All The Fall Things

And just like that, Labor Day Weekend is here. Remember when I was talking about Memorial Day Weekend?

In my last post, I mentioned that things were looking up and hoped to share some good news soon. Well, I do believe that now is the perfect time to announce that I found a new job! 🎉

I am amazed that I landed a full-time content marketing role in a publicly-traded company that offers remote working capabilities, a full benefits package, and a 20% higher salary than my previous position. (22% higher, if we want to be exact. 💅🏼) All of this, during a global pandemic.

Let me remind you: it took me one year to get here.

I was miserable before I got fired. I dreaded going into work every day, didn’t feel appreciated, and had a feeling it was going to happen. When it finally did, that event combined, with the other things happening in my personal life, made me feel like I hit rock bottom.

In the weeks that followed, I was a textbook case for the stages of grief. I was just mad. Constantly bitter.

But I did do three things in the aftermath:

1. I booked an appointment with a therapist.
2. I put money down for a 10-week digital marketing course.
3. I started writing on my blog again after 1.5 years of neglect.

Therapy helped a lot.

I wanted to see a therapist for years. I just never set time aside for myself to do it.

In my first session, I barely made it past the introductions and background before breaking down and crying. Even though I just met my therapist, I was so overwhelmed that I just let it out: the bitterness of being let go, the heavy emotional labor I carried around, and the disappointment I felt about my life.

I continued to do therapy for about a month, took a break, came back at the beginning of this year, and regularly attended throughout 2020. Having a neutral, unbiased person I could talk to about my feelings worked wonders. I’m so glad I got help when I did.

Investing in myself: always worth it

I enjoyed the 10-week digital marketing course that I did with General Assembly.

Through it, I met some great people, some in the same boat I was in (unemployed), others looking to supplement their skills in their current role.

I helped my cousins promote their new jiu-jitsu studio, boosted my resume, and even got a job referral (though it ended up not working out).

I also speculate that attending this course helped me land my current role, but perhaps that’s a story for another time.

As for my blog?

I’m never as consistent in posting as I want to be. I’m pretty sure this will be a struggle I will have all my life. But I’m proud to see that I’ve done at least one update per month in 2020, with July being the exception.

…Which leads me to today.

I am three weeks into my new role as a Marketing Content Specialist at Global Payments Integrated. I’m not sure if it’s the honeymoon phase or if my skillset fits perfectly (I want to believe the latter), but I am genuinely enjoying my role, my team, and the company.

I market to developers looking to add a payment function to their software. I also do some business development research on the side. It’s the right mix of B2B, e-commerce, and fintech – topics I’ve touched on in my previous roles.

I was an active job seeker for seven months. I already adjusted my expectations. Back in May, I was in the final round of interviews for another position but didn’t get the offer. I even had the opportunity mid-summer to return to an ex (if you know, you know 👀) but that fell through.

Interestingly enough, I told myself that if I didn’t hear back from Global Payments, I would stop searching for the rest of the year.

Funny how things turn out, right?