The Unease of a U-Turn | Ep. 011 - Charlotte Supple

Join host Lynn Debilzen in this exciting interview with Charlotte Supple on Redraw Your Path!

In this interview, Lynn learns about Charlotte’s journey from anthropology to veterinary management, to small business consulting. Their conversation touches on:

• The power of international travel and immersion in learning how to navigate uncertainty
• How a crisis can provide renewed perspective and career opportunity when family and creativity intersect
• The fears and risks that come along with leaving a stable job for the unknown, including the worry of letting others down

Tune in for a dynamic discussion on life and growth!

About Charlotte:

‌Charlotte graduated from Northwestern University as a Medical Anthropology major focusing her studies on public health, women’s health, and gender studies. She later earned a Master’s degree from UW-Milwaukee in Business Administration with a concentration in healthcare management. Her early professional experiences centered on understanding and serving vulnerable groups through organizations such as Planned Parenthood, Centro Médico Susan Hou/Daniels Hamant Foundation - an international medical clinic and foundation serving a rural community in lowland Bolivia, and Neighborhood Diabetes - a diabetes supply company with a focus on patient education and support.

Charlotte went on to work in veterinary medicine for fourteen years of her career, helping pets and their people have access to the most advanced care in their time of need. For the majority of her veterinary career, she played a key role in growing a network of hospitals from its infancy through acquisition, with opportunities to lead efforts in strategic planning, fiscal management, facilities and IT, leadership and development, event planning, relationship building, change management, marketing strategy, and diversity, equity, and inclusion strategy. As the owner of Hale Consulting Services, Charlotte now provides management support to growing small businesses. Areas of expertise include supporting key functions such as operations, finance, marketing, HR, technology, project management, and DEI.

Her roots in anthropology, experiences serving vulnerable populations, and desire to improve her workplace led Charlotte to formalize her involvement in diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) work. Her DEI journey continued to develop when she joined Professional Dimensions (PD), a women's professional networking group in Milwaukee. A core value of PD is intentional inclusion, and much of the organization's work centers around tackling issues of racism and diversity in Milwaukee. She is a board member and contributing member of the Racial Equity Initiative committee within PD and has helped to develop and facilitate programming to engage members in conversations around racism and to give them tools to be allies in their places of work and communities. She founded and chaired the DEI Committee at the veterinary hospital, where they ultimately created an annual DEI award named in her honor. Additionally, she serves as the Treasurer and board member of Bay Bridge Wisconsin, a community organization working to raise awareness about cultural and racial bias and to influence policy within the village, school district, and law enforcement structures. Outside of her professional interests, Charlotte enjoys yoga, reading, and spending time with her husband, two daughters, and their 2 dogs, Dolly Parton and Harry Styles!

Connect with Charlotte:
Website: haleconsultingservices.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/charlotte-supple

Connect with Lynn:

• www.redrawyourpath.com
• www.lynndebilzen.com
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/lynndebilzen/

Transcript

Lynn: 0:01

Hey friends, welcome to Redraw Your Path, a podcast where I share stories of people who have made big changes in their lives and forged their own unique paths. Guests talk about their moments of messiness, fear, and reframing on their way to where they are now. I'm Lynn Debilzen, and my goal is to inspire you about the shape your life could take. So let's get inspired. Hey, all, I'm really excited to share this episode with you with Charlotte Supple. We talk a lot about leaning into discomfort and being open to. What the universe has in store for us. So a little bit about Charlotte, Charlotte graduated from Northwestern university as a medical anthropology major focusing her studies on public health, women's health and gender studies. She later earned a master's degree from UWM Milwaukee in business administration with a concentration in healthcare management. Her early professional experiences centered on understanding and serving vulnerable groups through organizations, such as planned parenthood, Centro Médico Susan Hou/Daniels Hamant Foundation an international medical clinic and foundation serving a rural community in lowland Bolivia and Neighborhood Diabetes, the diabetes supply company with a focus on patient education and support. Charlotte went on to work in veterinary medicine for 14 years of her career, helping pets and their people have access to the most advanced care in their time of need for the majority of her veterinary careers, she played a key role in growing a network of hospitals from its infancy through acquisition, with opportunities to lead efforts in strategic planning, fiscal management, facilities and IT, leadership and development, event planning, relationship building, change management, marketing strategy, and diversity equity and inclusion strategy. As the owner of Hale consulting services, Charlotte now provides management support to growing small businesses. You're going to hear all about Charlotte's journey in our conversation from early high school student looking at going into anthropology and then medical anthropology, veterinary services, and now entrepreneurship. So really hope you enjoy our conversation. Charlotte, it is so great to have you on Redraw Your Path today. Thank you for joining.

Charlotte: 2:41

Thank you so much, Lynn. I'm so excited to be here.

Lynn: 2:44

Yay, and I'm excited to learn some new things about you. so Charlotte, will you share some context with listeners about where and how you grew up?

