A journey begins!!

My name is Angel Chu and I am a wife and mother to three beautiful children. I have always had a passion…a talent…for writing but have always considered it a hobby. In fact, I’ve always had a love for the arts, of all kinds. As a child, I sang in church, took every art class possible in high school, performed in contests, wrote poems, sang at weddings, wrote songs, majored in music, lol. Despite the glaringly obvious fact that the arts were a part of me, I was always told they were hobbies, not careers. With this information in hand, I aspired for a career in advertising…which eventually became a B.S. in Marketing because it was more lucrative.

After more than 10 years in the corporate world, I became pregnant with my 3rd child…seven years after my middle one….and 14 years after the oldest…With that pregnancy came a yearning to stay home and raise my newborn and quickly growing sons. The previous 2 years had been a blur for me. Each day began with an hour commute to work as a member of a small, mighty, underappreciated account team of 5 with no opportunity for upward mobility in sight. My nights ended with an exhausting one hour commute back only to arrive home to two boys excited for attention I could barely find the strength to give them. Most nights they had already eaten dinner by the time I arrived, another sacred family moment fallen victim to the 9-5 rat race. In the midst of this chaos, my nights and weekends were often consumed completing case studies and papers in pursuit of my MBA.

Fortunately, as a veteran mom of elementary and middle school children, I went into this pregnancy with a solid appreciation for the value of time spent with my children and how quickly that time seemed to speed by the moment I stopped counting. As the pregnancy progressed and things became more crazy at work, I couldn’t help shake the feeling that my children needed more time with me – and I needed more time to be their mom – this was never a question. In fact, my only hesitation was the unfortunate stigma that is normally associated with a woman who takes time off to be a mom, however, I knew that if I earned my MBA during my time off it would help bridge that gap.

Last July, with the support of the most amazing man I know, my husband Chris, I decided to resign rather than returning to work after my maternity leave ended. I gave birth to an amazing little girl who is the light of her family and have been blessed to spend each of her first eleven months with her, witnessing each of her milestones along the way. Persevering for days to put her thumb in her mouth. Her gummy first smile. Infectious first giggles. Watched her teach herself to crawl. Pull herself up. Stand completely on her own! I’ve been blessed to spend and amazing summer at home with the boys too and have gotten to know each one of them as individuals rather than my children which has truly been eye opening.

Along with this desire to seize the day has come a desire to pursue my passions while I have time to and I am excited to say that is exactly what I plan to do! I am currently pursuing my passion for writing via a children’s book inspired by some of the things I love most – poetry, fashion, art and family. I am a total publishing newbie and have absolutely no idea how I will get there but am fully committed to getting my book published within the next year. Fortunately, I have already found a few gems in my network whose insights have helped steer me in the right direction (thanks Steve, Rich, Brian and Stephanie!).

My book project is in full swing at this point (check out my latest update)!! Several drafts of the manuscript have been written, potential illustrators have been contacted, I even had a call with a literary agent today who loved my book concept and said she would be surprised if I do not get a deal with a children’s book agent!! As an aspiring author (feels so weird saying that!) I know the road ahead will be full of highs and lows but I cannot tell you how excited I am to face each of those moments head on, living fully in the present, surrounded by the people I love most – my husband and children. I am fully aware of how fortunate I am to be able to pursue my dreams and will be journaling the process to show my children that with perseverance and hard work they can achieve any goal they set for themselves! With that, I am happy to invite each of you along on this journey with me and look forward to any insights, suggestions or comments you have along the way.

With love,

~Angel