The pandemic was actually the push I needed to get out and do what I had always planned to do. When we were sent home from the zone controlled HVAC of the office during the worst of the pandemic, it was the tipping point of change for me. I hate that it took a global health crisis to change my perspective on my career. But I’m thankful nonetheless. After more than 15 years of service to the company, I was barely able to hang on to my job due to the pandemic. And I had to take a deep pay cut to just continue working remotely from the air conditioning at home. This just didn’t sit well with me and I knew that I has sort of duped myself into thinking that I was valuable to the company. When I started my career, I only wanted to be inside the commercial HVAC of an office to get experience. I wanted to hone my skills for several years in order to go out on my own in this industry. But that steady paycheck and my climb up the corporate ladder diverted those plans. It wasn’t until the pandemic that I truly saw my worth to the company. So I ended up never going back to that zone controlled HVAC of the downtown offices. Instead, I resigned and went out on my own instead. This was scary but what I wanted all along. I now have a home office where there was once a spare room. And I had the HVAC company come out to install a ductless heat pump in my new home office. I might be working from home but the quality heating and air is better than my old office.