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After I was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, I feared I’d never be able to build a successful career, and it was a dream that greatly mattered to me.

After my diagnosis, it was hard to face the reality that I would likely live with a chronic illness for the rest of my life.

While I didn’t give up on my dreams, I knew that my plans would need to shift, at least to some degree.

When I was young I dreamed of becoming an astronaut. I went to college with that intent and by the time I graduated, I’d become quite familiar with astronaut requirements.

The requirements were strict and incredibly difficult to overcome, even for someone in perfect health, so I knew my chances of becoming an astronaut were essentially 0.

However, I knew I could still become a scientist, and I dreamed of building a successful career and making a difference through science.

As you’ll soon learn, my career didn’t go exactly as planned, and I never foresaw making a shift like I would eventually make, but I did manage to build a successful career. In this article, I’m going to tell you exactly what I did to build my career while managing Crohn’s disease.

The Early Years After College

2010

I struggled with my health through college, and by the time I’d finished my Bachelor’s degree in Biology, I was ready for a school break.

It was time to begin my career while I considered my options for graduate school.

As a fresh graduate in 2010, I found no good job prospects in the middle of the Great Recession, so I took what I could get.

2011

I took on a few catering roles, a data entry job here and there, and it wasn’t until nearly a year later that I found my first industry job. It was a contract role, but it helped me earn the experience I badly needed.

I worked for Coca-Cola for a few months as a QA technician before I moved to New York, in hopes that I would find better (full-time) prospects.

The move ended up being a poor choice, but I don’t regret it. I found another contract role as a QA technician for a while, took a few community college courses to prepare for graduate school, and then promptly moved back to Oregon.

While my physical health was comparatively good, my mental health was in shambles. The move forced me to face some difficult realities about my family, and I realized that no move could make my flailing career come to life. I faced a difficult breakup with a long-term boyfriend and my career was going nowhere fast.

I picked up the pieces of myself, finding yet another contract job as a Molecular Biologist with OMIC just a few weeks later. While I didn’t realize it at the time, that contract job would quickly turn into a full-time job that would build the foundation of my career.

Building the Foundation to a Successful Career

2012

I became a full-time Molecular Biologist just four months after I started working with OMIC. The commute between Salem and Portland was brutal; I spent a minimum of 2 hours driving every day, and that was when traffic was minimal.

Despite the drive, I enjoyed the work, and I finally felt as though I was working in an industry that excited me.

I was still debating my options for graduate school. At the time I was convinced I’d pursue either a Master’s in Science or a PhD, but I was also entertaining ideas for an MBA. Luckily for me, my supervisor at OMIC strongly encouraged the MBA.

My supervisor had been in the field for years and knew that an MBA would provide a greater selection of work in my career. It was largely thanks to him that I would eventually begin my MBA in 2014. I’m grateful for him and his guidance, and I still consider him a friend to this day.

2013

Over the year and a half I worked at OMIC, my mental health improved and I started dating someone who would eventually become my husband. I briefly moved to a city that was closer to work, though the drive was still long.

Eventually, I realized it was better to find a new job, and that was when I took on a role as a Research and Development Technician with Dow AgroSciences. 

When my insurance changed with my new job, my current GI doctor became out-of-network, so I switched doctors, which ended up being a huge mistake. My “new” doctor tried to convince me that I no longer had Crohn’s disease, and he took me off of Remicade, a drug I’d been on since 2007. Within a few months, I went into a brutal flare. 

When my “new” doctor refused to put me back on Remicade without additional testing, I returned to my “old” doctor who put me back on the treatment right away. I wouldn’t fully recover from my flare until at least 2016.

2015

I worked with Dow for a little over two years before my department eventually closed down and all the staff (including me) was laid off.

I didn’t anticipate losing my job, but the timing couldn’t have been more opportune.

Achieving the Next Level in a Successful Career

It was the beginning of summer in 2015 when I suddenly found myself without a job, and I was planning my wedding.

Thankfully, my severance package from Dow was generous, so it bought me the time I needed to fund the rest of my wedding before I found a new job.

Within a few months, I’d already found a job as a QC team lead with Bayer. I couldn’t believe my luck.

It was a dream job, a role that I hadn’t imagined being able to obtain for at least a few more years into my career.

To this day, I still remember walking out of one of the interviews, smiling and shaking my head. I thought, “Wow, what an amazing job. It’s too bad they’ll never pick me.”

I started working there in July 2015, just one month before I got married. A few months later we put an offer on a house and moved in early January.

In my days at Bayer, I acquired new skills, traveled the world, and reflected on what would come next. It truly was a dream job. It served me immensely in the four and half years that I worked there.

From 2016 on until about 2022, I experienced little to no symptoms of Crohn’s. I was grateful to be in remission for that period of time.

My Career Transition

2017

A year after I completed my MBA, I began considering what would come next to help me build a successful career.

In 2017, I started my first blog, and it would be after that that I would begin taking on clients.

That same year, I also self-published my first book. I’d always dreamed of becoming a writer, so for me, it really was a dream come true.

My business would go through various iterations over the years, but it was a pivotal foundation.

2018

In mid-August, our oldest son, Ares, was born. He changed my life in more ways than I could have ever imagined. I suddenly found myself dreaming of being home with him more. 

While my manager at Bayer was supportive of providing a more flexible work arrangement, my senior manager was not, and my request for flexible work was denied. As a result, I struggled. My mental health declined once again, and so did my work performance.

Meanwhile, Bayer underwent its own transformation when it purchased Monsanto. As a result of the purchase, it sold a number of departments (including my own) to BASF. And we made the transition to the new company.

