Almost ten years later.

Last week, I walked into the lobby of the building I walked into almost ten years ago.  I was 23, and I was interviewing for my first full-time job post college graduation.  It was January, it was freezing out, and I was still sweating profusely.  I’m sure I was dressed in some poor fitting suit –a kid trying to play a grown-up, with my resume in a folder, and notepad and a pen.  My list of questions written out –always ask questions at the end of your interview.  I checked in with security, and went up to the 22nd floor, and walked through the same doors I walked into for the first time all those years ago.  The office looks different, but it’s the same people… and most importantly, it feels the same.  This is a story about where it all started, for me…

I was 23 and fresh out of college.  I had worked a few internships, and I had jobs all through college in retail, but this was different.  It was my first real job, with a consistent paycheck, health insurance, and essentially the first time I felt like an adult.  The first time I worked in an environment in which I was treated like an adult. When I started that job I had no idea what to expect.  I was a communications major, and I knew nothing about advertising sales, but they hired me anyway.  They took a chance on me.  I’m a quick learner, and before you knew it I was moving without training wheels. 

I often times think about that job, and what it gave me at 23.  A couple of weeks after I started I was sitting at my desk working on an account that was a fucking nightmare, and that’s being generous.  I was e-mailing back and forth with the client, and at one point the email I wrote came off with a little too much attitude.  My co-worker shot out of her office, ‘I just saw your e-mail.  I know this is frustrating, and it’s late, but you can’t send e-mails like that.  They have a lot of options on where they can spend their money.’  Nine years later… customer service is key.  It stuck.  I never again shot off an email like that.  This job set the groundwork for who I became, and how I developed.  Through the years this team, that I left a long time ago, has continued to be supportive.

I’ve been fortunate.  I’ve always worked for, and with, great people, and they’ve helped me develop and grow.  They have been honest with me, and that has made me a better person professionally.  Many of the people I’ve worked with have become friends, and so they have helped me grow personally as well.  Just yesterday, a Facebook status from years ago popped up, and I knew immediately who said it.  I had flash backs to sitting in a cubicle having a shitty day, but still finding a reason to laugh.  There’s always a reason to laugh.  If you’re lucky, like I’ve been, you find some great people to laugh with…