Learning to move forward

This week, I’m reflecting about moving forward in my professional life.

A contact from my Singapore days reached out to me for a meeting. She’ll be in Hong Kong for a few weeks and is looking for additional networking opportunities.

I worked with her during my time at Yelp. I’m flattered that she views me as someone who’s connected and worth speaking to, despite relocating.

However, it also got me thinking.

I subscribe to Nerd Marketing by Drew Sanocki and in one of his newsletters, he wrote about people who wouldn’t let go of their glory years.

This doesn’t just apply to athletes who were in their prime in high school. It also applies to  working professionals who can’t stop talking about that really cool job they held a while back.

Every time you ask them how their current job is going, they can’t seem to stop comparing it to that old job they left years ago.

Reading that made me wonder – am I guilty of talking too much about Yelp?

After all, it took me 7 months to get over losing my dream job.

On LinkedIn, I occasionally get requests from startup founders to discuss my experience. I happily oblige because I enjoy talking about it.

There isn’t much of a Yelp presence in Hong Kong. But at times, it isn’t exactly “out of sight, out of mind”.

I remain connected to my former Yelp colleagues on Facebook. This means I see updates on the company, job promotions, and who’s leaving – all on my feed.

Considering how vested I was in being a community manager, this is the equivalent of still being friends with your ex on Facebook, and seeing how happy they are without you.

Clearly, they’ve moved on. I’ve moved on too… but sometimes I have those days. At times, I miss it. Other times, I feel resentment and anger.

But then I remind myself – you know what? I stopped working there in 2016. It’s 2018 now. That was 2 YEARS AGO. In startup land… it’s ancient history.

I’m very happy with the job I have today. It challenges me, the people I work with are fun, and I have the flexibility I need to spend time with my family.

Which leads me to this opportunity to humblebrag: have you checked out my portfolio lately?

In under a year, I’ve managed to have 7 pieces in the Easyship section. This is almost as much as what I have in my Yelp section (and that was curated over 2 years.)

Admittedly, logistics isn’t as fascinating as managing a community of lifestyle influencers. But at least we’re part of the eCommerce ecosystem, which is exciting in itself.

Realizing all of this makes me even more excited to see my friend.

Sure, we’ll reminisce about the old days.

But I can’t wait to steer the conversation to the present and focus on all the stuff we’re working on, both now and in the future.