I went back to work 10 days after giving birth. Two decades later, I finally took a break.

Real estate executive Leslie Cohen recently took a break from her career to be more present for her college-bound kids.

Shep Cohen Real-estate executive Leslie Cohen went back to work 10 days after giving birth to her second son.

Two decades later, she decided to pause her career to help her sons navigate college.

Cohen said that being present for her children now is more important than when they were babies.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Leslie Cohen, a 52-year-old real estate development and operations professional in the Boston area.

Business Insider has verified her identity and background.

This story has been edited for length and clarity.

I started my career as a project manager in the commercial real estate industry and rose through the ranks to chief operating officer .

This summer, however, I decided to put my career on pause to spend time with my kids.

One is going to be a junior in college this fall, and the other one is heading off to college.

I'm planning to announce my next chapter soon, and it's something that will allow me some flexibility, but for now, I'm enjoying the break, as I've never had any time off like this.

When I had my first son, I had the option to take three months of paid leave , and I chose to spread it over six months because the company I worked for was in the midst of a big transaction.

I didn't want to be left behind, and the company was also willing to be flexible.

I took the first three weeks off, then started going in two days a week, then three, and so on.