I am so thankful for the options I have had, because I truly believe that having these options has made me the happy and energetic person that I am today. I was fortunate enough to be born fairly intelligent, and I was a good student. Many years ago, my high school guidance counselor told me You can be anything you want to be. That was not helpful, because I had no idea what I wanted to be when I graduated from high school. I was good at everything I tried to do, but I was not really drawn to anything with any certainty.

My parents could not send me to college, so I went through the first 10 years of my adult life working in office jobs and learning to be a secretary. During that time, however, the one thing that I knew was that I wanted to go to college. I finally reached a point when I was able to go to college with the help of grants, scholarships, and student loans. I was a single parent by that time, and it was not easy. I worked all through college and I loved college. That made it all worthwhile.

I majored in economics, because I loved the subject and the classes. At some point before I graduated, I decided I wanted to go to law school. I had very good grades and a good LSAT score, and I was accepted at a good law school. One of the most appealing things about the practice of law is that you can work in many different areas of law and at many different kinds of law offices. I worked for a small firm, a big firm, and the federal government. For 10 years, I was a solo practitioner, and I loved everything I did as a lawyer.

While I practiced law, I was also involved in business and real estate investments, and I also loved doing that. After 20 years as an attorney, I wanted to find a way to bring my legal, business, and real estate expertise together into a new career. I went to graduate school and graduated with an MBA. I started a business and legal consulting firm called Indigo Business Solutions, and I offer a full range of professional services. I love what I am doing, because I am not a traditional attorney. I am a strategic business attorney.

I may spend the rest of my life pursing this career, because it is so inspiring and challenging. If so, that is wonderful. If not, that is alright because I will find another way to reinvent myself and start another career. You can see from my history that I am not afraid of change and I am not risk-averse. Even though I may not be doing the same thing five years from now, I enjoyed everything I did, I loved having choices, and I have been happy and energized. It was good for me that I did not know what I wanted to be when I grow up.

Jo Ann Joy, Esq., MBA, CEO Copyright 2006 Indigo Business Solutions. All rights reserved.