Leadership is not standing up on a platform. It’s being a platform, allowing others to stand.
Tim Kusko
Growing up, I remember my family always saying that “the fastest way to get Aubrey to do something, is to tell her that she can’t.”
And they weren’t wrong. That used to be true.
Throughout my life however, I’ve come to realize that didn’t always mean I did the things I wanted or even that which meant the most to me. Back then, I cared more about what other people thought of me than I did about pursuing the things that really mattered in my life. I’ve grown a lot since then, as we all do since we were kids. But never so much as I have these past five years.
I worked my final shift at Family Chiropractic today… a bittersweet moment for us all, I think. Upon arriving home, I found myself reflecting back on each and every job I’ve held throughout my adult life. I consider myself incredibly lucky, as I have had the honor of learning from and working with some of the most incredible human beings all along the way.
From my very first boss, Ginger – the branch manager of Sky Bank at the Beaver Valley Mall in the early 2000’s, who taught me that “a professional acts as she must, not as she feels”. To my friend, mentor and former supervisor at Medic Rescue Ambulance, Jacqui – who taught me how to be a strong, independent, fully functioning paramedic in the fast paced field of Emergency Medical Services; where the workforce is predominantly male, the streets are not kind, the lifting gets heavy, and the calls will (at one time or another) inevitably follow you home. And Dr. Amanda… who met me in the grief-stricken, anxiety ridden days of PTSD following the deaths of both of my parents and the end of my nearly 20-year EMS career. A time when my heart was completely broken, my confidence was at its lowest, and the only thing I felt I had left to offer was basic consistency, brutal honesty, and the utmost loyalty. Despite my lack of experience in office work and the particular skill set she was actually searching for, she saw potential in me and decided to take a chance.
The past 5 years have been a wild ride to say the least. A roller coaster of emotions and events, both personal and professional, empowering and transformative. All these things combined have culminated to form the crossroads at which I found myself again this year. An opportunity to, once again, change direction – to pursue my passion for healthy living and pave my own way through the next chapter of my life. Which brings me to Nick.
We met nearly five years ago, as a direct result of a mutual partnership between Family Chiropractic and what was then known at FitBody Bootcamp. But we didn’t become the closest of friends until after my skydiving accident in 2021, followed by my spine surgery in 2022, when I reached out and asked for his help in bridging the gap between where my post-surgical physical therapy had left me and where I truly wanted to be. Over the course of this past year, we’ve gotten to know each other on a level very few would ever even understand. It goes beyond friendship, defying the laws of relativity, raising a middle finger to the natural lines of blood, insisting that those we choose to surround ourselves with are our actual family and not just those with whom we were born and raised. He didn’t hire me based on my resume, but rather the context of my character.
When Nick offered me the job, I wasn’t even sure he was serious… the months that followed, confirmed that he was. Now here we are, on the precipice of change – he for his business, and me for my life. The future is full of unknowns.
I’ve heard it said many times over that “the only way to truly destroy a dream is to have it come true” …but as 2023 comes to a close, and I find myself on the verge of my greatest athletic dream finally coming true (the Boston Marathon) I’m beginning to see that what I’m most looking forward to is not actually the dream itself, but what comes next!
#BeyondTheBoylstonLine
Beyond the Boylston Line 