Philipps, Ashley: - Remember being 29 and broke? Me too. That was 10 years ago this year and I think back to how hard I was working, how much effort I was giving teaching, the extra hours spent coaching and commuting, and at the end of the day, I couldn't make ends meet. I was exhausted and burnt out.In the 10 year career I've built since leaving the classroom I've learned a lot. I've overcome challenges, found great successes, and failed plenty. All of that has been so much more fulfilling that teaching was for me. And it was never the kids. Even today I miss them. But now, I don't have Sunday Sads. I don't fear a random upcharge on a bill. I can invest in my retirement without cutting out ice cream and non-necessities on my grocery list. Now I spend my evenings and weekends with my husband, family and friends. I go on vacation guilt free- not worried about sub plan or spending the money in the first place. I enjoy reading, both fiction and nonfiction (I love a good sales and customer success book!). My husband and I watch a lot of sports and I may not live there anymore, but I will forever root for the Mizzou Tigers, the Blues, the Cardinals, and the Chiefs!I hope you enjoy getting to know me and my journey. I hope it helps you be bold, invest in yourself and make a change.A bit more about me professionally: I have a bachelor's degree from Southeast Missouri State University in Secondary Education and a Master's degree from Missouri Baptist University in Curriculum and Instruction.I have several certifications from various organizations that I've earned post-classroom and they all contributed to growing my skill set: project management, sales enablement, and product development.My career has been largely based in sales although my first role was managing an LMS for a 15,000 employee organization. Since that job I have been in sales roles running a Professional Services team, managing Sales Enablement, acted as sales support in a Solution Consultant role, and led a multi-functional team of Sales Enablement, Proposal Management, and Solution Architects.