Charlotte: 2:55

Yes, I would love to. So I actually, I guess starting way back when I got, I got an international start. I was born in Tokyo. my family lived there for about five years. I was there for about two of them only. my dad worked for an international healthcare company and so, lived there for a little while. but, yeah, that's it. Moved back when I was about two or three and grew up north of Chicago. Lived in the same house for my entire life. Thereafter, my parents actually just sold the house like two years ago. So, pretty consistent childhood growing up in the same community. I mentioned my dad worked for this international healthcare company. I would describe him as a serial entrepreneur. for as long as I can remember, has always been, involved in. Business startups and just really innovative and creative companies and either leading them or helping to kind of get them off the ground in different ways. I can never keep track of what he's doing. He's in his 70s and is still working and I don't think he'll ever stop working. so that was sort of one example I had growing up. my mom was a career mom. So really was there for my sister and I when we got a little older. She worked part time at a bookstore and really instilled the love of reading in my sister and I. But just like my dad, was always super busy and had a very full life outside of Taking care of my sister and I. So just a really great community of friends and activities and always just a very busy set of parents that I had. I have an older sister who's three years older than me. We were not super close when we were younger. She kind of had a rebellious phase and wasn't too interested in hanging out with her little sister. but later in life, she went to college in downtown Chicago. I would go and visit her on weekends and we started to become friends. And, really she's my best friend in the world now. So we're very, very close now. so, you know, I think despite that sort of rebellious phase that my sister went through, overall just had a very. kind of stable family, very consistent upbringing in what I would describe as a fairly conservative and privileged community. My parents had this really, really wonderful and strong group of friends that were really like family. Our, extended family, really is scattered across the whole country. And, Luckily, I did have my grandparents who grew up in the same town, so I had them, but for the rest of my family, they were kind of all over the place, and we didn't see them very often, so we had this really tight knit community of family and friends that, we all grew up with, and many of them still, are considered family in my mind, so that was a really nice thing about the community that we grew up in, the community was A somewhat affluent community and my parents really gave a lot of opportunity to my sister and I to explore and experience different things, which I'm super grateful for, education was really important in my family. So, I was really grateful to not have a ton of obstacles in my way to getting the kind of education that, I wanted to get and, and that was accessible to me. and my parents in general just were really encouraging in for both of us to try new things and to, whether it was traveling or different activities that we were involved in. they were open to us engaging in lots of different things, which was, which was really great. On the other hand, I very quickly learned after going off to college and continuing on into the world that it was a really wonderful place that I grew up in. But it was somewhat of a bubble. It was not, how much of the rest of the world, kind of has a chance to grow up and to kind of operate in life. So I think that the privilege that's afforded by many in that community really makes it hard for folks to appreciate, maybe the challenge. Struggles that others might be facing in life. thinking back, as a child and a teenager, there were just things that I never really noticed or thought about, And it wasn't until later in life that I was, I was like, wow, there's some other things happening in this world. So fortunately, I think the spirit of exploration and new experiences that was instilled in me, really allowed me to feel comfortable to go out of my comfort zone later in life. And it, it had a big impact on how I learned and evolved as a young adult.

Lynn: 7:34

Yeah, wow that it sounds like almost like an idyllic childhood in some ways. Yet I appreciate that you named like it was a bubble right because I think with you. Having lots of opportunities and education first. It's that really, beautiful yet privileged childhood. but it sounds like your parents gave you a lot of values in terms of, adventure and exploring other ways of living. I mean, even just, you know, moving to Tokyo for Five years and giving you that experience, even though you, you were a, a wee little baby. but just showing that as a model it sounds was really powerful for you.

Charlotte: 8:26

Yeah, absolutely. And, and there were other experiences that I had once I was a little older that I actually remember and beyond my, my birth years. but yeah, I mean, my parents just, they, they love traveling. They love, of spirit of exploration. And again, I think my dad is sort of that serial entrepreneur. he's not afraid of trying new things and taking risks. And, it's something that That, I think really became a part of who I was because it was my parents were, they were always pushing us to do new things and try new things and figure out how to do things ourselves. and so, yeah, I think, I think, there are things again about that community that were a little bit, perhaps not the real world that most of the world is. But, I feel lucky that I had opportunities to kind of get out of that bubble and, and see what else is out there and, recognize that privilege that I had growing up.

Lynn: 9:23

Mm-Hmm. I love that. And I think that concept of what is the real world right? Is, is just interesting because that was the real world for you. yet I think probably having those opportunities and experiences of seeing other ways of living led you to realize, oh, the real world is different for other people. so I'm excited to see how that plays out in some of your turns and in in your own path. so as you know, as a listener, you know, I like to bookend the conversation. So where and how are you currently spending your days?

Charlotte: 9:58

So, I did spend quite a bit of time moving around and traveling, in my early adulthood, but, my Husband and I settled in Milwaukee and have been here for going on 16 years. And we now have two daughters. And as I was telling you, two dogs that are along for the ride with us as well. in addition to going to grad school and starting to raise kids, the majority of my time here in Milwaukee. Milwaukee has been spent working at a specialty and emergency veterinary hospital. and it's an industry that I got into, kind of just before we moved to Milwaukee. about two years ago, I transitioned out of the hospital that I had been at, and I've been doing independent consulting, primarily supporting women owned small businesses. So some of my clients are still in the veterinary space, but not all of them. so that's been some really fun and interesting new work that I've been involved in over the last couple of years. I also dedicate some of my time to a couple of really great and amazing organizations in Milwaukee. So one is called BAPE Bridge. It's a grassroots organization that's working to make the community that I live in, more welcoming, inclusive, diverse, all of the good things. And I'm the treasurer of that group. So that's been a really fun and engaging, part of where I spend my time. Another group that I'm pretty involved in, which actually I know you know about or starting to learn about, is Professional Dimensions. and so I'm a board member and committee member, and it's a professional, a women's professional networking group here in Milwaukee. And, and the organization does a lot of really impactful work to advance, Advanced different things in this community like racial and gender equity in addition to just connecting some really wonderful and interesting women who want to get some, some great work done. So spend some of my time on those two things. I also have a 9 and an 11 year old daughter, two daughters, And they're getting older and busier and much of my time is spent carting them around, supporting them through, all the natural turmoil of growing up and becoming the little people that they are, or honestly just hanging out with them because they still really like hanging out with me and they're my little buddies. So that is something that I really enjoy as well. yeah. And then I guess finally I have, I make sure that I try and find some time for some other, small joys in life that kind of are just for me. So I have a pretty dedicated yoga and mindful movement practice at this amazing studio on the east side. I spend lots of time reading. I mentioned that I have a sort of a lifelong love of reading, so I spend a lot of my time doing that. and then I spend so much time taking care of my dogs. elicit a special kind of love that you only get through that human animal bond. But at the same time, also drive me crazy and make me wonder why I have an extra set of responsibilities in the house. So, but I do love them very much. So yeah, that's how I spend my time today. Yes.

Lynn: 13:16

dog owners can of I love this dog. Why? Why

Charlotte: 13:21

I know, they, they do the craziest things and I'm just like, oh, why, why are you doing this? So, yeah, today's actually one of their birthdays, so we're celebrating today.

