So, I quit my job. Yes, I know that today is April Fools Day, but I’m not fooling. I really quit my job.
Yesterday was my last day working as the Blog Coordinator for the Herbal Academy, and I can honestly say, the decision to leave this job was not an easy one.
Working for the Herbal Academy has been the best job I have ever had. I can say that with absolute truth. My boss, Marlene, is a great boss and an all-around lovely person. She is fair and kind and compassionate. My co-workers were a joy to work with—so much so that I looked forward to coming to work each day and keeping up with what was going on in their lives. The projects we worked on together, from the blog to the many courses and even the free projects, were a team effort and something we were all proud to contribute to and put out into the world. Leaving my job, a job I loved and enjoyed is a bittersweet thing for me, but it was time.
Why I Quit My Job
There are several different reasons why I chose to step away from my job.
The first reason was that I simply missed running my business.
I guess it really all started a year or so ago. I came across a blogger and really fell in love with her blogging style and business model. She inspired me to think that I could do the same for my business, but my biggest hang-up was that I didn’t have the time to do it. Between homeschooling, my work at the Herbal Academy, and all the daily to-dos of keeping my house from becoming a total pigsty, I didn’t really have much time to focus on Growing Up Herbal, so I put that thought behind me. Or at least I thought I did.
Six months later, I found myself revamping some old material and turning it into a full-fledged online course, The Art of Simpling. The entire process of that course—from creating it to working with some long-time herbal mentors inside of it, to launching and running it—really sparked something inside of me. It showed me that my business was still alive and that I wanted to nurture it.
Then there was the fact that I was so busy with life that I felt like I was missing out on documenting my family life. Sure I share personal stories of our life on Instagram, but let’s be honest, I don’t own Instagram, and for all I know, one day all of it could be gone. Whoosh! All of my photos, captions, comments—all of it. Gone. At that point, I realized that I should really be capturing quite a bit more of our lives over on my blog.
The next big reason I decided to leave was over homeschooling.
When I started working for the Herbal Academy, I was only homeschooling two kids at the time, and they were both young which meant our days weren’t too full and the work wasn’t so complicated. This year, I’m homeschooling all four kids, and as the boys have gotten older, there are times when they need more time and help from me. When I’m busy with work, it’s stressful for all of us. They’re stressed because I’m not as present to help them with something they don’t understand, and I’m stressed because I keep getting interrupted at work.
Not only that, but our homeschool style has changed over the years. When I first started homeschooling, I didn’t know what I was doing. I experimented with all sorts of styles and curricula options. Now that we’re a bit more settled and have some experience under our belts, I have a more defined homeschool style, and because of that, I have a vision for how I want our school days to look.
Because parenting four little boys while working at home, making our house a home, not to mention the other responsibilities of life that come along, and keeping up with friends and family keeps us going full speed ahead—I would like our school days to be set at a slower, more enjoyable pace. I do not want them to be stressful. I want the boys to look forward to their lessons and enjoy spending time together, and it’s hard to achieve this when there are too many things taking up space in our day.
Yes, cutting out my day job will not make the above magically happen, but it does free up some space and responsibility. We’ve also adjusted our school schedule as well as our extracurricular activities to create a better home rhythm as well.
The third reason I quit my job was so I could have more time for my herbal studies.
What? More time to study herbs? Didn’t I work as an herbalist for an herbal school? Was I not studying herbs every day?
Well, yes and no. I have learned so much during my time at the Herbal Academy, but when it comes to my own personal herbal studies, I’ve not really done anything since I started working for them because I didn’t really have time. I started my advanced herbal studies with the Herbal Academy back in 2017, but unfortunately, I just fizzled out with it. Not only that, but it seemed like I never had time to commit to my studies.
And then there was the School of Evolutionary Herbalism which came on the scene a few years ago. After following them for a while, I was intrigued by what they had to offer, and every year I told myself that I’d take a course with them the “next year.” However, after watching several other HA students that I respected take the plunge and love studying at their school, I decided this year was THE year. I enrolled in their clinical herbal program, The Vitalist Herbalist, back in February, and so far I am LOVING it.
Yes, I still love Herbal Academy and the courses they offer, but The School of Evolutionary Herbalism is different in many ways. Perhaps that’s something I’ll go into after completing more of my studies there.
The last reason I left my job was due to our new house.
Y’all, we have 15 years worth of projects to tackle when it comes to this house and the surrounding property, and I just need time to do that. Time. Plain and simple. With longer days here, I’m sure we’ll be working away in the evenings, and I can’t wait to share more of that with you here on the blog and over on Instagram. Stay tuned!
So that’s it—several reasons why it was time to leave my job.
I gave a 2-month notice to my boss back in January and then spent all of February and March prepping for my departure. I also got to recommend someone to take my place as the Blog Coordinator, and thankfully, she accepted the position, so I feel really great that the Herbal Academy blog is being left in capable hands. I also feel really blessed to have left on such good terms with an open invitation to return when life settles down a bit. How great is that?!
With all of that said, I will still be hanging around the Herbal Academy blog here and there this year, only this time as a blog contributor! Instead of me being the one approving blog posts, keeping up with deadlines, and editing endless text, I’ll be the one having it all done to my articles! Oh, how the tables have turned!
So here I am, doing what I can to live my best life. I’m still homeschooling. I’m still an herbalist. I’m still blogging. And now, I’m back to being my own boss. Life is good!
Let me take some time to now thank YOU! Thank you for being here—for sticking with me through the years and for supporting my business each time you read a blog post, share it with someone, leave a comment, sign up to receive my letters, follow me on social media, or purchase one of my products. I can’t thank you enough. Without you, Growing Up Herbal wouldn’t be what it is today.
With all of that said, I cannot wait to move forward with you from here!
Love and light,
Meagan
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