Finding a Job During a Pandemic

After 10 years with the Louisiana Department of Health, the time came for me to make a career change. However, we were in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. My current contract was ending on June 30^th, and we had not yet made it beyond Phase II of Governor Edward’s Executive Order. Add to that my husband who had been the Sous Chef for L’Auberge saw the news right along with you. So, here we were, both of us, transitioning financially during a pandemic.

Fortunately for my husband, his talents were easily transferable to our catering business, Odom’s Kitchen. So, we began posting to all social media platforms and promoting our business harder than we ever had. To say that, the community came out and supported us in ways we never could have imagined. Until this moment we had been putting off establishing a brick and mortar. Suddenly, we found ourselves totally out of space in our mobile operation. {Insert Anxiety} So now we are not only launching Odom’s Kitchen full-time (while I’m still job-hunting), we are looking for a BUILDING. We MUST be losing our minds. We just need to find an available space that won’t require sacrificing our firstborn, AND I need to find a new job. Yes, we are losing our minds. Meanwhile, I’m working to help my husband, Brandon, transition into a full-blown entrepreneur. In the middle of all of this, we are hiring graphic designers, increasing our marketing budget, etc. all in the name of FAITH.

Now, admittedly I am a nervous wreck. Brandon on the other hand didn’t blink an eye. He was like “We’ve got this.”  I begin to panic because, by mid-May, I hadn’t received a job offer. Again, my husband assured me we had nothing to worry about. I’m looking at him like “I have never been without a job.” He never once lost his faith, though mine was wavering. This is that part of marriage where two are better than one because when one is weak the other can hold you up comes into place. And that he did. Somedays I probably worked his last nerve with my worrying. But I never doubted Him (God) or him (husband). I am just not good at waiting. While I waited, I decided to copyright a piece I wrote (releasing soon). And literally, two weeks before my contract expired, I received my official offer. And let me just say He (God) will “open the windows of heaven and pour out blessings…,” you know the rest.

And if you’re wondering, yes, my husband said, “I told you so.”

So, my LDH contract ended on June 30, 2020, and I started the new job on July 6, 2020.  {{Insert Church Shout}}

Now if you’re wondering, yes, we are still looking for the perfect building for our needs. We trust the process and know that just like everything else has fallen in place, this too shall follow suit. In the meantime, keep following Odom’s Kitchen and plan to “Eat with Odom’s” soon!