Education

Before internet and email, I, like all kids, had to decide what I wanted to do "when I grew up". Physical therapist, truck driver and fighter pilot topped my list (the original Top Gun had just come out) OR something to do with art or computers. Since I'm prone to motion sickness, I ruled out truck driver and fighter pilot, and after a job shadow, I found I didn't have a passion for physical therapy. That was when I'd heard about a small college in Iowa offering a BA in a cutting-edge technology ... Computer Graphics. The best of both worlds! After being accepted, this Michigan girl loaded up her Jeep and headed for the land of corn. 

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I kept my nose to the grindstone and received my Bachelor of Arts in 3.5 years (lots of night and weekend classes in addition to the normal classes to accomplish that!). Once I had my degree in hand, I loaded up that same Jeep (a 1984 Cherokee Chief in case you were wondering. I still miss that thing!) and made a final trip home to West Michigan where I have lived since.

 

Career

I started my career designing layouts for children's schoolbooks. After a couple of years, I moved to a design and engineering firm that I called home for 16 years. In addition to creative design, my skills expanded to include customer service, technical documentation, mechanical drawing details, streamlining operations, project management, some IT work and programming. I'd gained a very unique skillset!

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During this time, I'd gotten married, had two sons and made a lot of friends with co-workers and customers alike. However, I was feeling that it was time to move on, but where do you go with a background like that? Well, in my case, to an automation design firm. Within a short time, I transitioned to their robotics department and gained knowledge in operations, team coordination, marketing, and business development, not to mention a lot about robots! 

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Again, I'd started feeling restless. So, after 9 years and several life changes, I moved on to a couple of other jobs performing similar type work, when it finally hit me! I knew what I wanted to do "when I grew up"! I wanted to be a business owner and use the knowledge I'd gained over the last 30+ years to help others just starting out in business or that may need an extra hand managing and growing their business.

 

Front Office Services

So how would I make this a reality? So much to think about and all the what-ifs! Then out of the blue, I received a call from an old friend I hadn't talked to in years (a co-worker turned friend from the design and engineering firm days). We talked for HOURS about family, friends, laughed at "back in the day" memories, and of course, work. Things were crazy at her job and she was really in need of an extra hand (integrating new software, data migration, a website, etc.). I told her about my business venture idea. We joked about me working for her. Did I mention she lives in Hawaii now? Distance was an issue. Or was it?? The software was all cloud-based. Zoom, emails and late-night phone calls (Hawaii is 6 hours behind Michigan) were all we really needed to make it work. And work it did!

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In December 2020 Front Office Services LLC was born. I left MY comfort zone, said goodbye to the corporate world and my first client was located in Maui! I've been on a lot of business trips in my day, but that one was hands-down the best one ever!

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So, in a nutshell, that's my story! How about yours?? Give us a call or shoot us an email. We'd love to hear your story and see how we can help you!