I chose to leave the workforce to focus on my family. Up until that point, I had worked for Accenture, took a short career break to get my MBA at Sloan and then returned to Accenture. The lifestyle of a management consultant is rough with long hours, aggressive deadlines, and extensive travel. After taking maternity leave and an additional leave of absence, I made the decision to pause my career and stay at home with my daughter. Two years later, my son was born, and I continued with a career break until my youngest entered first grade.
While my children were very young, I stayed at home and focused on parenting and volunteerism. When my son entered the first grade and was in school for the full day, I dipped my toe back in the water by doing research, primarily from home, for a boutique consultancy firm affiliated with Harvard. When my son entered middle school, I felt ready to relaunch my career in a more meaningful and permanent way.