Lynn: 13:33

happy birthday dog. Happy by the time this comes out, they'll be a few months older, but happy birthday Happy belated birthday to them. It sounds like you're really busy because you could have stopped after I run my own business and I would have been like, Charlotte is doing a lot. and then being mom and dog mom and yogi and treasurer and, community member. That's, that's a lot. And I, I think you probably know, I've been trying to figure out how to balance a lot of that. and I don't even have mom or dog mom on my plate right now. So that, that's really, really impressive. so thank you. You talked about okay, where did life begin? where you're at now. and I'm excited to fill in the in between. But before we do that, I'm curious. So going back to that childhood, most of us grow up with some sort of expectations placed on us or external pressures. whether those are explicit or not, but they're really molds that we didn't ask for. And I'm curious what some of those were for you, and if there was an expected path for you to take. Oh,

Charlotte: 14:54

as I talked about, I grew up in a fairly conservative and sort of traditional community where, most folks are sort of expected to follow the path of, doing well in school, going to college, getting married, having kids, sort of that, that very traditional path. I never really felt These pressures overtly from my parents sort of outwardly saying this is what we expect you to do. I think it was just more sort of this. This lingering sense out there. And that's sort of what everybody I knew was more or less doing. most of my, my friends had moms similar to mine that were not working outside the home. so that was something else that maybe wasn't an expectation of me, but definitely sort of a norm in my community and sort of the model that I saw growing up. once I did start to get older and went to college and graduated from college, I saw that many people that I grew up with didn't stray too far from home. a lot of people going to the same colleges and then moving home to Chicago and living downtown for a few years, getting married, and then moving back, out to the suburbs to be a part of that same community and, I, I definitely have had points in my life where I've sort of felt the weight of those expectations, again, not overtly from you. anyone in particular, but just kind of knowing oh, that's kind of, that's kind of what a lot of people that I grew up with are doing. and I think at times I worried that maybe my parents were disappointed that neither my sister or I exactly followed that path. but I would like to argue that it was really their encouragement to kind of explore and get out there that ultimately sort of deterred my interest from following that path along the way, which is sort of interesting. I'd say my sister in particular really carved her own path outside of those expectations. You know, I mentioned she sort of had this rebellious phase. as a teenager, and then has continued throughout her life to carve a very, unique and interesting path. I think when I was a kid and I saw her kind of going through what she was going through and, and seeing my parents go, going through what she was sort of putting them through. I think I probably conformed more than she did, because honestly, I felt a little sorry for all the stress that was being caught in our family, I just wanted to make it easier for everyone. So I kind of just, you know, did what I thought was sort of expected of me. I never really had an interest in raising my family back home and I knew that I didn't want to stop contributing in a professional capacity after having kids. and I don't know. I mean, I think that I look at the life that I've built and, now that I do have my own family and I, I recognize that my kids definitely. live, still a privileged life in comparison to a lot of people. But I think the difference maybe from how I grew up is the conversation that surrounds that privilege and the expectations that my husband and I have of what to do with that privilege. So so yeah, I, that's sort of a roundabout answer, perhaps, but, I think that's, that's sort of been my mindset and sort of, again, sort of sensing that those, that lingering, expectation out there in the world from where I grew up.

Lynn: 18:20

Yeah, that's helpful because it helps to set the scene a little bit and to hear that you have this really unique model from your sister, in her carving her own path and probably not explicitly, but you were thinking like, you Okay, let's make it a little bit easier on others. It's just, it's just really fascinating. So I love that. And, and thank you for sharing, just because that helps us think through, when we're looking at your path and how you're redrawing that, how some of that might show up. so let's go chronologically through Charlotte's life. What was the first big way that you redrew your path? hmm.

Charlotte: 19:06

so I think, the first way was really when I was in high school, sort of at the end of my high school career. I think you oftentimes people get to their senior year and they're pretty Just having a great time. It's the best. They're with their, best friends getting ready to go to college and they're just having a wonderful final year in high school. I was really just kind of done with high school. I, I was ready to not be there. I had a lot of older friends, and so by the time I got to be a senior, I just kind of felt like I was ready to be done, too. And I, had worked really hard and I had enough credit, so I graduated after my first semester. And, again, just crediting my parents and their encouragement to sort of expand and explore. I decided that it was time to kind of get out and do something new. And for my second semester of my senior year, I went and traveled to Greece and I lived in Greece for about three or four months. And I studied there and, was a part of this little tiny community on the island of Crete. And it was really my first time. traveling on my own and having that kind of experience without my parents there with me. So I feel like that experience, really set the stage for a lot of the adventure and exploration that, continue to follow in my life. I think one of the biggest skills that I learned during the time was how to navigate uncertainty and figure out how to make things work with limited resources. resources or limited guidance. and I think about some of the experiences that I had after my time in Greece and how, how that lesson really applied. So, like when I was in Greece, I had to learn how to speak Greek so that I could communicate with people, which was. I mean, it is what it sounds like it's speaking Greek. It's very difficult. but I was part of this little community. And so I figured out how to how to do that. again, we were in this really small little town, we had no access to like washing machines or dryers or anything. So we had to wash all of our our clothes by hand, there were just a lot of different things happening in that really first experience, leaving home that were so different from anything I had experienced before. but it was so great and I loved it.

Lynn: 21:30

when you went to Greece, were you part of a program or was it like an unstructured immersion?

Charlotte: 21:38

Yeah. it was, it was a program. it was really small. There were only, gosh, probably like eight or ten of us who were in this program. And, yeah, we lived in this little house together and, we did all sorts of crazy things. There was a learning component, there was definitely a studying component, but we were just kind of doing it there in our house with a couple instructors who were a part of the program. And then. There was very much, sort of a community and sort of anthropological component as well. we all had jobs in the community that we would spend half of our day at the job and learning in that way. the person who ran the program, he lived up in the hills on this farm. So we worked on the farm as a part of our experience there too. And so that was like a whole other, kind of new thing for me. just like learning where our food comes from and, being a part of that, like when we had our Easter celebration, like we knew exactly where our food came from and we're a part of preparing that. And so, yeah, so many different things were happening in that program.

Lynn: 22:45

Yeah. Well, and it sounds like just a really exciting opportunity to expand your world as that was happening. Were you like super excited, happy to be in the program the entire time? Or were there any like tough moments along the way?

