As you read this, I’ll likely be at the park with my kids — or listening to story time at the library or explaining why it’s not nice to squish that bug in the sandbox.
I’m apt to be doing these things a lot more often, in fact. And not because I’ve accrued a backlog of vacation time. I’m taking a leave of absence from SBN to spend more time doing what I enjoy — and feel like I’m missing out on — the most: raising my two young children.
I’ve been trying to strike the right balance between family and career for nearly three years now without letting either aspect of my life suffer. I ended up being the one caught in the middle.
Work demands and family demands often overlapped. When I was at the office, I felt guilty for leaving my kids at home with a sitter. When I was at home with my children, I exhausted myself working at night to finish writing and editing stories I couldn’t find time to tackle during the chaos of the day. That’s why taking a leave of absence seems like the right thing to do.
That doesn’t mean you’ve seen the last of me or my work, however. My byline will still appear occasionally in the pages of SBN. I may also be doing some work behind the scenes for our Web business, SBN Online, in the months to come.
I’ve made many friends in the business community in the past seven years and I’ll miss the regular contact with them. Yet I’m comfortable in my decision to take a step back because I know my long-time friend and fellow editor, Joan Slattery Wall, is well-liked and well-respected in this community and will continue to foster those relationships in my absence.
Joan has been promoted to Senior Editor of SBN Magazine effective this issue.
I’m uncertain how long my leave of absence will last. I am certain, however, that SBN Magazine will continue to fulfill our readers’ needs for finding the smartest management strategies in today’s business world. I, in the meantime, will be trying to find the smartest way to teach my children about life.
I think my job just got a whole lot bigger. Nancy Byron ([email protected]) is editor of SBN Magazine in Columbus.
