Dear Lisa,

Lately, I’ve been thinking about where you are in your life—your career is on the rise. You are so brilliant and accomplished. You’ve worked hard to get where you are. I would not be surprised if you made partner by the time you’re forty. If I were running the firm you already would be… but of course if I were running the firm where you practice law that would be nepotism and we know you got where you are today completely on your own merits.

Things were a little different for me. I did not know what my career path would be, the way you did. You knew when you were 16 that you’d go to law school! My first job out of college was a small but important step for me. I managed a little printing press office. We had 4 employees, not including me or the owner. I was barely 22 and felt very impressed with myself. My English degree seemed to be adequate preparation. After all, most of what I did was communicate—with customers, vendors, and staff. That was long before email, so I wrote—and typed on a typewriter (crazy, I know)—lots of letters, invoices, and requests for parts and supplies. Not thrilling, but empowering.

When your dad and I married, and we moved to Indiana for his job, I had every confidence that I’d be working soon enough in another job like the one I’d left. It was a shock to me that no one wanted to hire a young, newly married woman. The owner of a small accounting firm where I applied was the most blunt. He said, “I don’t want to waste my time training you when you’ll be pregnant within a year and quit.”

Women were not protected from overt discrimination back then. Now it’s covert, so that’s progress, I guess. That man was right about one thing. I did get pregnant before the next year was out. But he was mostly wrong. Because I never quit. Instead of looking for a job, when you were about 14 months old I started my business. The whole purpose of Monday’s Gal was to connect women with meaningful work in their chosen field and to help them navigate a system that didn’t make it easy for them. The best part? I took you to work with me. Well, for about a year “work” was in our kitchen! But pretty soon I found that cute office in town and the rest is history! You were my first coworker. Well, you and Geordie, of course!

Love you, Momma