Charlotte: 23:01

I think probably at the beginning I was, I was likely a little homesick. I grew up going to a lot of sleep away summer camps and I loved them, but I was always very, very homesick for the first like week or two. And that probably happened to me in Greece, in Greece too, cause I was so far away from home. but you know, I was there and made such good friends and, As much as I love the exploration and, sort of the experience of new, I'm also a creature of habit and, you know, I got into a routine there and, you know, kind of knew what to expect and, you know, that serves me really well when I'm trying to find that sort of stability among the chaos, I guess I would say. So, yeah, most of the time I I was very happy to be there. I honestly didn't feel like, I remember having friends being like, Oh, aren't you sad? You're going to miss out on second semester senior year. We're gonna have so much fun and like. I didn't really care,

Lynn: 23:56

You're like, no, not at all. I'm

Charlotte: 24:00

and I had major culture shock when I came home, I was able to be home in time for graduation and you know, my friends were still finishing up the last few weeks of school. And I just I missed being in Greece so much. And I, I just, I remember kind of like holing up and not wanting to go out and engage. And, my parents understood, but they were also like, you might regret if you don't, you know, go graduation and all of that. And so I, I, I did all the things and it was fine and it was great. But, yeah, no, I, I, I, never really felt like I was missing anything and I definitely felt like I got more. More out of it, more out of that time than I would have if I, if I had stuck around.

Lynn: 24:39

absolutely. Did you feel like you grew or developed a different self perception during and right after that

Charlotte: 24:47

yeah, definitely. Again, I think, the program was very, very focused, from like a education standpoint on anthropology. And that was something I really didn't even know what anthropology was at that point. And, that was really, I think, what has Through my life, kind of kept me open and, and aware and curious about how other people are living and the experiences that other people have and so I'm always kind of like looking at things with that anthropological lens, um, and so, and a lot of that, that area of study, kind of forces you to do sort of that self reflection because you're looking you know, which naturally then, you know, what is other compared to you?

Lynn: 25:37

yeah.

Charlotte: 25:37

I was pretty young, but, um, yeah, it, it, it for sure my perception of myself again, started that reflection on sort of the community that I grew up in and what I wanted to continue to learn about and experience going forward from there.

Lynn: 25:56

I love that. Yeah. And I can totally relate that reverse culture shock is very real, especially when you are at a young age and it's hard to step outside of yourself and you're really in that, very ego centric space. So I hear that. what about, the next way you redrew your path? What does life look like from there in terms of redrawing your path? Okay.

Charlotte: 26:23

Yeah. So the next time I'm sort of the next big redrawing of my path that I. Can point to would be, well, as I mentioned, we, my husband and I traveled a bunch after college and lived in a few different places. One of the places that we landed was in Colorado. And, we moved there because he got a fellowship at this. Sort of environmental think tank, and we were going to be there for at least 6 months. Um, and, but we didn't really know what was going to happen after that. So I decided that I was going to try to get a job in some area that I'd always thought would be interesting and fun, but something that I didn't feel like I needed to make a huge commitment to, um, as far as, you know, my overall career path or, you know, to the employer. And I thought to myself, well, I love animals. I'm going to see if I can get a job working at, a veterinary clinic. So I applied to a couple of jobs. And I ended up getting an offer at a specialty and emergency hospital, as a veterinary assistant on the surgical team. And I started my work there. They hired me on part time and I asked them, I said, you know, I'd really love to work full time. Do you have anything else, maybe on the administrative side that I could help with just so that I can get some full time hours? And They said, sure, actually, we could use some help. Our hospital directors on maternity leave, we've got some gaps. I'm sure we can find some things for you to do. and I said, that's awesome. and I kind of jumped in. I, I knew pretty quickly that I was not interested in pursuing the clinical side of things. So, basically how my day went was I would come in and I'd spend the morning working, On the clinic floor with the surgery team. And then in the afternoon I would change out of my scrubs and I would like go to the office and, and, work on all the different things that were happening in the hospital. And we were going through some changes. We were getting ready to move to a new location down the street. We, it was sort of like an office sharing cooperative situation. um, that was not working very well. So that relationship was dissolving. And so there was like sort of a marketing rebranding. Um, process that was happening. And so they kind of just plugged me in to help with all of those things. And there were all these different things happening on the business side that were kind of really fun and exciting. And, and I knew I didn't want to pursue like going to vet school and doing the clinical side of things. And so things just started to get really busy. And they said, would you like to come and work full time on the administrative side? And we could really, you know, continue to use more of your help on that side. And so I said, okay. And, had this amazing opportunity in, you know, and we were there less than a year, um, to really help them with this whole rebranding project, coordinating a big move, and construction that was happening down the road, and, just got some great exposure to the industry and, and helping a small and growing business do all of the many things that needed to be done. I found that I just really loved being a part of that. And I loved, even though I decided I didn't want to be on the clinical side, I really loved helping people and their pets and seeing the ways that we were able to help families that were coming in with these furry family members, um, in their households. And then, you know, ultimately, we could have stayed in Colorado forever. My husband got a full time job offer. I could have stayed at this clinic longer if I'd wanted to, but we are both from the Midwest and wanted to move closer to home, and we ultimately decided to make that move and both got jobs in Milwaukee. And, I Had found a similar clinic here in Milwaukee and, was fortunate to apply and get this position as an assistant. Hospital manager at a specialty in emergency practice. And that's where I then proceeded to spend the next, gosh, like 14 years of my career, 13 or 14 years of my career with this hospital. And so, so that was a big turning point, I think just like deciding to take the leap and try something totally different and. new. Um, and. I just was really fortunate to have found such a great group of people when I was there in Colorado who, instilled this love of veterinary medicine in me and kind of set me on that path and gave me a lot of opportunity to do some great work that, you know, I was just some girl off the street, they didn't know me.

Lynn: 31:06

Mm hmm.

Charlotte: 31:08

They let me do all of these things and help them, and it was so fun,

Lynn: 31:12

yeah, as you shifted from like the clinical side to, I mean, even just I'm picturing like a day in the life of Charlotte, and just like going from wearing scrubs to wearing the business clothes. Was there any reframing that you had to do in your mind in terms of how you saw yourself or what skills you brought to the table as you went from, I'm going to work with the surgical team and animals to like, wow, I'm helping coordinate a move and a rebrand. And those are very different skills.

