Athelia "CK" LeSueur's Career/Life Story

Athelia "CK" LeSueur (previously noted as CK Woolley - I'm a bit behind the times) will be participating in the "Up & Running: Starting Your Own Business Panel." She shares some of her career story below. (CK is at right in the picture below, with her sister-in-law and husband)

I recently found a ‘what I would be doing when I was 30’ list in a set of old Goals of mine. I wrote it when I was eight.  It read:

1)     I would be married

2)     I would have three children

3)     I would live in Salt Lake City

Of course, at that time, I firmly believed that 30 would never come.  Yet, 30 DID come and at that time:

1)     I was single

2)     I had no children

3)     I lived in New York City

This list of goals I found was one of many that I’ve made in my life. I love goals.  When I was 20, my goals were not too much different from when I was 8. I thought I would be a dancer for a few years, get married and have children.  With this objective in mind, I spent my college summers dancing and my college years eagerly expecting to meet ‘the one’.  Freshman, Sophomore, Junior and Senior years came and went and somehow ‘the one’ didn’t show.  Shocked, I followed my plan of becoming a dancer. However, after a year, health problems forced me to change course again.  Still thinking marriage would come early, I enrolled in a Master of Social Work program.  I thought that I would marry while in graduate school and then work part-time.  Working in business never actually occurred to me.  Not only did business matters seem uninteresting, they also seemed intimidating. 

And yet, after my master’s program, my life hit another snag.  Health issues forced me to move home with my parents in Salt Lake City. While there, I realized that social work was not a good fit for me. I like and need lots of change in my work. I also love to organize and build and grow things.  Social work doesn’t do this.  I also LOVE clothing.  In the eighth grade, I put down on a career test that I wanted to be a clothing designer.  Thinking that I would never have a real career, however, I soon abandoned the idea.  But somehow, living with my parents gave me the time and bandwidth to remember my eighth grade dream.  I bought a book called ‘Fashion Design for Beginners’ and literally followed the instructions.

And . . .

I learned that building a company is hard.  Very hard. Yet, I also learned that I thrived from the challenge.  I learned that business isn’t just about making money. It’s about solving problems.  Most importantly, I learned some things about myself.  I no longer had to wait for ‘the one’ to come into my life to change my life.  I liked my life as it was.  I am now married and expecting my first child.  I am excited to embark upon this new challenge but don’t plan to leave my working life behind me.  I am so glad that I learned to love my life and career on my own first. Now I am grateful that marriage and family are wonderful additions to my life!