A Lifetime Ended and a Journey Begun

     I wanted to start a blog to give my business more "me", to be more personal and real. I wanted to start a blog to breathe life into my business; my life. 

     So here I am, bearing it all to whoever will read it. My goal in creating these blog posts is to share my journey of where I came from and where I am going. Many of the future posts from now will very much focus on what I am doing to become the best business owner I can be, but we all have to start somewhere, and for me, that somewhere starts where my life nearly ended. 

     There once was a time when I was a young girl, full of hope and ambition. Planning on going to college to pursue an accounting designation. But somewhere along the way of adolescence I got lost. The idea of university began to seem too daunting and partying seemed like so much more fun. I joined the service industry as many young people do, and spent many years working in nearly every position within the restaurant. Serving, bartending, helping in the kitchen, and particularly office management. I loved what I did, I loved the bar and restaurant scene, but eventually it got the better of me. 

     I spent many years on the path of destruction. It seemed innocent enough at first: having a few drinks after shift, enjoying afternoon cocktails with friends, drunkenly walking the city streets going from pub to pub, taking drugs in the confines of the nightclubs. But the problem with addiction is that it is quiet and it creeps up on you. You don't really notice it at first, but once a month turns into once a day pretty quickly if you aren't careful. Now, I am not telling you this as any sort of lecture, I am only telling you my story.

     The years went on and soon I found myself lonely, and at the end of a bottle. Jobless, purposeless, hopeless. I was crushed to have been deserted by the industry I had spent my life in and loved so dearly. I had no idea how to get off the spiraling highways I was on, I had no idea how to get help. It was in that moment of desperation that I turned my face back to God - a figure of my childhood, long lost and forgotten in my adult life. I had hit my low point and figured what harm could prayer do?

     Within a few weeks I was in rehab. I truly believe that the circumstances surrounding it were God-given and divine, but I won't go into that now. I spent six long months in treatment. I had to break down every wall I had built up around my heart, one-by-one, and begin to build myself back up from the rubble that I was. I had to begin to think about fixing relationships and about who and what I wanted to be. 

     I searched my soul, my past experiences, and my memories to find that the ambitious girl was still there inside me, she was just older now and more tired. I didn't have the time or, frankly, the energy anymore to devote to returning to school to pursue becoming a CPA. I felt lost and defeated, like I had wasted my youth and ruined my life. I didn't know where to go from there or if I would ever amount to anything. I figured I was doomed to suffer from my failure for the rest of my life. 

     But one day, through my church community, I met my mentor. She took me under her wing and introduced me to bookkeeping. My background was in cash administration for restaurants so it really wasn't that different. I was passionate about doing that work and I was really good at it before addiction got the better of me. I found a passion that burned like a fire. She encouraged me to go back to school to pursue a bookkeeping certificate and supported me each step of the way. The last two years have been full of learning and dreaming of a better future. During those years the unthinkable happened. I regained a vision, a purpose. I didn't have to be a CPA to make something of myself, I just had to do my best and never give up. From there she encouraged me to start my own practice. Taking my past professional experience, my new experience, and an understanding of the flow of money, I embarked on a journey set out to serve the food and beverage industry. This is where I am today. I was terrified at first, and to be completely honest, I am still a bit terrified. But I am also excited, and so grateful to have someone in my life who showed me what it means to truly be redeemed. I thank Jesus everyday for the new path that has been set before me.

     I don't really know what the future holds for me or for Kadatz Bookkeeping Services, but I cannot wait to find out. Thank you, dear reader, for joining me on this journey. Check back in from time to time to find out what I am up to and where I am going.

               Love, Melissa