In one year as a business owner, I have learned a lot of important lessons. More lessons than I learned in 7 years of college, grad school and 14 years working in higher education and leadership combined.

Five years ago today, I got a divorce.

I didn’t even realize this until someone recently asked me how long ago it was, and I looked up the actual day in court records.

Holy shit. Five whole years ago today, I started my life over. I rebuilt it from the ground up, and I did it the hard way. And I did it quietly.

But today I feel compelled to talk about it because I never really have. Today I feel overcome with emotion and feel the need to share because there’s probably someone out there who needs to hear this.

Traveling to places like Colombia and Morocco wouldn’t have even crossed my radar five years ago. They seemed dangerous and a bit sketchy, if I am being perfectly honest.