This week I took my boys and a friend to see Madagascar 2. A very diverse group of zoo animals from NY found themselves in the midst of a dilemma. On their journey, their plane unexpectedly crashed and they landed in a seemingly foreign land. Sound familiar? Well, this group, a zebra, hippo, giraffe, and lion ended up back home in Africa. They were close to their roots but didn’t recognize it as good, because this was unfamiliar territory. Afterall, they had grown up in a different environment – things moved much faster and so much more was possible back in NY.
The majority of the movie focused on their attempt to ‘be normal’ and fit into their traditional roles. However, the scene which stands out for me was the crisis on the reserve. For centuries, water was plentiful until one day the rivers were suddenly dry. The leaders didn’t know what to do and the animals had just come to accept their fate – death. It was at this point, the lion from NY did something crazy. He left the reserve in search of water! The animals on the reserve stood in shock as he mustered up the courage to leave. The other animals wondered if he’d die out there but deep inside they knew this was their only hope for survival. They all had a problem and someone needed to take a risk and venture out of their comfort zone in search of a resolution.
I feel like that lion. I struggled with work-life balance in corporate America. I watched other high-achieving women struggle with work-life balance. I listened to so many wrestle with the decision between having a family or career. Many simply accepted their fate - that something they loved – some dream they’d had – must die. We all felt the pinch but couldn’t figure out how to solve it. Instead, many concluded it just wasn’t possible to have it all.
I refused to accept that.
I still believe women can have both – a strong, healthy family and a successful, powerful career. So, I left ‘the reserve’ in search of a solution – in search of water – in search of the resources needed to help women thrive. I’m not the only pioneer who stepped outside of the reserve. There are quite of few of us out here, building the structures to support work-life balance for those women who long to have it all.
This is what Attaché Services is all about – there indeed is water out there for you women who thirst for personal and professional fulfillment.
Alicia Anderson
Founder and CEO