We each grew up traveling a lot, mostly visiting family that was split across a few hundred miles.
For Andy, it was traveling between his mom and 3 half-siblings in Cincinnati (Northern Kentucky, actually), and his dad and half-sister in Michigan’s upper peninsula. For Lezlie it was going back and forth between Little Rock, where all her extended family is, and Dallas, where she moved as a kid with her mom.
As a couple, we incorporated travel into our lives with an annual summer road trip encompassing about 4,000 miles over 3-or-so weeks. We even added our dog Jax to the adventures, and he loved it.
During our road trips, we’d visit family on both sides and a friend or two along the way. We really enjoyed it, but because we always had so many people to see spread across several hundred miles, we rarely got to go anyplace we hadn’t already been.
So, when each of us independently started reading about people our age starting businesses on the road and traveling full-time, we were seriously excited.
We already had the business – Resume Lezlie (then Professional Progressions) started in 2014 when, after the unexpected closure of the college campus where I worked as a Career Services specialist, I branched out on my own as a resume writer, interview coach, and career consultant.
I was fortunate to be connected with a mentor early on, who sent me some of my first clients and has helped me develop the skills to steadily grow the business. Andy joined me in July of 2016, managing marketing and advertising, social media, research, administration, and contributing to resume and LinkedIn services and our blog.
Andy joined me at Resume Lezlie (then Professional Progressions) in July of 2016. He manages marketing and advertising, social media, research, administration, and he contributes to Resume & LinkedIn services and our blog.
Prior to this, he was a high school band director. The decision to leave teaching was a difficult one for him, but ultimately our plans and aspirations led us out on the road, and the timing was right to make that leap.
It took us 18 months to get from, “Hey, this idea sounds cool”, to, “Holy crap we just bought this thing, now where do we park it?”
There were a lot of moments during that time when one of us would turn to the other and go, “Are you sure you really wanna do this?” But the answer was always yes, so we kept moving forward.
Read about how we chose our RV here.