Mandy Kempka: Restarter
Living proof that change can be scary AND doable.
Mandy was thrilled when she landed a teaching job soon after her college graduation. It was in the state she already lived in, not too far from family, and close enough to her college friends that she could easily hold on to those relationships. She never would have expected that within a few years, she and her husband would be living on the other side of the country, working different careers, and living financially and emotionally stable lives in an unfamiliar place that feels like home.
Currently serving as a Site Director for an apartment complex-based City Site for the Boys & Girls Club of America, Mandy supports staff to create programming, manages the needs of the site, and works with the kids in the surrounding areas who get involved with the Club. Her teaching degree and experience have certainly helped her with project management, understanding child growth and development, and working with other staff to create supportive, engaging activities for the Club.
What we at Strong Girls Travel love about Mandy’s story is her openness to new things and to change. Anyone with a teaching career knows how that job becomes one’s identity. It is a position that many would refer to as a “calling,” and that calling has a tendency to take over our ability to see anything beyond teaching. Many teachers struggle with the idea of, “what else would I do?”
Mandy was teaching middle school English in Wisconsin, but when she and her husband, Collin, stopped one day to really look at their situation, they admitted they were not happy. “What else can we do? Because what we’re doing now is not working,” she recalls them realizing. As many of us can relate, Mandy saw that financially and emotionally, they needed a change. Living paycheck to stressful paycheck just wasn’t what they wanted for their lives or their future together.
They remembered a road trip they had taken to the Pacific Northwest when they both fell in love with the landscape and the feeling of freedom the mountains brought. So when Collin received a job offer in Washington state, they knew it was time to just go for it. Mandy says they went from “Should we?” to “We are” in a one-month time span. The biggest obstacles they had to overcome were what many of us would also see first - the logistics. There were the finances of moving. The second job to look for. Housing to find. Those details that many of us use as the reasons for NOT moving were just hurdles in their goal to change their life.
The move? They took a good look at what they defined as a “need” versus a “want.” They donated lots, sold some, and moved just what they needed. Rather than getting overwhelmed and changing their minds, they made do and moved in two shifts.
Housing? Getting housing sight unseen was a challenge. But instead of quitting and staying put, they took a chance. They figured, at minimum, they would be in a not-so-great place for a short amount of time, and they could move again. Things turned out better than they expected and a year later, they are quite happy where they are.
Their families were incredibly supportive. Moving would be tough as Mandy had never lived more than three hours away from her family. But she knew that if they wanted a change, they would need to make it with confidence. So her family reminded them that Wisconsin was always here and that any move is as “permanent” as we want it to be. They could always come back. That kind of support was just what Mandy needed to be reassured she was making a strong choice for herself and her future.
Are you looking to make a drastic change in your life to better your future? Mandy’s story teaches us, “If there’s no risk, there’s no reward. It’s going to be scary. But adapt if you need to, and keep moving forward.” She reminds us that change happens for a reason and will always teach us something we wouldn’t have had the chance to learn if we wouldn’t have taken that brave step out of our comfort zone.
Looking back, Mandy remembers how getting started in a new community was tough. The cost of living out in Washington is so much different than in Wisconsin. That sent her on a journey to explore more local resources for the support they needed to make this change work for them. And now? Mandy has found what they’d been seeking as they are now more financially stable and more emotionally peaceful than ever before. She can find her calm in the mountains with a short weekend visit. They have had opportunities to focus on themselves now, rather than giving every little bit to their jobs. She is free to really live and to see more of the world around them.
Take the step. Find the reasons that you’re using for excuses and turn them into obstacles to overcome. Mandy’s story reminds us that life is yours for the living - even if you have to make some big changes to make it happen.
