I Turned Down My Dream Job, and Life Turned Out Better Than I Imagined

Years ago, when my children were still toddlers, I received what felt like the opportunity of a lifetime.

At the time, I was recovering from divorce, trying to rebuild my life, and raising two young children on my own. When a large company offered me an incredible, high-paying position leading workshops for women, work centered on writing and speaking, it felt like a miracle.

Writing newsletters and teaching small group workshops to women? All day every day?

This was my dream job.

I remember thinking, This is it. This is the end of the hard times. We're going to make it.

Then, after accepting the offer, I learned something that honestly devastated me.

The role required traveling for three weeks every month. Technically, I could have made it work. The salary would have easily covered childcare. I could have hired a nanny. On paper, it was manageable.

But in my heart, I knew it wasn’t the right choice.

Turning down that opportunity was one of the hardest professional decisions I had made. I was deeply disappointed and, honestly, a little afraid. For weeks afterward, I wondered if I had just walked away from my one chance at financial stability and a job one could only dream of.

I turned down a chance for financial stability because it wasn't the right choice for our family. That decision Ied me to exactly who and where I was meant to be.

I worried that by putting my children first, I had chosen against my dreams.

When Dreams Take the Long Road

Life didn’t unfold the way I expected — but it did keep moving forward.

Ten years later, my first book was published.

Three years after that, I had written three more books and received an opportunity to write professionally for a newspaper and magazine. That was the turning point. I made the bold decision to step fully into writing and speaking as my career.

Six months later, I was traveling across the country on tour for my fifth book.

The dream I thought I had lost hadn’t disappeared at all. It had simply arrived on a different timeline — one that allowed me to be present for my children when they needed me most.

Success Looks Different in Every Season

Today, my sons are grown. I spend my days writing and speaking through the company I founded. I travel regularly, but now it’s typically one long weekend each month instead of weeks away at a time.

And family is still my priority.

Looking back, I realize something important: success didn’t require me to sacrifice what mattered most. It required patience — and trust that timing matters.

So many women believe that if an opportunity doesn’t work right now, it means the door has closed forever.

But sometimes the door is simply waiting for you to walk through it later.

The Right Dream at the Right Time

We often think success must happen quickly or not at all. We compare our timelines to others and assume we’ve missed our chance.

But life is not a straight line.

There are seasons for building families.

Seasons for learning and growing.

Seasons for stepping forward boldly.

And sometimes, the dream you thought you lost is quietly preparing to meet you when you’re ready for it — and when it’s ready for you.

If you’re in a season where you’ve had to say “not now” to something you deeply wanted, it doesn’t mean you said “never.”

Keep dreaming. Keep doing the work in front of you.

Trust that your path is unfolding exactly as it should.

Because sometimes success isn’t delayed.

It’s simply arriving at the perfect time.

Beth Caldwell is the founder of Pittsburgh Professional Women, a membership organization built on the belief that women thrive through  community, connection, and collaboration.

PS

Years later, I learned something surprising.

The company that had offered me that position closed its doors just weeks after what would have been my start date. Employees reportedly arrived at work to find the doors padlocked. Some who were traveling for the company were stranded when corporate credit cards stopped working and flights were canceled.

I remember wondering if I might have been on one of those planes, far from home, trying to find my way back while my children waited for me.

It was one of the most powerful lessons of my life, realizing that losses are sometimes protections we don’t yet understand.