I May Not Have Kids...But I Have Them

There's little more rewarding than having a positive impact on someone's life. I landed my first full-time management position at the age of 23 and I knew by then that I loved managing people. Having the opportunity to guide and mentor someone in their path, whether it be professional or personal, is a privilege.

When I became self-employed back in 2014, it was disappointing knowing that managing a team would no longer be a regular thing, at least not for a while. Fortunately, I didn't have to wait long. In 2016, when I took the job as Skating School Lead, it came with the responsibility of overseeing our volunteer assistants program.

The volunteer assistants are high school and college students who volunteer their time to help out during Skating School classes. Although they are compensated with ice time, it's technically an unpaid position. When I first took over the program, there were maybe half a dozen assistants and nobody ever knew when any of them would or wouldn't show up for classes. It was a curious situation to say the least.

Fast forward three years and as of right now I have 23 assistants, they are all on a regular schedule, and are generally responsible when it comes to communicating an absence or necessary days off. I've had an annual assistants' workshop each of the last four years, which just took place last weekend. Our agenda consisted of an overview of policies and procedures, learning opportunities, and team building activities. I'm proud to say that the workshop has evolved and grown each year - this year I could really feel the sense of belonging and family that my kids (that's what they are to me!) have generated amongst themselves, and that is something I'm immensely proud of.

One of the team building activities from our workshop. This photo wasn't staged and their smiles make me so happy!

I love the relationships I've developed with all my kids - I want to help them in life and be someone to them that I needed when I was their age. I'm honored to have been asked to write letters of recommendation for colleges and honors societies. It makes me sad but so proud to see them off to college and to know they still want to volunteer during their holiday breaks and in the summer. I loved managing adults, and managing teenagers is a different ball game altogether, but so rewarding. They are impressionable, curious, honest, eager to learn - and I don't take for granted this opportunity that I've been afforded to nurture these qualities in a group of such well-rounded young people.

I have to admit that when I'm having a tough time, one of the easiest pick-me-ups is anything to do with my kids. In fact, I consider them and the assistants program a purpose in my life, and I think that's a major key to happiness...FIND A PURPOSE! Find something you're passionate about and figure out a way to positively contribute to it - leave a legacy in some small way. Even if it seems like a small thing, you never know who you could be inspiring along the way, just by being you.

I don't have kids of my own, and maybe I never will, but I have them, and I can't wait to watch them grow.

“A hundred years from now it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove. But the world may be different, because I was important in the life of a boy.” - Forest Witcraft

Most of my kids - plus my good friend, #Kevin, who helped me with the workshop.

#Purpose #Inspire #Teenagers #Manager #Leagcy