Charlotte: 31:44

Yeah. Yeah. Um, I think for me, the, and I, I just thinking logistically about how my days went, it probably was a good thing that I was on the clinic floor in the morning. And then transition to sort of that administrative role in the afternoons, because, the clinical side was really the more challenging side for me, at least initially, because it was something I had never done before. Like I was, I was learning how to restrain animals. I was in the EOR and learning about. anesthesia and monitoring patients. I learned how to put in a catheter, like all these things that were just, you know, so foreign to me. Um, and then by the time like midday came and I change out of my scrubs and get to work, like that was my more sort of familiar world of doing some of these things. And so that part, I think is where I was just drawn a little bit more because it just was in my wheelhouse. And ultimately, you know, I realized that that's what I really more. Um, but I also realized in retrospect, after being in that world for so many years now. I'm so glad that I did it because the veterinary industry is really tough on, management that does not have any experience on that clinical side. And so the relationships that I was able to develop while I was working on the clinic floor, you know, really served me when I was then trying to help drive forward some of these other projects because they knew me better than if I was just that person in the back office. I never worked on the clinic floor when we, ultimately came back to Milwaukee, but I always kind of carried that with me of trying to. Be cognizant of being present and making those connections

Lynn: 33:30

Yeah, it's that street cred, right? Like that

Charlotte: 33:32

Yeah, totally.

Lynn: 33:33

been there. I've done it. I've had like, I've had to restrain an animal, which I've done it. so what, what was your next big turn in life or what was your next big way that you redrew your path? Wow.

Charlotte: 33:46

yeah, so I, I landed here in Milwaukee and, um, I proceeded to work at this. Amazing hospital. I joined it when I was, or when the hospital had been open for about a year. We were really small. We had sort of one and a half locations, I would say, and maybe 20 employees. And over the years, we just continued to grow. my Like, I guess within 10 years, we had grown from that 20 employees, to like 150 plus employees, and we had three fully operational 24 seven specialty and emergency hospitals, like 40 doctors, like crazy, crazy growth. It was so exciting. I learned. So much during my time there, um, was really, really grateful to be given the opportunity to help kind of steer the ship and grow this business over the years. As sort of the tenured manager on the team, um, I was really fortunate to be in a position where I could sort of hire a management team as we grew that allowed me to focus in on the areas that I was enjoying most and then hire, other people to kind of fill in the gaps. Um, however, we started to get bigger and I kind of started to realize that I was missing the variety of work that I had had previously when we were much smaller. So again, like I couldn't do it all. So we had to hire more people. And, and what happened as a result of that is that my scope became more and more narrow and I wasn't getting to do that, that I really enjoyed. So I got to a point where I decided that maybe it was time for something new. And I decided that I was going to leave the hospital and try something new. And I ended up getting a job, for this healthcare kind of tech company. that was a really hard decision to leave the hospital because I was there for such a long time. I, really had kind of grown up there and been given so many of the professional opportunities that, kind of shaped my career. So it was, it was really difficult to leave, but I, I decided it was time. I ended up at this IT company. and On my first day of my new job, my dog got sick and I had to bring him back to the hospital. And he had to be hospitalized, so he was staying at the hospital. And every day after work during that first week of would leave and I go back to my old job so that I could be with him and check in on how he was doing. so that. was really sort of interesting to, to go through that. you know, I was trying to sort of separate myself. It was a really big change. It was one, I was still like, not really sure how this was all going. and then suddenly I was back, I was back at my old job. and so. aside from that component of being back at my old work, I already was starting to have this sort of like internal unease about what was happening. And I, I really wasn't sure if I had made the right decision about moving to this new job.

Lynn: 36:55

hmm.

Charlotte: 36:55

And, um, it was further complicated by the fact. So, so I'm at my old job. I'm at my new job. I'm like, I don't know if I made the right decision here. What am I doing? And my new boss who had hired me, as it turned out, and we, we realized this during the interview process, he, had a son who's in my daughter's class at school, so he's like, he's in my community, I see him around, he's, he's here and there, and I'm just like, oh gosh, what have I done here? Is this, is this gonna work out? And, um, I spent this week going back and forth between the two places and being on the patient side with my dog, I just really was reminded about why I had loved working there so much and the mission that we Lived by and the amazing service that we provided to the community. and so many of the things that I had been feeling disconnected from and the reasons that I, had decided to leave. And like, I was, I was able, I was on the clinic floor, which I, you know, was getting more distant from as the company got bigger and I was in the trenches and I was receiving the care and I was like, oh my gosh, I love this place. So I made the decision about three weeks, three weeks in that it was not the right place for me at this new job. And I decided to, to resign from that position and do it quickly before things got too far along. So I resigned from that position as gracefully as I could. And I will say. that my interim boss there is such a lovely human being. He was so gracious in accepting my resignation and understanding where I was coming from. I still see him all the time because his his son is still in my daughter's class and I see him out and about and like at school and all the things. He's so nice and um, I was just really fortunate that he handled things the way that he did and it could have been really

Lynn: 38:59

Yeah.

Charlotte: 39:00

So I resigned from there and then I reached out to my old boss and I said, can we get together? Outside of the hospital, I'd really like to talk to you some more. And I basically rewrote my job description and proposed coming back at 30 hours a week with some changes to my job that basically would allow me to kind of get my hands back in the mix of some more things that I had sort of lost touch with over the years. And, amazingly, I had given three months notice, but they had still not hired a replacement. And when I sat down with him and kind of proposed what I proposed, he went back to the rest of the owners they welcomed me back, which was amazing. and so I basically was gone for like a month or maybe. Maybe a month and a half. And then came back and, I had just sort of reshaped what my job was there. Um, you know, I was feeling like the way I was spending my time was allowing me to connect more to, the things that I, loved so much and, I, I was like back in this really great place. And I. I had several more years at the hospital and they were so wonderful. And I, you know, I just, I try to pay attention to things that I feel like the world is sort of telling me. And I felt like, well, Oh, just to back up, my dog was okay. So he recovered.

Lynn: 40:23

I've been on the edge of my seat.

Charlotte: 40:25

I'm sorry. I should have said that from the beginning. My dog was okay. um, of course I did not want him to have to go through that but I feel like the world was trying to tell me something and I feel like that all happened for a reason. And it was like, I don't regret leaving because if I hadn't left, I wouldn't have had that sort of realization that I did. I wouldn't have gone through the process of sort of rewriting my job and sort of. Changing the way things were. And I wouldn't have like that those several more years at the hospital that I had, that were so great if I hadn't done all of those things. So that was a really sort of amazing and sort of interesting experience that I went through.

