Step One: Don't Hate Your Job

If there’s any advice I could give my kids about their future, it would probably center on two things:

1. Marry somebody who truly wants to be married to you, forever.

2. Don’t hate your day job.

   
   

I’m relatively well-educated—I have a bachelor’s in business, an MBA, and a master’s in systems engineering. When I first went into business school, I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do. By the time I graduated in late 2008, the job market was terrible. Even with good grades (cum laude for undergrad, a 3.5+ GPA in grad school), it was slim pickings.

But I had something more important on the horizon: marriage. I was getting married in three months, and moving back in with my parents wasn’t on my life goals list. My parents are wonderful people, but I was ready to stand on my own.

So, my soon-to-be father-in-law suggested I apply at his company. I didn’t really know what they did, but they offered me a starting salary that made me feel faint in the best way. I accepted, knowing it meant we’d be okay—that we could rent a house and build a life together.

The job itself? It was boring. Basically, I made sure the documents we sent to customers were the latest version. Not exactly what you dream of doing with multiple degrees. I was in that position for six years. But I’ve always been hungry to learn, and I kept stretching—taking on new tasks, finding mentors, building knowledge. That hunger is one reason I love photography: you’ll never master it all, there’s always a new challenge to chase.

Still, I hated the day-to-day of that job. It was soul-sucking. So I kept growing, moving into new positions, eventually landing in management with budgets and schedules in the millions. At first, it was exciting. Then it got monotonous too. Different problems, yes, but essentially the same flavor every single day.

On my drive home recently, I thought about my 13-year-old son. Right now, he wants to be an aeronautics engineer, which I think sounds fascinating. But what I want him to know is this: no matter what you choose, there will be days when work feels repetitive. Some people thrive on that. My husband is one of them—he likes solving problems, writing code, doing similar work day in and day out. For me, I need variety. I need to build, improve, and make things better.

I never landed in my dream field of product design and marketing, but along the way I discovered passions I hadn’t considered—like human factors, efficiency, and learning how to stop making the same mistakes over and over again. Those parts light me up. But too often, in corporate life, I’ve felt pigeonholed into management roles, and I see that reflected in the way job searches play out too.

So here’s what I’d tell my kids: while you’re young, don’t be afraid to commit to something, find out it’s not right, and pivot. It’s okay to back up a little in order to move forward in a better direction. Because if you’re lucky, you’ll spend the next 30 to 40 years doing roughly the thing you choose now. And if you hate it, that’s a long time to be miserable.

So kids, if you ever read this (and I know, you probably won’t take advice from your almost-40-year-old mom of six), hear this: love your career, so you can love most of the days of your work life.

Take it from your mom of six: don’t marry someone who drives you crazy, and don’t take a job that does either.

Kristian

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Mama, I see the way you give, sacrifice, and keep pushing through the hard days. You deserve a moment that’s all yours. That’s what I offer at Kristian Hutchings Portraits—a chance to pause, breathe, and be completely cared for. You’ll leave not only with beautiful portraits, but with the memory of a day where you finally got to put yourself first.

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Kristian is a mom of six, Program Manager by day, active Professional Photographer by trade, and a big believer in finding beauty in the everyday chaos.

Life in our house is loud, messy and full of literally everything. Love, noise, laundry, laughter, and definitely could use a bit more grace. I'm happily married to my best friend, grounded in my Catholic faith, and fueled by five to six hours of sleep per night and adrenaline.

I try to find joy in the everyday — even when it's wild, because without the little bit of joy, this life would be unbearable. This space is for the moms in the middle of it all: the ones juggling family, faith, work, and wonder. The ones that need someone else's messy life to make their own seem better or somewhat normal. You're not alone, and you're doing better than you think.

Welcome to Six Sweet Smiles — where we celebrate the mess, the miracles, and everything in between.