Announcements

Hey Ladies,

First, let me say, I so appreciate each and every one of you for riding with me through every version of my business. It’s been a challenge to find my way over the last few years, and I’ve made some missteps that have taken me out of alignment with what God has been showing me for years.

This journey has been a lesson in obedience, disobedience, alignment, and purpose.

Back in 2010, God called me to quit my job as a claims adjuster for an auto insurance company. He instructed me to return to school to get my certification in elementary education. I was obedient. I had no clue how or why, but I followed his instructions. You see, I had zero desire to be an educator. I was a psychology major in undergrad. I had dreams of earning my master’s and becoming a counselor for youth, or going into industrial and organizational psychology.

But God…

He had another plan for me—a plan far greater than I could have imagined for myself. So, from 2010 until now, I have been in education. I worked my way up from in-house substitute teacher, teaching assistant, classroom teacher, mentor teacher, and grade-level leader, to my current role as Director of Technology.

What God had for me was for me. It wasn’t an easy process, but over time I began to fall in love with this space. Seeing the impact I had on my students was so rewarding, even if my bank account said otherwise. In spite of that, I became dejected after a while and knew there was more for me, but I wasn’t sure what that “more” was. I found myself completely distancing myself from the industry that had filled me with so much joy.

I found myself running!

See, I'd known since elementary school that I wanted to own my own business someday, regardless of what my career was. I was the kid at school selling my handmade crafts to friends and teachers. I got that entrepreneurial spirit from my grandmother, even though she never legally started a business. This was the '80s and '90s, when people had a hustle and didn't need an LLC to be "legit."

Fast forward to now, and I have been feeling the weight of my business—not as if it’s too much, but that it's destined for something that I've only scratched the surface of. For years, I’ve tried to tell God what I wanted to do as a business owner. I’ve reinvented, rebranded, and reimagined my business a thousand times to no avail.

The silence of no clients, no money, and no movement had become deafening, but not in the way you might think. It allowed me to finally hear God clearly. He may have had to use a few familiar voices to confirm some things, but it was definitely Him speaking loud and clear.

He didn't bring me this far to leave me.

He began to show me that the very industry I was running from was the one he intentionally placed me in to shift it. He revealed to me that my disobedience was the reason my “well was running dry.” He said to me, “I put you in a common place (industry) to do an uncommon thing.” Those words reverberated through my entire soul.

I was the unicorn in the room. I’d never felt like I fit the “mold” of what a Director of Technology is expected to be. I didn’t look like I just stepped out of Revenge of the Nerds. I didn’t have a degree in technology. I was a Black woman and self-taught. I was the “uncommon” in a common place.

So today, I am embracing. I'm not running. I'm not chasing. I’m being… exactly who God wants me to be. I’m not afraid anymore. I’m at peace. I’m settled and sure in a way I’ve never been before. I’m faithfully optimistic about what this journey will reveal. I’m excited, once again, to be in this industry. I’m seeing differently, clearly, and I’m focused.

When the urge to run hits, and it will, I’ll remind myself of what God said: “I put you in a common place to do an uncommon thing.”

I want to thank each of you for staying with me all this time. I understand if you must say goodbye because what I have to offer doesn't align with your needs. I hope that you will keep me in mind and send people my way as I grow and expand. But most importantly, I hope you will take heed of the lesson in all of this. I hope you will finally stop running and let God do with you what he always planned to do. I hope you will find your value in the midst of your journey and know that nothing is a coincidence to God.

Technically Yours,

Kristen Pate