This might seem like a silly question, but it is one successful blogger and mompreneur Natasha Mills had to ask herself during her transition from an over-worked sales rep to a successful blogger, influencer and brand ambassador.
Mills (or @mommamillsblog as she is known to her more than 46,000 Instagram followers), shares the ups and downs of her journey to make a career pivot, find purpose and evolve into the role of “mom” as a recovering high achiever.
As an only child, I craved praise from my parents. Throughout the school years, my worth felt dependent on the grades I got. After that, validation and wealth came in the form of doing a good job.
The job? A sales career that began one month after graduating university. I received a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a business minor and then landed the title PepsiCo sales manager for Vancouver Island.
For seven years, I drove the island, setting up displays in grocery stores for every season from spring to Super Bowl. I had no commission structure as an incentive to push hard. What drove my ambition was a reliable salary and the chance to grow within the company, but what happened next rocked me.
I surpassed sales targets and worked innovatively, earning myself the reward Sales Manager of the Year. Soon after, a promotional position became available on the mainland. I interviewed well for it, but the job went to someone already living there who was less qualified. This rejection crushed me.
From that point on, I just existed in the role and drove the Island without a spark. I wanted to leave Victoria and started interviewing with various companies, but then I met my husband.
For the first time in my life, I felt the steady hand of someone I could see forever with. We fell in love very fast, moved in together, and I got pregnant within five months.
When I held my first-born and felt his beating heart against mine, I was born again. I felt a passion light up inside me that I didn’t know was possible.
Continuing with the sales role, I felt the growing monotony of tedious, unfulfilling work and decided that I desperately needed a creative outlet. I loved to write, and I loved being a mom, so I published a blog to share about the things I was going through, from mental health to navigating potty training. The signs were there to leave the job, but I ignored them. However, the universe has a funny way of making you leap when it’s time. The company did some major cutbacks, and I was let go on a severance package.
I had my son, my love and a new passion project with six months to explore my blog and social media opportunities while being financially insured. I loved the creativity to express myself online, both through images and video, but especially through the authenticity of writing. I got to show up in a way that felt so liberating, while also applying a skillset from corporate to make brand deals and collaborations. Money wasn’t coming in fast enough though, and the time had come to job hunt.
I landed a job in a new industry of medical device sales and doubled my previous salary. It was a cut-throat industry of demanding travel and sales targets.
Then, just as I was starting to feel “wealthy,” the world shut down for the pandemic and I found out I was expecting twins.
Everything seemed to crash down around me in both terror and disbelief. Once the twins entered the world, I saw life through a very different lens. I experienced undeniable bliss, but also staggering exhaustion and isolation. I felt compelled to share real and raw emotions from the heart—connecting in solidarity with a broader motherhood community online.
My following started to grow, and I felt another fire light up inside of me. I channelled that same ambitious drive that I had from corporate, to promote myself into a world of entrepreneurship.
I’ve had four successful years of progressive growth with aligned brand partnerships and even created an online course for aspiring digital creators. Since deciding to go all in and decline going back to the path of financial certainty, I’ve always asked myself, what does wealth mean to me?
I realized that from the standpoint of career, it’s having the freedom and flexibility to evolve in ambition, while prioritizing motherhood first. It’s in sharing my messy, imperfect truths—and being accepted, just as I am.
Wealth is when I’m present with my children, grateful for their health and all the memories we hold in our hearts. Wealth is having a loyal, loving husband to share every season of the journey with.
Wealth to me, is having the most important title of all: Mom.
