Saying Goodbye-IBI with Molly Swanston

Business Lesbian with Brittany Diederich

pronounced: good-buh-eye-bee-eye, translates to: Goodbye Industrial Builders, Incorporated.

I have been asked, many times, why I would leave a job I was good at, at a company that my family and I owned, when I had a bright and fairly certain future ahead of me. This episode is an attempt to explain that and process the end.
On Friday September 2nd, I had my last day at my family business after a 9 month notice. I stayed for so long so that I could always look back and say that I did my best to set them up for success. This meant navigating the company through the fever pitch of our construction season, writing a job description for what I do, and then hiring/training my replacement.

In that period I went through a million emotions. Pride for what I’d done. Sadness because something nice was ending and I didn’t know if I’d have the security and positive feelings in the future. Grief for the future I’d mapped out for myself at IBI. Anxiety at this fear that I’d be creating a fissure in my family that would change the dynamic forever. But today-I’m done. I’m happy. I’m at peace. I’m excited about the future.
This episode includes a conversation with my dear friend Molly Swanston (who you may remember from our first episode, Episode 1: BL: Origins featuring Meagan and Molly) as we discuss life in general as she guides me through processing what this end feels like. I don’t know if I have the bandwidth to have this conversation over and over again right now, so if you’re curious, I’d encourage you to listen to this. We talk about more than IBI, but that’s probably the central topic of this episode. I mean it when I say processing this has been a mental marathon. I’m certainly stronger as a result, but I need to move on now and maybe try swimming or something that’s easier on my joints for a minute.

I’m so grateful to the team at IBI, my friends in industry, and my family who I worked with for believing in me. I did a lot of things and developed passions I’d never have considered giving my time or energy to and I’m a better person for it.