A wife, a mother, and so much more, Leslie Fazio is a smart and successful woman with the goal of discovering her dream career. She describes the most meaningful aspects of her life as being her husband of 20 years, Benjamin Fazio, her three kids, her pets, and her home. Home to her is a place of gathering for her family, a place that she has put endless hours into creating, and her favorite place to be. Her family is her main priority, but as her kids are growing up and reaching adulthood, she has the goal to find a career that she is passionate about.
Upon asking her how her priorities have shifted since she graduated college in 2001, she explained that having kids was the biggest change. She originally planned on working full-time after obtaining a college degree, but marrying the love of her life while in college and deciding that they wanted a family soon after caused her to rethink that plan. She explained that at that time the feminist movement claiming that women could “have it all” was pushed upon girls, meaning that they could work full time and have a family, but she ended up deciding to work only part-time. “I realized I didn’t want it all,” she stated, “I wanted to be a mom.” Being there for her kids and watching them participate in the sports and activities that they love is another one of the biggest joys in her life. She said that she didn’t regret choosing to work part-time so that she could spend more time at home with her family and watching her kids grow up. She then went on to say, “now that my kids are more grown, I’m ready to start a job that I’m more passionate about.”
While in college, she originally wanted to become a newscaster, but at this point, she is more inclined to become a teacher. She has even taken steps towards this goal by taking online college classes to earn her teaching degree while continuing to work at her current job as a marketing director for a specialty medical clinic. She wants to be a teacher because she wants to “be a mentor to children and help them learn.” The main piece of advice that she would give her college-aged self was “be open to change; what you think you want your life to be like, you may not ultimately do.” That and, “marry someone amazing!” which she did.
