uncovered a French colonial burial site.

It was her proudest moment.

Tragically, it was also her last - she passed away from lung cancer not 6 months later.

Her death was heartbreaking but it also made me realize how life is too short.

There is no such thing as a ‘right time’ to do what you love!

My mom thought she had another 20 years to pursue her passion but she only got 6 months. After 25 years of doing what she hated.

This is why I started my podcast as a dedication to my mom, and why Clocking Out exists. (my mom’s episode and story.

It is also why I ‘clocked out’ myself by leaving my safe career in HR after 15 years to build something meaningful!

Because I remember my mom.

Of how she spent a quarter-century waiting for the "right time" to pursue her passion, only for that time to almost never come.

And I thought to myself - not me.

I didn’t really love HR and I didn’t want to spend the next 35 years doing what failed to give me purpose and meaning.

So at 35, I left.

It was terrifying, I won’t lie.

I had bills to pay and a family to raise, but I took the leap anyway.

That leap turned into Careerminds (an outplacement company) where I eventually pitched to 75 investors, raised $2.5M in venture capital, and sold it 15 years later.

Suffice to say that I have no regrets clocking out.

*

Mom never got her 20 years of freedom.

We still have time to find ours.

Please don’t let your fear hold you back!
This photo is of my mom in her element on her first & last big archaeological dig after Hurricane Katrina.