Taking a sabbatical from my engineering job was one of the hardest things I have ever done. I have been working as an engineer and/or going to school since I was 5 years old. I worked every summer starting in high school - working is what I do.

Last September I decided that I wanted more time with my family, and I told my boss I wanted to take the summer off. In March, my business partner Mandy (the M in MKelevate) suggested that I set a date for my sabbatical.  She thought that might help make it real and allow me to take the step I needed to remove myself from the company at which I had worked for over 11.5 years. I set May 23rd as my last day. It was the Thursday before Memorial Day Weekend just before our twins 8th birthday. The closer the date came to my summer off, the more I felt like maybe just summer wasn’t going to be enough time for me for me to decompress and figure out what the next chapter in my life is going to hold.