The Missing Mojo

Lynx Rufus Rufus (Bobcat)

 I thought it would be appropriate for my first blog post to talk about how Compliance lynx came to be. As I reflected on the process, it occurred to me that this post is really about seizing and creating opportunity,
I have been talking about starting an accreditation company since I first started doing accreditation in the Ohio juvenile corrections system.  There was a small group of us who were planning and conducting training, doing mock assessments, and helping peers with files. I noticed that this little group felt like a team and thought maybe we should start a company and take our skillset outside the prison walls. Everyone said how awesome it would be, but no one ever took me up on the idea.
Fast forward ten or so years and I am working at a job that I once loved, but I was so unhappy. I was unsupported, unappreciated, and quite honestly felt like I was getting my job done despite my agency's leadership working against me. It was not the job that it began as. It sucked the life out of me. I say this a lot--"I lost my mojo."  I felt stuck. I did accreditation plus wore about 8 other major hats; i was paid very well and nowhere else around paid what I made for accreditation work. I knew I was lucky in that respect, but my health, relationships, and education were suffering the price. I was paying tuition and getting no work done because I didn't have my mojo. 
I had started the PhD program a few years prior when I started having difficulty at work. It was my back-up plan and insurance policy. Accreditation jobs aren't that common so you can’t just go get one anywhere. If I lost my job, then I could at least teach somewhere. 
I was in the penultimate phase of my program when things were at their worst at my job. I thought back to our accreditation dream team and my idea about starting a company. It occurred to me that after I finished my doctoral degree, I could start consulting​ to create some buffer income in the event I left that job, but like I said, I was stuck and making no forward progress without my mojo.
One day, I was at a professional accreditation conference, in a session, when my phone rang.  It was my old Lieutenant who was now a chief somewhere else. He never called me, so I knew something must be wrong. He explained that their accreditation manager had left because the Chief wasn't able to get her position reclassified at the speed she wanted. Now they were months out from an assessment with no one to do the work, and no other employee there had the institutional knowledge to pull it off.  He wondered if I knew anyone who did accreditation consulting. This was the OPPORTUNITY, and without thinking, I seized it!
I said, "Actually, Chief, I was going to start a consulting company after I finished my degree program, but if you really need the help, I will go ahead and do it now. That night, I sat on my hotel bed with my laptop and updated my business plan and came up with a company name. Compliance Lynx reflects my love of all things compliance (accreditation), and also the Lynx nods to both my first name, "Lynn,” and my alma mater, Ohio University, where the mascot is a Bobcat, also known as Lynx Rufus Rufus. I have a print of Lynx Rufus Rufus in my office.  My mom received it as a years of service award and saved it for 25 years until she gave it to me as a graduation present for finishing my Master's degree.
Within a week I had the business license; within two I had a proposal to the agency; by July 1, I had a functioning consulting company and was working for a client. 
After about six months of working with my client agency, something miraculous had happened--I had my mojo back. Working with people who appreciated me, took my advice, and trusted my expertise, which reminded me that I don't only know what I am doing, I am the expert. I realized, to quote Carole Danvers, of Marvel Universe, "I've been fighting with one hand tied behind my back." My confidence at work soared, which helped me navigate the challenging environment.
The client agency was so pleased with my work; they extended my contract for another year. Before that year was up, however, they had posted for the job that was left vacated by the former accreditation manager. They increased the salary to what I was making at my current job because they not only wanted to hire someone like me--they wanted to poach me. I created this OPPORTUNITY for myself. Somehow, I still doubted making the move because change can be scary, but I seized that opportunity as well. BEST DECISION EVER. Within a week, I was overcome with relief. Within 6 months of making the change, I had finished my Ph.D. Life felt like it was just falling together. 
So, don't let those moments pass you by because of fear. Take the chances when you can and invest in yourself. The grass isn't always greener on the other side, but it's definitely greener where it's watered. Seize the opportunities that present themselves and create the ones that don't, but don't ever settle for a life without your mojo.

---