The days at the office without my son felt long. I felt I was missing out on too much of his life. For the first time, I imagined leaving what was once a dream job. I reflected on the ways I might make a successful career pivot. 

2019

It wasn’t until nearly a year later that I discovered a new corporate opportunity. It was a Communications Manager role with Okanagan Specialty Fruits. The company was smaller and it was just a contract role, but it was also fully remote.

It seemed like a perfect way to transition into Marketing and Communications professionally (outside of my own business). I made the shift.

It meant a pay cut, but the experience was worth it to me. That experience was costly, but it was a critical piece to help me make the shift I sought.

Building a Successful Career in My Own Business

2020

At the height of the pandemic, Okanagan decided they no longer needed my help. And so I found myself jobless once again.

It was brutal to be without full-time work during that time. Thankfully, the unemployment benefits were generous until I could fully replace my income.

Rather than find another job, which I knew would be difficult to do during the pandemic, I decided that I would lean further into my business. So I turned what had been a part-time side hustle into a full-time gig.

It wasn’t easy, but I managed to build a full load of clients. My business provided a much healthier balance between my home life and career, at least for a time. 

I’d never had a more ideal balance. With Bayer and BASF I’d been confined to work full-time in a regular office. At Okanagan, I was required to work 50+ hour weeks.

2021

In late August, our second child, Archer was born. I took a short break from my business, frequently finding it difficult to pause and step away.

It was around this time that I started thinking about working with a team again. While I wasn’t in a hurry to take on anything new right away, I started to explore my options.

My business brought on great opportunities, but I also found it lonely. I also spent more time on activities that no longer brought me joy. I began to get fatigued from constantly creating content for others and I decided that I was ready for something else.

2022

At the beginning of the year, my insurance decided to stop paying for Remicade. And so I was forced to take a biosimilar called Inflectra. I quickly entered yet another flare that I’m still recovering from as of the time I’m writing this. My physical health issues led to constantly declining mental health that I’m also still recovering from to this day.

Mid-way through the year I decided to take on a new opportunity with Cerillo as a Senior Marketing Manager. The company provided an opportunity to work with a team on the medical side of the biotechnology industry. The opportunity excited me. 

I was hesitant to work with another small company, yet the opportunity seemed worth it at the time.

I continued my business but intentionally became more selective with the clients I took on and continued working with.

2023

In my business, I shifted further away from my regular client work. I began building a new platform to help people build their careers and achieve financial freedom. The shift in my business brought me newfound energy and excitement.

I’ve been incredibly excited to help people like you achieve the freedom and success that you seek in your own career and with your personal finances.

Realizing that what started as passion eventually led to a lack of enjoyment in my career, I left Cerillo.

Continuing a Successful Career Today

So what’s next? Well, that partially remains to be seen.

Over the years, both my partner and I have managed to build successful careers. In so doing, we’ve paid off massive amounts of shared debt. We’ve both managed to increase our income alongside paying off our debt, so today, we can survive on just one of our incomes.

Right now, I’m focused on caring for our two little boys and building this platform. I still dream of making a difference in the lives of others, though as you can see, that dream has shifted.

I’ve also been entertaining the idea of reentering corporate, particularly in Marketing & Communications with another large company. 

I don’t plan on giving up on any of these pursuits in the near term. But Knowing myself, I will need to continue feeding my drive to make a difference.

It’s also important to me to be able to contribute financially to my family, while we continue fueling our own FIRE goals. Right now I’m not pulling much for our family financially, so our path forward to FIRE is temporarily on hold. However, we’ve already come a long way.

If I can truly start making a difference to people with FIRE Your Career, then that would be enough. I’m still waiting to see it happen, however. 

I’d like to secure a few speaking arrangements and appear on podcasts, and hopefully, that will happen over time.

And perhaps I’ll continue to do that as I reenter corporate, or maybe I won’t go back to corporate for some time, if ever. That too remains to be seen.

Right now, I’m trusting that the path forward will show itself when it’s the right time. That’s enough for now.

Lessons Learned

I’ve learned some important lessons as I’ve built my career. I’m proud of how I’ve been able to build a successful career while managing my chronic illness. However, my priorities have shifted along the way.

I’m no longer willing to sacrifice my health or my family’s needs for my career, though you would have previously found me sacrificing anything and everything to build a successful career.

To this day, I’m still struggling to get my physical and mental health back on track, but I’m doing substantially better than I was in 2022. Since then, I’ve joined a yoga community, started regularly seeing a counselor, fought for better healthcare, challenged my insurance, and demanded more from corporate.

I’ve chosen a harder path, but it was the right path for me. I don’t regret the choices I’ve made.

FIRE Your Career came to me when it was the right time. And I can’t wait to make a meaningful difference with this path moving forward.

Conclusion

So if you’re reading this, then I’d like to ask you a favor. If FIRE Your Career has provided some value in your life, whether it’s a little or a lot, then tell me so in the comments below. Your comment can be as brief or as detailed as you’d like, but it would truly make my day.

Thank you for reading and don’t forget to check back frequently for the latest updates on how you can FIRE Your Career: build a successful career, and achieve financial freedom.

All the best to you on your journey.

Additional Resources

• The National Organization on Disability
• The American Chronic Pain Association
• The Invisible Disabilities Association

Think building a successful career will help you FIRE Your Career? Check out the posts page for more ways you can FIRE Your Career and achieve financial freedom.

FIRE Your Career: Achieve Financial Freedom Through Your Career & Spend MORE Time Doing What You Love.

Tools I frequently recommend:

Strengths Finder (book to help you uncover your innate strengths, includes a free personality quiz)

ClickUp (my recommended goal-tracking and project management tool)