There’s this line in the show Friends I often think about. It’s Valentine’s Day (happy belated Valentine’s by the way!) and Monica, Phoebe and Rachel are all hanging out, talking about their lives - work, being single, all the things. Phoebe is laying on the floor and one of the other two asks if she has a plan. Phoebe answers with my favorite line of all time: “I don’t even have a pla.” Oh, how I’ve felt that for the last few months.
This episode of the podcast is somewhat like that. See, my guest today is Petra Vujaskovic and she is one of my people - she quit her job without a plan.
After starting her recruiting career in New York at JP Morgan, Petra took a detour and went to Miami. She had plans of working there for a while but in her heart, she knew she should go closer to family, to the place where her parents had come from: Croatia. But, COVID hit so her plans changed for a bit. She had a baby and soon after quit her job and moved half-way around the world.
This conversation was pretty significant for me. Not only do I get to talk to someone who is going through the “messy middle” like me, but I also got to hear the truth about motherhood from someone who wants to tell it like it is: it’s beautiful but it’s thankless, it’s the hardest thing she’s ever had to do, and there is absolutely no performance review in motherhood (which, for someone who thrives on feedback, is a very scary thought.)
Petra and I dove into everything from the scary thought of "Am I ever going to be hireable again?" to the liberating realization that it's okay not to have all the answers. This episode is for anyone looking for a genuine, down-to-earth talk about the twists and turns of life changes. So if you're in need of some honest conversation and a few laughs (and don't mind my cold-affected voice), this one's for you.
Petra has over 10 years of experience as a senior recruiter across the corporate world. She’s been responsible for hiring top talent at financial services firms including J.P. Morgan, McKinsey and H.I.G. Capital in New York and Miami. She managed campus recruitment, diversity and inclusion initiatives as well as optimization processes across her various roles. After becoming a new mother, her passion for women’s health was ignited during her own experiences and she’s now eager to explore various health and wellness topics that affect women, primarily in the workplace. Petra holds a Bachelor’s degree from New York University. She speaks 3 languages and has lived in 5 countries and 4 US states.
Share this post