Help power Marketplace this winter when you support the show today. Donate Now!
My Economy

My Economy: Working as a CFO — chief family officer

Robert Garrova Jun 1, 2017
HTML EMBED:
COPY
LOIC VENANCE/AFP/Getty Images
My Economy

My Economy: Working as a CFO — chief family officer

Robert Garrova Jun 1, 2017
LOIC VENANCE/AFP/Getty Images
HTML EMBED:
COPY

My Economy tells the story of the new economic normal through the eyes of people trying to make it, because we know the only numbers that really matter are the ones in your economy.

For this latest installment of our series, we hear from Sherri Messer, a stay-at-home mom in Austin, Texas.


My name is Sherri Messer and I am in Austin, Texas.

I am the chief family officer. I’m a stay-at-home mom, and we’ve really enjoyed that. My oldest son is 10 now. So I have, for the most part, not been working for 10 years. We’re comfortable and happy, but then there’s this kind of unknown. We know, we’re aware that things could change.

I mean, I have a master’s degree, and I’m nervous about getting back into the workforce. I left the workforce about the time the iPhone was really coming out and becoming prevalent and so, so much has changed.

I want to contribute. I mean, I grew up thinking about career, not about having kids, but then, all of a sudden, you’re at that point in life, and you haven’t planned in that way you’ve planned career.

I was a director at a nonprofit. Whatever I do next needs to be meaningful to me because it’s going to be taking time away from the family. You know I want the best of both worlds. I want a really great career, but I want to raise my family and be there for them.

Correction (June 02, 2017): A previous version of this story misspelled Sheri Messer’s name. The text has been corrected.

There’s a lot happening in the world.  Through it all, Marketplace is here for you. 

You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible. 

Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.