The prevailing narrative is that one’s career is the surest way to positively affect the community. However, as two things can be true, there is a parallel narrative that asserts itself in the interstices of life’s busyness, which hinges on one’s ability to affect change simply through their character. This is evident in the professional realm, but also on a personal level, as character may transcend what is professionally beneficial and fix one’s mind on what is personally noble.
There are few greater examples of this than the humility and selflessness of stay-at-home parents.
After dedicated service to the Mt. Pleasant Area Community Foundation, Alysha Pasquali is a prime example, as she has recently stepped down from her role as CEO to embrace a new chapter as a stay-at-home mother. A Mt. Pleasant native with a deep-rooted commitment to philanthropy, Pasquali has been a driving force in the foundation's growth and community impact.
In this period of transition, she remains committed to ensuring the foundation's continued success.
"I hope my part-time help will make the transition go as smoothly as possible and will set the new CEO up for success," she shares.
Pasquali’s ongoing support during this critical time underscores her enduring dedication to the organization and the community it serves.
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Pasquali with her family in Summer 2024. Courtesy Alysha Pasquali
After the birth of her child, Pasquali decided to take a break from the workforce to raise him at home. Pasquali now gets to spend more time with her son, raising him in the same community she is from—a community that she thinks and speaks highly of.
“I think any community is defined by the people that live in it, and I think we are pretty lucky,” says Pasquali of Mt. Pleasant. “I think our town is full of a lot of caring individuals.”
“I think collaboration between community members is really strong here as well,” she elaborates. “If there is a project that needs to be done or an initiative that is important, I feel like all sorts of people come together to make that happen.”
Pasquali clearly views the Mt. Pleasant community as an ideal place to raise her child, but the decision to leave work to do so was not one her family decided on a whim. Pasquali’s decision to become a stay-at-home mother started due to a lack of childcare options, but quickly progressed as an idea that it was perhaps the right choice for her family.
“[We had] a discussion about me having the opportunity to stay home and raise our son, and we came to the conclusion that it would be a good idea, and we would find a way to make it happen,” she shares.
Pasquali has some sense of what her future might hold but remains conscious of the present value of the time with her child, saying, “I’m sure [staying at home] will only be for a few years, but in the meantime, I’ve been enjoying my time with him, watching him grow these past few months.”
The transition from the workforce to full-time motherhood came with some hardships for Pasquali, as could be expected.
“It was a bittersweet decision to make because I loved my job, and I worked very hard in my career to get to that point, so it was difficult to take a step back,” Pasquali says. “At the same time, I know that I’ll never have this time back with our son, and I’m grateful for the opportunity.”
While Pasquali has had to temporarily take a step back from her career, she has resolved to still assert a positive influence on the Mt. Pleasant community.
“I think there’s a multitude of different ways you can find fulfillment outside of work,” she says. “I did that throughout my time when I was working outside the home—I was on boards, in the rotary club, and gave a lot of my time in that way … There are so many opportunities out there [to influence your community], you just have to find one that fits with what you find important.”
Currently, what Pasquali and her family have deemed important is dedicating her days to raising their child. It is a certainty that raising a child is one of the most important aspects of ensuring a community’s perpetual success and prosperity; in a sense, Pasquali has never actually stopped working for the Mt. Pleasant community—it just looks a little different now.
Most importantly, Pasquali has also found that becoming a stay-at-home mother was the right choice for her.
“I don’t think anything can prepare you for how hard having a newborn is, or how much joy it can bring into your life,” she says. “You know you are going to love your child, but you have no idea how much you’re going to love them until they’re here.”