Tell our readers a bit about your background. 

For over three years I have been the mother to an adopted daughter that just turned ten. The previous fourteen years I was immersed in a fulfilling, challenging and exciting career as an assistant to a Wealth Advisor for one of the major Canadian bank-owned, investment firms. But these days after I finish a full day at the office, I am a mother, a cook, renovator, carpenter, seamstress, gardener, and chauffer.

At this stage in your life where you need to spend time with your new daughter, why did you make such a drastic career change?

I am fearful of just about everything so I would never have had the courage to make a career change while I was in the middle of learning to be a new mother. For fourteen years I had, what I thought was the perfect career and working relationships. But God’s plans are different than our plans. Although I could not see it, God knew that the only way I would leave that working relationship was if He prompted me to leave. Almost immediately after I picked up my new daughter from Ethiopia, that working relationship turned sour and it left me bewildered and confused. For eighteen months I endured an intolerable situation. I have been a Christian my entire life but I am now truly beginning to understand that our God is a jealous God. I believe He had to show me that my security comes from Him alone, and cannot be based on any career position or human being. I have had to take a huge cut in my income and am in the process of building a new business by attracting new clients. This has been extremely hard work, but I have the peace and the assurance that God has total control of my life.

Are you worried about failure in a business where failure rates are high?

Yes, I am worried about failure and humiliation in a male-dominated industry. The challenges are many and come often, but I love helping women regain confidence through the financial side of their lives. I have learned that, “No discipline is pleasant at the time but painful, however, for those who have been trained by it, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace. Therefore strengthen your weak arms and feeble knees and set level paths before your feet.” These verses come from the book of Hebrews 12 which talks about the Race of Faith and our determination to be courageous in the difficult times.

What advice would you offer women who are struggling with the decision to take a bold step into something new?

There is no joy in living a mediocre life. During the process of deciding to adopt, I asked God to shake up my life. When God is in control, whatever pain or losses we give to Him; He gives us new wisdom, confidence, courage and fulfillment. Life is easy when you’re up on the mountain, but it is in the trials and tribulations that our character is built. God is so faithful and true and any courage we have comes from Him. We are only limited by our lack of confidence in what God can accomplish in us.  “Delight yourself in God, and He will give you the desires of your heart.” Psalm 37:4.

Birgit P. Badke FMA, FCSI | Wealth Advisor Scotia McLeod® Kelowna’s Advisor to Women, for Women.

Interview conducted by Heidi McLaughlin, an international speaker, author and a pastor’s wife. She is married to Pastor Jack and they live among the beautiful vineyards of the Okanagan Valley, Kelowna, British Columbia. Heidi is a mom and step mom of a blended family of 5 children and 9 grandchildren. She loves to golf, explore and laugh with her family and friends.  www.heartconnection.ca