When Karly’s three children were all under five, she decided to give up her successful career in the financial world to stay home with them. “Everyone was raising my kids but me,” says Karly, now FOF. Once she turned into a full-time mom, she and her husband had less to say to each other when he came home from work. “He didn’t want to hear all the details about my day with the kids,” she remembers. “I was out of business suits and the business world. I was no longer interesting to him.” He had an affair with another parent from their kids’ school and asked for a divorce.

Mad men and unhappy women

Karly had been away from an office for nine years, and although she was financially secure, she wanted to return to work. Her prospects in the financial industry were slim because so much had happened while she was gone. So Karly reinvented herself and went on to become a successful real estate broker. She’s had a happy 17-year relationship. Her three adult children are close to her and doing well. She’s a grandmother, too.

“Going back to work was the best therapy in the world and I have recommended it to many women who have gone through life-changing events. Engaging in work breathes new life in you and one moves forward and doesn’t dwell on the past,” Karly says.

I forgot to add one fact: Karly also battled an advanced melanoma and has an 8 by 4 inch scar across her stomach to remind her daily how precious life is. Happy tears come to her beautiful eyes when she tells the story. “I guess my divorce and even the melanoma were life-changing experiences but I refused to let either of those events dictate my life.  I wanted to take control of my own life and not let the past cripple or destabilize me,”  she explains.

FOF women have a remarkable ability to reinvent themselves to meet new challenges. No one does it better.