This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Laura McDonough, 38, the founder of L. Rose Recruiting, who is based in Winter Park, Florida. The following has been edited for length and clarity.
When the pandemic hit, I was working full time as a talent acquisition manager for a tech company that made hotel software. As you can imagine, hotels weren’t exactly thriving, so some of us were let go.
I was six months pregnant with my daughter at the time, and really unsure what was going to happen.
A month later, I was brought back part-time. That’s when everything changed. One of the company’s former executives contacted me and offered me a role, and then someone else, and it snowballed.
At some point, I realized I needed to start my own business, so I launched L. Rose Recruiting. I now work 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., earn nearly double what I made before, and get to be present for my two young kids.
My former employer is also now one of my clients, and I feel more fulfilled than I ever did in a traditional 9-to-5.
I earn almost double what I made before, earning $120,000 last year.
Now I also get to support other companies in a way that I feel is meaningful and flexible for me.
Recruitment has never been about sitting at your desk 9-to-5. It’s about finding the right people and the right place for them. As a fractional recruiting partner, we’re really leaning into that.
I saw a need for a small to midsize business that didn’t have an internal recruiting team and didn’t pay insane staffing agency fees.
I became an on-demand recruiting partner, someone who’s strategic, flexible, and human. I charge a 10% fee, which is half of what most agencies charge. That makes for some high-quality recruiting that is still very accessible to small businesses, which get the full-cycle recruiter experience without the overhead.
Mom mode
The best part is that it’s working. My business is growing fast, and companies are starting to see the value in this approach.
The biggest shift wasn’t just in my career; it was really in my life. After 2 p.m., I’m in mom mode. Aside from a few calls or emails here and there, that time is sacred. I wouldn’t trade that freedom for anything.
I have so many friends who are racing home at 6, 7 p.m. and try to do it all — dinner, homework, and spend some time with their family, and somehow find time for themselves in the chaos. Then, they start all over again the next day. It’s exhausting. It is not that they’re doing anything wrong, but the system was never built for us.
Millennial women were told they could “have it all” growing up, but end up with impostor syndrome, or being stuck in a cycle that doesn’t feel sustainable
I think it’s part of how our generation was raised. We were taught that success was a straight line. You get the job, and you just keep going. But I think nobody tells you how that doesn’t always line up with real life once you have a family and you have kids.
Moms in our generation are rewriting the rules around what it means to be successful.
There are so many women out there who feel stuck or burned out, thinking they just need to push harder — but maybe there is another way.
Best thing that’s ever happened
My dream is to grow L. Rose into a team of amazing women, each working on their own terms, just like I do.
Looking back at that layoff, it was the best thing that ever happened to me and to my family. I think it’s just sometimes about taking that leap of faith and redefining success.
In my 20s, I was all about climbing the ladder. These days, I want to grow my business and make an impact, but not at the expense of my sanity or my kids’ childhood.
I remember the first year I realized I would make over $100,000, which for some people seems like peanuts, but I’m just a girl from Italy raised by a single mom working two jobs so for me it was huge.
I wasn’t raised in the American dream, but I think somehow I found my own version of it.
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