I left my job at J.Crew after having my first baby. It was the best career move I ever made.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Seri Kertzner, 47, who lives in Florida.

She spent a decade working in the corporate fashion industry in New York before founding a trio of event-planning brands: Little Miss Party, The Social Society, and Rev New York.

She is also the mother of two teenage boys, ages 16 and 14.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

My love for fashion began with a childhood shopping addiction.

I loved clothes, and I dreamed of having a lot of money so I could shop to my heart’s content.

That led me to an economics degree and a job in investment after graduating in 1999.

When the market crashed a year later, however, I decided to explore other career options.

A Google search of “fashion + New York City + job” led to my role as a financial assistant at Kate Spade.

At 22 years old, I moved to New York City with $3 in my pocket.

Over the course of a decade, I worked for Kate Spade, Club Monaco, and then J.Crew — the latter two brands giving me production department experience.

I got to attend fashion shows, become a fit model, and even help make the Obama girls’ coats for their father’s presidential inauguration.

My world changed when my first son was born in October 2009.

After three months of maternity leave, I hired a full-time nanny.

But I hated being away from my baby, and I cried at my desk daily.

Jealous of my nanny and distraught over missing opportunities to spend time with my baby, I realized motherhood had become my new passion.

And that passion surpassed my love for fashion.

So with my husband’s support, I decided to make a change.

I launched the brand with the help of a former J.Crew coworker in 2010.

On the outside, my switch to small-event planning might’ve seemed crazy.

But during my fashion days, I was the ultimate party girl.

See and be seen was my M.O., and living in a one-bedroom apartment didn’t stop me from hosting elaborate dinner and birthday parties.

I had a lot to learn, but I was ready for my new career.

Leaving my corporate role brought me instant satisfaction.

I got to be with my child; I no longer needed the nanny, and I toted my baby all over the city.

Central Park, the MoMA — you name it, and I brought him along.

I did a lot of work from home during the daytime and often had events at night when my baby was sleeping.

Things really took off when Little Miss Party was featured in New York Magazine.

Thankfully, my husband, family, and babysitters helped me feel like I could do it all.

I was about two and a half years into event planning when my second son arrived in July 2012.

Managing my time became more difficult, but I was enjoying my newfound creative freedom as I took on bigger-budget events.

During the pandemic, my family and I moved to Florida.

We thought we’d only be there temporarily, but my husband and I decided our new home brought a better quality of life for our kids.

A move away from New York, however, meant I needed to rethink Little Miss Party.

Thankfully, I had passionate and trustworthy employees.

I let them rebrand to Rev New York and remained the face of the company while they styled high-budget events in New York.

The Social Society, on the other hand, came to be because I always dreamed of opening a party store that doubled as an event space.

I actually have my kids to thank for helping me find a location in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.

My life might have been less hectic if I had stuck with the corporate world.

But I enjoy my work-hard-party-hard lifestyle.

Running my own businesses puts me in control and allows me to make my kids my top priority.

Just last year, for example, I was able to take my son on a last-minute trip to California when his hockey team qualified for nationals — a likely impossibility if I had stayed corporate.

I’m very grateful to be there for my kids.

Leaving the corporate fashion world to pursue event planning has given me many things.

I’m so grateful for my time in fashion, but mompreneurship — as I like to call it — has treated me well.

Even still, mom guilt is a very real thing.

If there’s one piece of advice I’d share with other parents, it’s to give yourself grace and dream big.

I truly believe you can have it all.

Pursuing that may come with challenges, sacrifices, and disappointment, but I think doing what you love is important and worth fighting for.