18. Reinventing Your Career and Life Story with Lisa Curtin

In spite of an unpromising upbringing, three divorces and a bankruptcy, Lisa Curtin’s journey proves that not only is there always a story behind the story, but that reinventing your story along the way is never impossible.

In this conversation, Lisa opens up about her childhood, including the role her Lithuanian roots played, a house-wifery grooming, and growing up amongst alcoholism and a lack of encouragement at home; the experiences surrounding her three marriages, including spousal abuse, losing a partner to cancer, and racking up six-figures of debt; and her struggle with shame, embarrassment and people-pleasing throughout her life.

Then, we discuss her journey of rising above and the incredible career path she took from police dispatcher, to school principal, to tour director, to now the COO of a very successful public accounting firm; dive into the rewarding, but emotionally taxing, experiences special education teachers face, the regressive impact weekends and summer breaks can have on children with behavioral or mental disabilities, and why it’s so important for the world to show these children empathy; and talk about what it means to create a truly great employee experience, including the mindfulness leaders must have in order to avoid unintentionally setting unattainable expectations.

And throughout, Lisa illustrates how powerful it is to just believe in yourself, and seize every opportunity that comes your way, because it might just help you realize even bigger dreams than you ever knew you could achieve.

Resources

American Business Women’s Association

The mission of the American Business Women’s Association is to bring together businesswomen of diverse occupations and to provide opportunities for them to help themselves and others grow personally and professionally through leadership, education, networking support and national recognition.

Caldwell CPAs

Caldwell CPAs is a skilled, reliable, client-focused certified public accounting firm that can help you manage your business and achieve the highest levels of efficiency and profitability. Based in metropolitan Washington, DC, our clients include individual taxpayers, professionals in the fields of health and law, nonprofit organizations, and small businesses in a variety of industries, including tourism, high-tech, food & beverage, construction and real estate. We’re located close to embassies and multinational organizations in the nation’s capital, allowing us to specialize in addressing the financial challenges faced by foreign nationals working in the United States, as well as companies and citizens working abroad.