Dr. Tiffany Ofili Porter

Imagine packing up the life you’ve known for 33 years in Michigan and moving to Ohio shortly after competing at the Olympics for an amazing job opportunity your husband recieved. Despite your reservations at first, you get there, fall in love with the city, the home you created, and the community you’ve built. You get pregnant with your second child, have settled into a great routine and then 15 months after the move your husband hits you with the question: “Babe, how would you feel about moving to Kansas City?”

And he was very serious.

This is our story.

After much reflection, dialog, and prayer, my husband Jeff left a position as the Assistant Vice President for Development at Miami University that he really enjoyed for an opportunity to become the Vice President of Corporate Partnerships with the Kansas City Current.

He goes into much detail about what led him to make this decision in this article, but ultimately, it was a position that excited him and has tremendous growth potential.

If I’m being honest, although I acknowledged that the job was an incredible opportunity for Jeff and his career goals, the thought of selling our house, buying a new house and starting over in a new city during the latter stages of my pregnancy didn’t exactly leave me jumping for joy.

But now that we are on the other side of the majority of the planning/coordination, and have officially moved into our new house in Kansas City, I do feel relieved of some stress and I’m genuinely excited for this new adventure with my family.

During the whirlwind of events that took place to get us to Kansas City, here are three helpful lessons I learned throughout the process:

1) There is beauty in a willingness to place the interests of others before your own

Now this conversation is very nuanced because completely neglecting yourself for the sole purpose of only uplifting others can in fact have lasting consequences on your well being and mental health in the long term.

But that’s not what I’m referring to here.

I’m referring to me, as a wife, taking a step back and fully trusting that my husband of nearly 12 years has prayerfully and meticulously weighed the pros & cons before evaluating what step(s) will be best for our family and our collective goals. Of course he heavily involved me in this conversation but ultimately it did feel like his interests took priority over mine in this situation.

And I’m ok with that.

In fact, now that the dust has settled, I’m excited to embark on this new journey and I’m very open to the incredible opportunities that it will present.

This, to me, was a prime example of allowing my actions to display how much I believe in my husband’s vision and how valuable the support of loved ones is in allowing you be the best version of yourself.

Summary: When you're trying to build a legacy (or anything worth doing) there has to be some give and take for it to be successful. Finding that balance is a skill. Also it's important to "put your money where your mouth is" when illustrating your support for loved ones. 

2) When God places opportunities in your lap, you have to move

When Jeff and I had a moment to stop and think about how the opportunity to become the Vice President of Corporate Relations for the Kansas City Current came about, we were both convinced it was divine intervention.

From the enjoyable interview process, to his long term passion to uplift women in sport, it’s clear that all of the work he’s done in years past has adequately prepared him to be successful at this job. Jeff has personally experienced the pinnacle of sport, coached me & my sister to the Olympics, worked in college alumni engagement, partnered with high ticket university donors, overseen maintenence workers, managed college coaches, served on several boards, and has taught various university courses, so I know that he will be a huge asset to his new team.

I am happy that they also see in him what I’ve seen in him for years.

When my patients at the pharmacy asked me why our family was moving to Kansas City I succinctly replied that my husband got a job opportunity that we couldn’t pass by; and that truly describes how we feel. Through prayer and faith we are confident that God was telling us to move, so that’s exactly what we did.

Summary: great opportunities don't come by every day, but when they do, you have to be open to them, and willing to move on them swiftly. 

3) Growth really does happen from outside of your comfort zone

I know, I know, this saying is such a cliché, but bear with me. Not only is it incredibly true, I have experienced this in several different areas of my life.

For example:

• I carried on with the rigorous pharmacy school curriculum while simultaneously training for the Olympics, and eventually became the pharmacist & athlete I always dreamed of despite naysayers saying it was impossible.

• I took the leap of faith & switched professional coaches a few times during my track career and became a better athlete for it each time.

• I followed my desire to become a mom during my track tenure despite the risk of it ruining my career, but was able to do so, come back to sport even stronger, and prove to myself & others of what’s possible.

I was able to pull encouragement from those scenarios & others to remember that just because the move from Ohio to Kansas City seemed intimidating initially, doesn’t mean we were going to be held back by fear of the unknown. My husband & I have lofty goals; we refuse to look back and realize our growth was stifled because we were scared to take calculated risks & challenge ourselves to push the envelope.

Summary: Being adaptable is a superpower and will translate to all facets of your life if you remain steadfast in your pursuit to embrace the unknown regardless of how scary it may seem.

We all know that life is short and I’m sure most people desire to live a full one without regrets. Taking those leaps of faith, embracing the unknown, and being open to honoring the vision of loved ones, all contribute to fulfillment in life, from my experience.

As we approach each day, I hope that when new opportunities (whether big or small) present themselves, we are all ready to take them and find incredible peace, joy, and satisfaction in doing so.

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