Lynn: 41:12

What a U-turn.

Charlotte: 41:13

Kind of stressful at the time. Yeah.

Lynn: 41:16

Yeah. What a u-turn. And you used the word because you mentioned stressful. And it's interesting. I think when we're going through these turns, we often feel alone, or at least I have felt alone. Um, and like nobody in the history of humankind is. ever taken a job and regretted it. Or nobody has ever gone through this. so you talked about like it being stressful and then you, you said you use the word unease. do you remember the first moment that you felt that feeling of unease and what was, what was that like and how did you know that it was? Unease. Mm.

Charlotte: 41:56

it was? probably like on the first day that I was there at the new job and I tried to kind of tamp it down or crush it down. However, you would say that because I'm like, this is just nerves. I've been at the same job for 10 years. This is a big change. I need to give this a chance, but the environment was just, it was, it was not the right fit for me. I sort of knew what I was getting into, but not really. and and just to kind of put some more color on what that environment was, is it was, it was a it was a healthcare tech company. So the majority of the employees, it was a really small team, but the majority of employees were, developers. And it was sort of like this open office concept. And, um, we all were out there and everyone there used Slack and. There's all these different Slack channels and everyone's messaging each other on Slack, Like, oh, and even like Like, and I'm like literally sitting right here and, and I'm like, I'm like, I want to go and it just, you know, it was, it was different and, the people were all lovely. They were so nice. I was there for like three weeks and I met with them all one on one and they were great, great people. And the work they were doing there was wonderful. And I still get updates on sort of how the company's going and everything. So it just was for me, I'm, I'm not the most outgoing person. And so then to be kind of in this where there's just like no interaction, I just felt like it was not good for my, like, I need sort of that push to be engaging with people and, you know, interacting otherwise. I just, I just felt very, very isolated. I just, I wasn't sure I the person to come in and make that change. And then, to have this experience happen at the same time with my own pet, I just felt like the world was trying to tell me something. So I, I think I started to feel that I don't think this is the right spot for me.

Lynn: 43:59

Yeah. Yeah. It's interesting because you are right in that, oh, like, you've been at the same job for 10 years, so maybe that unease is just nerves or is just getting used to a new situation. And I think it's the power in stepping back and really listening. To what is your, what is the universe telling you? Or what is whatever faith faith provider you have telling you? Or what is your like inner wiser person telling you? and just being able to step back and do that, I think is a real skill rather than continuing to, hide that unease and that anxiety

Charlotte: 44:38

Yeah. And it was hard because I have never done anything like that in my life. Like, I I couldn't believe that I took a job and that I was going to leave so quickly. I was like, this is not this is not how you're supposed to do things. It's like, this? is the kind of thing that, you know, as a hiring manager in the past, I would just be so annoyed and frustrated with, I was like, why am I doing this? Um, so it was, it was very difficult. And again, it could have gone very badly, but again, this lovely human who. runs that organization. He was just so great and understanding. So, um, I felt awful about I felt awful about the situation. And so I was very grateful that he was so understanding and supportive.

Lynn: 45:17

yeah, I was gonna say because going back to your childhood and, just hearing you say like, I wanted to make it easier on others. I hear maybe a little bit people pleaser in there. And The idea of like, I took this job and now I'm stepping back and you're putting yourself in, in that hiring manager's shoes. Like, were you struggling with any sort of rewriting about how you saw yourself at that point?

Charlotte: 45:44

Oh yeah. I was struggling with this, sort of dichotomy of like, okay, I'm trying to listen to my gut and what I think I know I should be doing and then like, what, I think I should be doing and they were very much at odds. And so trying to kind of come to some sort of internal agreement and just come, come to some sort of peace about the decision. And you know, I couldn't have it both ways. There was not really an in between. So, um, I had to kind of make a decision. And so that was very hard because it was. It was very much, um, two sort of battling sides of myself trying to figure out what to do in that situation.

Lynn: 46:25

Yeah, absolutely. The mental gymnastics I've done a million times of, but maybe I could keep this job and help them through the transition and then start this new, and no, no, like just, you have to be okay with letting others down or, you know, kind of rewriting that. Um, so do you have any other big turns in life that you want to talk about?

