Several years ago, I was in a career crisis. I was no longer happy with the job I had worked hard to achieve. I started seeking ways to address this problem very quickly, especially because I was the breadwinner of my family. Unfortunately, nothing seemed to come to mind. I thought of returning to school to finish my master’s degree. I thought of looking for a different job or seeking a different career path. Regardless of how I felt about my job, I knew deeply in heart that I couldn’t be without a job.
I had shared this with a friend of mine who runs a landscape business with her husband. She mentioned that they could use extra hands as they were behind on some of their projects. I agreed to join them with the sole intention to spend some time figuring out what exactly I wanted to do. We worked on several outdoor home projects for clients, from gardening to landscaping. It was a good distraction.
One day, we ran into a very unique client. After the usual days’ work at the client’s home, the client was unhappy with the result. She vented about the way we planted some of the flowers and trees and how unprofessional some of my colleagues acted. She went on and on until we left for home.
The next day, she called the boss to vent her frustration about how some of the guys were handling the project and how unsatisfied she was. My boss immediately apologized and requested that we replant some of the flowers and trees. He even offered to cut them a deal. We replanted the flowers and trees as told by the boss. But, unfortunately, the client was still unhappy with the outcome. It started to get to my boss because he was losing money and we were behind on other projects. He was just about to walk out of the project when I offered to lead the replanting project again. Honestly, he wasn’t crazy about the replanting but gave it a chance.
I checked in with the client and asked how exactly she wanted us to plant the flowers and trees. I spent most of my days taking my time doing exactly what she requested from us. I was patient with her and wanted to make sure she was happy with the outcome, especially after learning that their son was diagnosed with cancer. It took some time to win her heart but we did. We started seeing a sign of relieve and she was delighted with the progress.
A few days afterwards, I was watering the plants when the husband of the lady came outside. He complimented me on my work and said, “I notice an accent.” Then he asked, “Where are you from?” I responded, “I am from Ghana.” He looked amazed and said, “I have a colleague at work from Ghana.” I found out at that moment that he is a professor at a nearby university. He asked about my story. I shared my story and the reason why I was doing this job. He chuckled and said, “You’re actually good at this job.” I said I had once worked with a landscape team during my time in college and I had learned a thing or two from them.
Then he said, “Have you thought of going back to school to finish your Master’s Degree?” I said, “Yes.” He said, “You would be a great candidate for our training and leadership program. I want to see you in the program.” He asked me to send him my resume and transcript. I got into the program shortly after our encounter and my career path became clearer.
I can’t help but think that just the shift from myself to client propelled this clarity in my career path. The universe works in mysterious ways that we cannot understand. Life is truly designed for helping others. Our ultimate goal in life is to be of service to each other. When you can make other lives better, the universe will come to your rescue.