Big Chem to big change, pt. 2
After going back to school to become a certified nutritionist and having another baby, I was still working at my engineering job – now in a part of my company that made plastics (yuck). I didn’t feel great about what my group did but I justified it by the fact that my job as a process safety engineer was to make sure everyone stays safe and no one gets exposed to the harmful chemicals we were working with. I had to ignore the fact that our raw materials were non-renewable and focus on the fact that we were at least making “specialty plastics” – plastics that go into things like cars, airplanes, and medical and safety equipment.
Truly though, I wanted to get out of my job. I was slowly building my health coaching business while now raising two little ones under 2. But I had to wait for The Universe to align, to allow us to survive financially without my high paying engineering job.
Then, I hit rock bottom. In 2018 my company was merging with another one of the big chemical companies. We were shifting towards producing more single use plastic (think plastics that go into grocery bags and water bottles – double yuck!!!).
With the merger, I found myself working in a toxic male environment where greed ruled. My new ‘higher-ups’ didn’t care about the major environmental concerns, they just wanted to make as much as they could. Plastics (that we made) in the ocean? Well, that’s the consumer’s job to make sure they are recycling properly. Seriously, that’s what they believed.
On top of the stress from my job (or maybe because of it…) I got sick. Really sick. It started with a rash, then quickly followed with horrible brain fog, debilitating headaches, red itchy eyes, food sensitivities, and more. I was miserable.
I would drive home from work every day, crying. Desperate to leave my job so I could take care of myself, be home with my babies (who were now 3 and 2) and do something that was aligned with my beliefs.
By the end of the year, the stars didn’t exactly align – but they did enough for my husband and I to feel ok about me leaving my job. I left my company on good terms; I was free!
In the meantime, I was working with a functional medicine doctor to heal what turned out to be mold illness. We were also trying to get pregnant and starting to plan a big move from PA to Colorado.
Life has been a whirlwind since I became a full time work-from-home/stay-at-home mom in 2019. But I’m now living my best life drinking all the tea in our home in the mountains with three beautiful kids – seriously, it’s a dream.
But that’s not to say I’m content with the world. Although I am filled with gratitude and hope every day, I’m also angry. I am angry about the direction the world is moving and I am angry that big ag, big chem, big pharma, and big food are fooling us into thinking they know what’s best for us and the planet. I know it because I’ve seen it. I’ve seen the apathy and greed that is hurting our planet.
It’s time to stand up for yourself, for your family, and for your home. I’m taking action because I care too deeply not to. What about you?