Charlotte: 46:46

Yeah. I mean, so the last one I would say is, sort of most recently when I decided to kind of, get to where I am right now, which is doing this independent consulting. And this is, it was sort of a big thing for me. a winding path to get here as well. as I just mentioned, I, I ended up going back to the hospital and I was there for several more years. during 2020, we started to entertain the idea of selling to a corporate consolidator, which is kind of the way of the world in veterinary medicine, unfortunately. So. I knew it was coming. We all knew it was coming, but it, it did happen sooner than I think a lot of us had expected. plus it all happened in the midst of the pandemic. Occurring like we had started the conversations and then suddenly COVID came and, we continued on this path of still trying to sell the hospital that year. by the end of 2020, the sale had closed and we were suddenly a part of this huge corporation. And, I quickly transitioned from being sort of a key decision maker and leader in the hospital. Somebody who had a seat at the table to kind of steer the ship. and, sort of develop the way. That we were moving and, um, became what I would call a, a cascader of information is how I like to characterize what my role became. So my job basically became being sort of that intermediary between our market of three hospitals here in Milwaukee and sort of the regional and corporate, you know, leadership who was sort of making the decisions, creating the policies, doing all the things. feeding that information to me. And then my job was to sort of make sure that that was implemented in all of our hospitals and make sure that the managers had their, the information that they needed to implement everything in the hospitals. So, after an initial few months of helping to kind of orchestrate the management. organization, which included, you know, new roles for some people. It included some layoffs for other people, which was really tough. my days sort of became, mostly spent on teams calls with folks who weren't here in Milwaukee. So. it became clear to me pretty quickly that I was not going to be happy in the long term with sort of playing that middle woman position. And I really Started to miss the creative thinking, the problem solving, listening to ideas from other people that I could really help, translate into action. Like, all of that sort of gone. so, after about a year of assisting with the transition. I gave another three month notice and I, worked to try and set up my team for success as best as I could. And then I decided to leave and I had no plan when I left. I had no idea what I was going to do. I just knew that I couldn't stay there and that I was probably not going to be able to figure out what I wanted to do while I was still there. So I was in a really fortunate position that I have, an amazing partner who has a good job and he could kind of help support me as I began upon this next chapter in my life. So, I had started a search, but I was so busy in those last few months that I left my job that I really didn't get a lot of traction or make much progress. So I spent the first couple of months of 2022 looking at and applying to so many different jobs. A, that is not the best way to find a job, just applying to jobs. it's, just like, it's, it's really hard to just go on websites and apply to jobs. And the, the response is difficult. but also nothing was really calling out to me. So several mentors and different advisors that, I was working pretty closely with through this transition. They helped me realize that my background and experience and interests were pretty unique and that what I was looking for was not. really well defined. I knew that I liked working with small growing businesses. I liked wearing many different hats and, I liked having like variety and opportunity to use different parts of my brain. I had just this really broad generalist background that allowed me to help in a lot of different areas, but it was really hard to make it clear to. Employers and honestly, sometimes myself, like what exactly was the right position that like I could kind of fit into and what value I could bring to the table. So it just was really hard to like, look at job postings, given my background and kind of what I thought might make me happy. So it was pretty exhausting and, a little bit defeating. It was, it was a difficult time. Um, so I spent a lot of time trying to work to better define what that all looked like so that I could make my value more clear to employers and again to myself also. So I spent a lot of time, doing different exercises and trying to like define all of that better. and while this is all happening, I found myself having Some extra time that I hadn't had before to spend with my two daughters who, um, are now nine and 11. and I took advantage of that time and feel like I was able to be there and support them in ways that had really been difficult for me before. And I started to think to myself, this is really pretty great that I'm getting the opportunity to do this.

Lynn: 52:05

Mm-Hmm.

Charlotte: 52:06

I started to think back and, you know, when they were born, I had gone back to work straight away after maternity leave, I feel like you hear a lot of stories from moms about, how they leave the workforce. When they have babies so that they can have that special time with their kids at home. And that was not something that I was ever interested in. We had an amazing group of caregivers. in those early years of our, of our kids who just supported our family and giving them everything that they needed at that stage in their

Lynn: 52:37

Mm-Hmm.

Charlotte: 52:38

And I just feel so grateful that they were there to help us in that way. and that, you know, my husband and I were able to do all the things professionally that we wanted to do. At that time, but now, they're at this stage in life where they're becoming real people who are making choices and they're facing challenges and I don't want another caregiver being the person that's helping them through that. so that is something that I. I'm so, so grateful that has sort of like folded into this whole transition for me. Um, and again, I'm in this very privileged position to have a partner that, you know, allows me, uh, financially to be able to do

Lynn: 53:15

Mm-Hmm.

Charlotte: 53:16

I've been able to take the space to find the right next thing for me and, and offer my time to the girls in a way that I had never done before. So, you know, time continues to go on in the spring of 2022. I have this one particular mentor who I was meeting with regularly. He was my first boss out of college that I've always kept in touch with. And he and I started talking more as I was going through all of this. And he really pushed me to figure out something that I could nurture on the side during this exploration phase. So that. I could feel productive and so that I could feel engaged while I continued this whole exhausting process of trying to figure out So I started to do a little consulting on the side and he was so kind. He threw me like a little project to get me started. And, shortly thereafter, this former colleague of mine, reached out and he had a project that he was working on that I ended up getting involved in. And, it just started to kind of like evolve into this thing that I started to do. And, that, second job that I had, that this colleague of mine got me involved in, it was a, A veterinarian who was opening a new practice and she needed some help with all the things. and so I jumped in and started helping her get ready to open the practice, putting together, plans for, her operations, her HR, her financial management. I helped her hire the whole team. I still, to this day, I'm continuing to work with her manager and with her on basically anything that they need that comes up that they just need some extra support on. And so. That started to happen and I was having so much fun and I knew I didn't want to be that person in the hospital kind of building it up from the ground and like being in it as an employee, but being that sort of advisor or, you know, extra set of hands, if you will, that could bring that expertise to the table and make it just a little bit easier for her as an owner to go through that journey was really wonderful. And I still wasn't totally sure as I worked through that summer if this was, could this really be something? And I was still looking elsewhere. And then something happened towards the end of 2022 that really, made me decide that this is what I should be doing, at least in this moment. And that was My sister is a small business owner. She lives in Cleveland and she owns a really fun wine bar and retail shop and she opened it in 2018. She persevered through COVID which was an amazing feat and ultimately she brought on her right hand man, who had been with her from the beginning as a minority owner to help her continue to grow the business. So he officially came on in October of 2022 as. You know, an owner of the business. And then tragically and unexpectedly, he passed away from a heart attack in the beginning of December of that year. So it was devastating. so naturally, we all, rallied around her during that very difficult time. and I told her immediately, like, if there was anything I could do to take off of her plate as she navigated this tragedy, that I would do it. So within a week, I had learned how to do all of the basic sort of financial operations and tasks that I could immediately take off of her plate and do remotely. And then basically, as the weeks and the months went on and she started to kind of find a new rhythm of life without him, I just started to take on more projects and help her in more ways that made sense.

Lynn: 56:47

Yeah.

