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Having a child with autism, changed Alexis White’s trajectory. (Image: Joshua Hutson)

From Cosmetics to Classrooms: One mom’s inspiring career change

Having a child with autism changed Alexis White’s trajectory

This piece is part of our “Act II: Career changes after motherhood” series, where we dive into the personal stories of locals who shifted careers (and often reinvented themselves) after parenthood. Read the full feature here, including other stories of Seattleites who made a post-child career move, and tips from experts on how to make a successful post-parenthood career shift. 

Alexis White has always considered herself a teacher. She’s just done her teaching under the guise of other titles, starting with babysitter, then moving into retail, and on to cosmetics. Three years ago, this Seattle-based mom was matching customers with the right makeup colors and teaching them to master their eyeliner technique. Having a child with autism, however, changed White’s trajectory. She decided in 2022 that she needed to expand her teaching skills by making a career switch. Today she’s doing just that as an instructional assistant at Stevens Elementary in Seattle.

A young start

A passion for all things beauty and body products and teenage persistence turned into her first job, as a stocker at The Body Shop. Her manager was so impressed by her customer service on the first day, she told White: “Take the apron off and go in the front of the store.”

Eventually White landed at Sephora, and received rigorous training in color theory, skin types, hygiene, and proper sanitation. That professional development made White a leader in discussions around new products, common store issues, and problem solving.

Catalyst for change

In 2019, White’s 3-year-old son, Francis, was diagnosed with autism. When Francis started school at Stevens, White began volunteering there and later applied for a receptionist job. She didn’t get that job, but the principal offered her work assisting teachers with kids during recess and lunch. She was able to work where Francis was in school, and began “raising her hand” for other opportunities as well.

“I just became the ‘every’ woman,” White says. “I did web training, so I started doing the school website. When someone would ask for something, I could do it or ask for help if I didn’t know how to do it.”

From recess to classroom

White applied to become an instructional assistant. In that position, she provides help with classroom management, offering students social and emotional support and giving them tools to positively process their feelings. In many ways, White finds classroom principles similar to her cosmetics work, as she empowers students with knowledge and gives them tools to feel good about themselves. Also, in the same way that White collaborated with her Sephora colleagues, she now partners with teachers and students.

She says her work is all about “having those fluid conversations that are ongoing to build genuine relationships.” As with her prior job, she has to be adept at recognizing why something is or isn’t working. “I think that limiting your learning to receiving only from grownups is dangerous,” White says. “I learn from my students every day.”

The impact on her parenting

Being an instructional assistant has changed the way White engages with Francis. She is more intentional about their time together and more mindful in the way she speaks to him. White says it’s hard to see some of the disrespectful ways adults speak to kids. She wants to reassure her own child, “I don’t ever want to be the person who does that to you or makes you feel that way.”

Looking forward White hopes that the next stage in her career includes acceptance into Seattle Public Schools’ Academy for Rising Educators.The program is a collaboration between SPS and the City of Seattle’s Department of Education and Early Learning and offers a pathway for educators of color. White was not accepted into the program’s upcoming cohort, but she remains determined to make the ‘teacher’ title official. “It’s not a denial,” she says. “It’s a delay. To me it means something big is coming down the pike.

Read more

Act II: Flexing at Lions and Tigers | After giving birth to her son, Brea Starmer wanted to work at a different pace even as she craved the challenging, high-level projects that had built her consulting career. Now she’s CEO of Lions & Tigers, a flexible consulting firm offering high-level expertise with part-time, remote work for parents.

Act II: Dads make a career changes after parenthood, too | Fourteen years ago, Nick Nordberg’s circumstances would have been the makings of a mid-life crisis. Instead of letting his situation weigh him down, Nordberg, a Puyallup resident, turned his circumstances into a mid-life opportunity.

Act II: How a newspaper reporter became a birth worker | In walking away from daily news, reporter Cheryl Murfin walked right into an identity crisis. She needed a new work identity, one aligned with her newish motherform. Strangely, she found it in the birth experience itself.

About the Author

Melody Ip

Melody Ip has been an avid writer since she got her first diary at the age of 5. Today, she is a freelance copy editor and writer, in addition to being the copy chief for Mochi Magazine. She loves the trees and rain of the Pacific Northwest, still sends handwritten letters, and always has at least five books on her nightstand.