So now you’re back in the workforce, obviously you’re still a mom. So how did you find the time to balance your new work responsibilities with being a newly single mother?
Fortunately, Brunel is really good with work-life balance and we have a really flexible working environment, which I really appreciate.
But it’s still very hard. I was a single working mom for about 2.5 years and it’s really difficult when you’re expected to be at all the school activities and to volunteer and to do all these things that you were doing as a stay-at-home mom on top of your work. And then you don’t have a partner so all the financial burden is completely on your back as well.
I think the most important things were setting priorities and time management. And reaching out for people and things that can make your life easier. It’s important to be okay with needing help. Realize where your strengths are and look for the help when you need it.
You started out as a Personal Assistant and in 2.5 years you’ve become the Marketing Manager for our region which is an incredible trajectory. You had been kind of working in marketing previously in your career but never had a marketing degree, how were you able to make that leap?
It goes back to what I said about pouring the coffee well. Showing your worth. I did all the small things and wherever I go I always try to do things that other people don’t want to do because that’s what gets noticed. All the little things add up. If you have to go get your boss a La Croix, go get her a La Croix. It doesn’t matter.
It’s also important to take the initiative on things that aren’t expected of you and then to do those things well. I just kind of inserted myself in things I think I can do well to show myself as a good leader. You can’t always follow the rules, sometimes you have to play along the gray line in there and insert yourself in places before even asking, just get involved.
So I created our Social Committee, something we didn’t have before but I knew that we needed. I took on more office management projects and eventually was moved from Personal Assistant to Office Manager, then from there I moved into marketing as our Special Projects Coordinator and now I’m the Marketing Manager for the region.
I don’t necessarily believe in luck, I think everything is a part of a larger plan, but I was definitely always looking to be in the right place at the right time.
When you started out 2.5 years ago did you expect to be where you are now?
I was definitely hoping to move up. Every time I would have meetings and reviews with Beth I would just say “hey, I’m ready for more! I’m ready for more! I’m ready for more!” So it just kind of naturally progressed that way, but never in my wildest dreams did I expect to be blessed with the job I have now when I started.
I’m blessed to have a boss like Beth that let me work on my natural talents. She saw a value in me as an employee and as a person and because of that gave me the opportunity to work my way up and through that I found what I was supposed to be when I grew up.
Your network was really important in helping you get back into the workforce, is there any other guidance/support you wish you would have had at that time? Or is there anything you’d like to go back and tell your former self?
I’d probably tell myself to update LinkedIn more. When I met Beth I had given her my resume thinking that’s what she would talk to me about but what she wanted to focus on was things she had seen in my LinkedIn profile.
I would also say that if you’re getting back into the workforce do something where your natural talents lie and that you’re interested in. Especially if this is your livelihood and, in a way, your second chance, you want to make it count right?
So go somewhere you know that you can use your talents even if you don’t know what exactly that is. Go somewhere where you have opportunity to grow and if that means starting as an assistant or whatever else, just get your foot in the door.
Do you consider this to have been a second chance for you?
100%. If you talk to our coworkers who knew me when I started a few years ago, I’m like a completely different person. I think I found value and worth in myself again that I had lost when I was staying at home. Not that there is not worth and value there.
