“I know people [say], ‘You're in your thirties; you started late,’” Claudia said. “But, I feel like I'm where I want to be.”

Ten years ago, Claudia was pursuing a degree in pharmacy, when she found out she was pregnant. Soon after having her first child, Claudia realized that studying, working two jobs and being a mother was too much to balance. 

“When [my daughter] was younger, it was hard to find somebody to watch her,” Claudia said. “Everyone I knew was working or going to school. And then I couldn’t really afford daycare. If I worked, all my money was going to go to daycare instead of bills.” 

Claudia left school and stayed home to care for her daughters, working part-time as needed to help pay for things like medical bills. Claudia’s youngest daughter suffers from severe asthma attacks.

While Claudia had to pause her career and education for a decade, she loved all the time that she was able to spend with her daughters. 

“I love being a mom [and] being there for my kids,” Claudia said. “I want to create memories with them like my mom did with me.”

Claudia was adopted, and her (adoptive) mom is her role model. 

“I have three sisters,” Claudia said. “When I was adopted, my mom adopted all three of us. She was a single mom, [and] she was a vice president of a magazine company. When she got let go [from the company], she [went] back to school. She got her Associate’s, Bachelor’s and Master’s. If she can do it, I can do it too.” 

Claudia continued, “I would hope that [my daughters] see me the same way. [On] Mother's Day and my birthday, they write little cards. They always say, ‘Thank you for working hard and providing for us.’ or, ‘Thank you for being there for me.’ Everything I do is for them.” 

Two years ago, when both of her daughters were in elementary school, Claudia started working again - full-time at a financial institution, an industry that she hadn’t worked in before.

“I was definitely nervous,” Claudia said. “This was my first career path. I wasn't sure [if] I was going to get the job.” 

Claudia had been told “no” to job opportunities with other companies due to her lack of experience in the field. However, her interview experience with her current employer was much different. 

“My manager now was very nice. He said, ‘Don't worry about it. We can get you training classes,’” she said. 

And they did. Claudia received training on a variety of financial topics. 

However, soon after Claudia started her job, the pandemic hit. Claudia’s two daughters were sent home to do school online. 

“The first nine weeks that my kids stayed home was a struggle,” Claudia said. “After the zoom [class], my oldest one would say, ‘I don't get this.’ She was trying to do her homework, but I was on call with a member. I felt like I was neglecting them even though I was working.”

The pandemic was immeasurably hard, but Claudia felt like her company supported her well.

Because Claudia’s daughter was at greater risk for COVID, Claudia’s company approved her to work from home, even after employees were asked to return to the office. When Claudia’s daughter needed to go to the E.R. and have surgery to remove her adenoids and tonsils, Claudia’s manager advocated for Claudia to flex her schedule and take time off that she needed, even though Claudia hadn’t accrued much paid time off (PTO) in her first few months with the company. 

Likewise, when Claudia learned about an opportunity to chaperone her daughter’s field trip post-pandemic with less than one week's notice, Claudia’s manager told her that she should go, and that she didn’t need to find anyone to cover her shift. 

“[It’s] not just a workplace, it’s more like a family dynamic,” Claudia said. 

She continued, “I connected with a couple of girls that trained me. I [told my staff specialist] I needed to get better at budgeting. So she said, ‘Well let me give you the budgeting sheet that I work with.’ And she sat down and talked to me about that. Another [woman] would give [me] advice like ‘If you want to get here, then you need to do this.’ [We even talked] about kids like, ‘Maybe you should try this with your daughter.’ I still have a good connection with them.”

Another one of Claudia’s favorite things about her job is that she gets to help others.

“I like to help people,” she said. “Telling members, ‘This is what you can do to pay off this loan, or this is what you can do to help save money.’ People need to learn how to budget and how to plan in case anything happens.” 

She continued, “My goal is to go into the branch office. That way I can sit down and help members in person.” 

Currently, Claudia works at the company’s call center. To work at a branch office requires a Bachelor’s degree. So Claudia went back to college last fall and began majoring in business management. 

“Sometimes it's a little bit of a struggle,” she said, “with work and family, but it's not as stressful as I thought it would be.” 

Claudia wants to keep growing in her career, while continuing to put her family first. 

“I want to be able to retire from this career,” Claudia said. “I feel like I'm [where] I'm supposed to be, even though I had to take a couple of detours to get there.”

She continued, “I feel like we have to teach ourselves to grow up. If I would've [gone to school] full time back then, I don't think I would be where I am today. I would've pushed myself in a direction that I wouldn't have loved. I wouldn't have been able to be there for my kids.” 

Now, Claudia is able to chaperone school field trips, cook dinner for her family, get a top grade in her accounting courses, and help others by advancing in her own career. She is realizing her dreams and becoming the role model that she has always wanted to be. Although I would argue she’s been this role model all along.