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Unemployment Insurance in DC: From Policy to Practice
Part 1 of the series: Navigating the Safety Net I’ve spent most of my career inside large, complex systems—working in foreign assistance, public sector programs, and institutions designed to respond to crisis. I understood, intellectually, how safety nets worked. What I didn’t fully grasp—until it happened to me—was how destabilizing it feels when your own…
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Relearning Joy Through Travel: How a Job Posting Reminded Me Why I Fell in Love With Exploring the World
The other week, a friend shared a job posting with me from an upscale luxury travel company. My first reaction surprised me: This actually looks fun. I don’t think I’ve felt that spark since applying for my very first job at USAID—back when the idea of traveling the world, experiencing new cultures, and helping shape…
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Networking in a Changing Job Market: Why Who You Know Still Shapes Your Career
Networking has always been part of how careers move forward, but stepping into the professional world again—outside the government—has made me realize just how brutally true it is: it’s often who you know, not just what you know, that opens doors. The days when DEIA initiatives kept hiring conversations somewhat balanced feel like they’re on…
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Relearning Confidence — Imposter Syndrome Outside of Government
For most of my career at USAID, I lived by one quiet motto: fake it till you make it. And for a long time, it worked. Not because I was pretending to be qualified, but because I trusted myself to learn fast, adapt quickly, and build the right relationships to fill in any gaps. I…
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The Emotional Math of Job Searching at Five Months Unemployed
Finding a job in this economy feels like its own full-time work—except it doesn’t come with a paycheck, benefits, or any clear sense of progress. After nearly five months of unemployment, I’m realizing how emotionally draining a prolonged job search can be. Even after narrowing my focus to social impact jobs, mission-driven organizations, and public…
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Between Parents and Parenthood: The Millennial Sandwich No One Prepared Us For
A reflective story about caring for aging parents as a Millennial and stepping into motherhood — a deeply personal take on what it means to be part of the sandwich generation. I became a caregiver long before I ever became a parent. In my late twenties, while most of my friends were climbing career ladders…
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From Searching Alone to Finding My Fit: On letting go, leaning in, and redefining what alignment means
I’ve always been independent—someone who tries to figure things out on my own and only reaches out for help as a last resort. But this year has knocked that approach sideways. Since January, the international development field has essentially disappeared, and I’ve been left wondering: where do my skills even fit in the private sector?…
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When Control Meets Chemistry: My Gestational Diabetes Diagnosis
I was recently diagnosed with gestational diabetes and anemia. Diabetes runs in my family. My mother developed it when she was pregnant with me — and it never went away. My father, on the other hand, managed to keep it at bay through diet and exercise until his sixties. Their paths have always been a…
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From Pandemic Companion to Big Sister
When I think back to the pandemic, I don’t just remember the fear, the uncertainty, or the long stretches of isolation—I remember Bailey. She was my anchor, my comfort, and in so many ways, my first born child. I brought her home when the world felt like it was spinning out of control, and somehow…
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500 Classes Later
Three years ago, I walked into F45 Edgewood with one simple goal: shed my pandemic pounds and start getting my body ready for pregnancy. What I didn’t know then was just how much that studio would come to mean to me. Not long after I started, my dad’s dementia worsened. F45 quickly became more than…
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Bureaucrat to Baby Steps 