Charlotte: 56:48

so that project has been really interesting and exciting. Um, we've navigated so many different challenges. And really, it was another example of, in my mind, like, the world telling me that this is what I need to be doing right now. that happened in December, January, 2023 was when I was like, she needs me right now. And it was obviously compounded by the fact that she's my sister and my best friend, and she really needed me. And I was like, I think the world is trying to tell me something right now. Like this is what I'm supposed to be doing in this moment. So that was when I really kind of committed to continuing with this consulting path and trying to grow my business and get more clients and. Try and really turn this into something more sustainable. and that's, that's what I've been working on over the last year is really trying to focus on helping small businesses. again, mostly female owned businesses. It's been so gratifying to be able to bring my skills to these passionate individuals who really got into business because. they're passionate about what They do, not because. They love running a business. And so that's where I can come in and kind of help fill in those gaps. and you know, my goal is to just really try and make their journeys a little bit easier. And it brings me a lot of joy to see how helpful I can be to them, in ways that I think they didn't even realize perhaps they needed help. there's just like all these different experiences that I have had that I can try and bring to the table to make their lives a little bit easier. And I still, with every client that I've worked with, there's new and interesting things that I get to learn too. And that's what I love. Like, again, it's navigating that uncertainty and like figuring out how to Do things with limited resources and connecting the information and connecting the people. So I get a lot of that now with what I'm doing. And so it's, it's kind of meeting all of those needs and spend all this time with my kids and, be there for them in great ways. And I just kind of feel like I'm in the right place in this moment in

Lynn: 58:48

Yeah. Oh, that's awesome. Thank you so much for sharing that. And, and it's a lot and I have so many follow up questions and I'll try, I'll try to recap, for sake of length. But what I, what I heard was really like giving yourself space to spend time with your family, figure out what was right for Charlotte. And even while you were trying to build something, you were still continuing a job search and You were You were like well, I'm still here's my path, but like I'm doing this thing on the side. So one I hear is just like space and, figuring out oh, this is actually bringing me joy. two, I hear, uh, leaning in where the universe is giving you that opportunity, and where people who you loved needed you, right? And I think sometimes we can learn so much just by navigating That discomfort and leaning, really leaning in there. so was it new for you to think of yourself as, an entrepreneur and as, a business owner?

Charlotte: 59:56

Yeah. You know, I think, I've always worked in small and growing businesses, and I feel like I've always had the opportunity to see great examples of entrepreneurs, but I have never, been, I guess, the person steering the ship in, in that seat, um, which is a new thing for me. I still, I think, struggle with, sort of calling myself an entrepreneur, which I guess I kind of need to get over that and embrace it. Um, because I feel like I'm still just the person helping all these entrepreneurs, which is what I like. That's what I like doing. Um, but I know I need to also, probably spend more time focusing on being that entrepreneur myself and working on building my own client base. And these are all things that need to. continue to focus on, but in a perfect world, I would just keep doing all the work and not have to worry about any of those things.

Lynn: 1:00:47

hmm. Right? Like run everybody else's businesses, but not be the entrepreneur as your identity, Is there anything else you want to share about that turn in your life, in terms of how you saw yourself, or the messiness that you were going through in reframing?

Charlotte: 1:01:06

you know, one thing that I really struggled with and still do a little bit, but it's getting a bit easier is Trying to marry what I'm doing now with, some of these expectations I still have in my head and this idea of I need to be working full time and making X amount of money in order to be on the right path and That's absolutely not what I'm doing right now. Um, and sometimes I still feel a little bit of discomfort with that and feeling like am I, I'm not really doing what I'm supposed to be doing. but that's also okay. Like, and that's what I keep reminding myself is. is. That's okay. somebody said to me, like, trying to let go of those old perspectives that I might be holding on to, um, like some of those other narratives that might be still going through my head that might not still be true or necessary. Um, so that's something that's still a little messy for me in this journey right now. Um, and I'm really just trying to embrace, the fact that. You know, it hasn't been that long and I look at where I am now compared to where I was, you know, back at the beginning of 2022, right after I left my job of, 14 years or whatever it was. you know, and again, like I said, I feel like I'm where I'm supposed to be. In this moment, So it's all part of that, like, navigating uncertainty, which has just sort of been a theme, I feel like, in journey overall. And so this is just sort of another part of uncertainty that I'm navigating right

Lynn: 1:02:33

Yeah. And I feel like it's such an important skill. And you started building it very young, it sounds like, in navigating, how to wash your clothes by hand in Greece and navigating what the schedule would be like. and now really Navigating that uncertainty that's coming up, but while embracing the progress that you're making. I love that. there any advice you would give to others who are considering redrawing their path?

Charlotte: 1:03:01

Yeah. So, trying to let go of those old perspectives, like I just said, and trying to, recognize that what may have been true in the past may not be true now and and trying to, let go of, of what may have been in the past is definitely something that I keep working on. I also think just trying many different things to see what you like and you don't like. I am so grateful to that former boss and mentor of mine who really just kind of pushed me to start getting busy nurturing something on the side. And A, it was necessary for my sanity to do something productive, you know, so that I could good about that time. But it then ended up kind of turning into something, which, you know, wouldn't have happened if he hadn't really pushed me to, to do that. Like I could have just sat there and continued applying for jobs online and like doing networking and, which is, you know, these are important things to do also. But it turned into something for me. So I think just like trying different things and seeing kind of what sticks for you and what makes you feel good. those are a couple of things. And, and the other thing I keep trying to tell myself. Through all of this is what I do now is not necessarily what I will do forever and that's okay.

Lynn: 1:04:16

that is such incredible advice and, and really helpful. And I think listeners will be taking, taking a lot from that, of just leaning into that uncertainty and trying, trying new things. And I love that advice of what I do now is not what I need to do forever. And I think that's some of the most important advice. that I got along my journey of redrawing my path. Um, so Charlotte, where can listeners find you? And is there anything you would want to share with them?

Charlotte: 1:04:49

they can find me on LinkedIn. I have some information up there, kind of about my experience and what I might be able to offer. There's also a link to my website there, it's Hale Consulting Services. and yeah, I just you know, as I mentioned, I just in this place right now where I am welcoming any opportunities and chances to learn about the journeys that small business owners are either in, um, or about to embark upon and seeing if there's ways that I can help support them. it's just been really fun helping all of these wonderful entrepreneurs and. If anyone wants to chat with me about how I might be able to help them, I would love that.

Lynn: 1:05:27

Awesome. Thank you so much. Yeah, it, I love your emphasis on fun. I think that's so important as we go through these, these big transitions in life.

Charlotte: 1:05:38

absolutely.

Lynn: 1:05:39

Thank you so much for sharing your story with listeners. And yeah, I encourage folks to reach out to Charlotte. on LinkedIn if you. want to connect. Hey, thanks for listening to Redraw Your Path with me Lynn Debilzen, If you liked the episode, please share and subscribe. That helps more listeners find me. And don't be shy, reach out and connect with me on LinkedIn. I would love to know what resonated with you. Can't wait to share more inspiring stories with you. See you next week.