Why did Julie disappear?

People who have known or worked with me for a long time know that I have been using content marketing and my website as well as social media since 2008 or before to build my business.

How did Julie disappear?

In the last two years, I turned invisible. Since I often suggest the book, “Dig Your Well Before You’re Thirsty” by Harvey McKay to job seekers and budding entrepreneurs, what I have been doing is the exact opposite.

The initial backstory

My husband, Bill, was diagnosed with esophageal cancer on March 29, 2023. It changed the course of our lives as many of you have experienced with cancer either in your own lives or lives of loved ones. We found ourselves making many medical decisions and spending much time at the Aspirus Cancer Center.

Bill had the added challenge of his traumatic brain injury (TBI) from a motorcycle accident that happened three years before we met. It meant that I had to take the lead on decisions while allowing him to have the ultimate say on things he really didn’t want to do. He faithfully did 28 radiation treatments but determined he didn’t want chemo until it was almost too late. He started chemo on November 27, which ironically was the same day our granddaughter, Willow was born to son, Tim and his girlfriend, Jillian.

He also struggled to listen to anyone and dropped weight rapidly, thinking he was getting fit and hoping to lose more. The weight loss in the end made him even weaker. The chemo didn’t work well. We’ll never know if it would have been different if he had done it right away but he got weaker and weaker and couldn’t eat anything.

On January 10, 2024, he died at home. I found him at 4:37am and called our son, Dan, to come before I called 911. The obituary is here.

Whirlwind of doing

For whatever reason, my business which had been quiet in December 2023 to January 10, 2024 took off. My sales were off the charts and my schedule was really full. The year was going well and primarily did go well through September.

I was busy through January and February with many things, including remodeling Bill’s former room. Son, Dan, gutted the room and put up all new insulation, wiring, and drywall.

I also hired Tree Fella to take down five large trees surrounding the house. There’s a story behind all of them but the 60+ foot trees made me concerned whenever we had storms. I asked to keep the maple logs and then ran into issues when I realized how many logs there were. Fortunately my church, Downtown Mission Church, stepped up to the plate and sent a team of 20+ men and boys on the day before Easter to cut and split logs.

The Rest of the Willow story

Due to multiple extenuating circumstances, on March 4th, social services called to ask if I would take “temporary custody” of Willow, who at that time was about 3 1/2 months old. I said yes, in part because of a conversation with Bill who had said that if anything ever happened, Willow is our blood.

But I am now 68 and having a newborn was a huge challenge. My church stepped up again with people who volunteered for childcare while I worked with clients. But bottles, diapers, and sleepless nights made life harder.

Tim was finally allowed to move in October 20 or so and that has been a blessing. Before that he was living with Dan, and my friend drove Willow and myself over to Dan’s house once a week to allow Tim to spend time with his daughter.

Willow turned one on November 27, 2024 and is walking all over the house.

What happened to Design Resumes?

As I mentioned, Design Resumes was busy through September. However, the lack of any new content, social media presence, and communication in general from me took its toll, just as it does with job seekers who go invisible when they juggle family obligations, work, and job search.

I worked steadily with job seekers through October, but sales slowed down in October and November. I know it is because I have been missing.

With Tim living here now, we agreed that he would help as much as possible with childcare during the first part of the week. On Friday through Sunday, when he works his job with Wausau Supply for 12 1/2 hours per day, I would just juggle Willow with my other obligations. He would make sure communication and marketing move to the forefront of my work.

How can you help? If you know someone who would benefit from my interactive career marketing style – writing resumes, LinkedIn profiles, cover letters, executive bios, and more while I coach job seekers through the challenges of today’s job search and clarify the realities of what works and doesn’t work, send them to the website.

I have no plans of retiring, and my brain seems to be fine, so I am confident that I can continue to provide the help job seekers need to be successful and improve visibility for those job seekers.