Dear Diary,
I think we have to stop meeting like this…it’s 3:10 am the day after Mother’s Day. I keep saying I’m exhausted but I truly am. The highlights since I last posted…
I went back to work. I’m covering a maternity leave for the rest of the year…it’s not supporting a Chief like I’m used to…It’s not paying me what I’m used to but as of now it’s fairly easy. (This is likely going to change) I’m still looking for a permanent role but I’m being super intentional with my search. Unless the req hits 99% of my criteria I’m not gonna apply. I’m about a month in and everything has been turned on its axis. I found one of the reasons why I got this job is because I come from primarily start ups. I was being interviewed knowing that my main exec is going to be leaving…just as I’m finding my flow the person I’m covering and I get the rug pulled out from under us and I’m told this person is leaving and I’m now getting a new person in addition to my others…during the transition period I’ll have 4 execs…I’m not thrilled especially for the pay rate but I guess I’ll just make it work. I came into this job knowing that I would step into someone’s role, do it her way then leave…but with a new leader it will change most of everything that she trained me for. I think it’s a good change because the things she likes to do I hate and the things I enjoy she doesn’t. Hopefully this new leader empowers me to do it my way and I can actually enjoy the job. More than anything I hope he’s low maintenance because the other 2 that will be under him are slightly chaotic…they haven’t had support before the person I’m covering so they’re used to running their own calendars, the problem is they don’t actually look at their conflicts before accepting more meetings. One of them is good about indicating which meetings they prefer and is sort of self sufficient and the other needs his handheld for everything…if this new person isn’t self sufficient then I guess I’ll be super busy. The good thing about being a contractor is I don’t have access to a lot of stuff so I really just schedule, do expenses and that’s kind of it. I’m not managing my own projects, I’m not in many meetings, I’m not running programs…I’m mostly chill during the day. The shitty part about not being at the top though is the CONSTANT calendar shuffling…I am moving the same meetings sometimes 3-4 times because other urgent things pop up. These people are booked out until late June and I’m just here scrambling every day. Buuuut while my pay isn’t what I’m used to the amount of work is also not what I’m used to…considering what I actually do vs what I’m paid is almost laughable. If I totaled the amount of hours of work I do vs the time I’m idle but need to be available it’s a no brainer to keep doing this. If the new exec is as chill then I’m gonna want to stay contracting forever 😂 even if it engineering still….in my career I’ve supported mostly engineering groups and to be honest I don’t particularly like it but I understand the engineer brain and the nuances it takes to support an Eng group so I keep ending up with them.
If I had my way I’d work for my old CFO again and coast…he and I had such a great working partnership and he was the most relaxed boss ever. And finance is EASY PEASY!!! Everything is super routine and I know when my busy times will be…month end, quarter end, earnings prep and board season. My old CFO is on the market looking for his next role and he knows I want to come with him so hopefully it works out. After 2 years from leaving the company I still get invited to team lunches with my old finance team. I love being one of them still…they were recently acquired so that lunch was officially off the books but it was nice to catch up with old friends. They’re all eager to follow my old CFO too.
In other news another reason for being so incredibly tired is I decided to officially launch my side business. As you know I don’t know how to just sit back and do nothing…I started to make Kimchi bandanas and now I’m officially in a store selling dog bandanas. I’m incredibly frustrated sometimes but also super proud of myself for taking the leap. Could my timing have been better? Yes but we’re here now and we’re in it. I basically make inventory and pay the store to rent space. They replenish the display and take a small percentage of each sale. On my first official day I sold 3!!! Honestly my goal was to sell 2 in a month just to break even. Profit margins are extremely high for the cost of goods and it’s just easier for me. I’m selling exclusively in this store. I know I could do Etsy or sell directly but honestly I don’t want to manage a website and shipping. I just want to make a bunch of stuff and leave it alone. It’s obvious my bandanas are handmade but that’s kind of the point…I know they aren’t going to be absolutely perfect but that adds to the charm. Hopefully I sell out and I can continue making stuff because it’s fun. I wish I took a formal class because I feel like I’m not doing something right with my machine sometimes but it works 🤷🏻♀️ I want a machine with automatic tension because that’s where my frustration lies…ironically the tension. I tried to watch videos for sewing other things and I’m confused. But it’s ok..let me just focus on straight lines for now.
I think I’m finally ready to sleep so good night/morning…G
Gel's Sueso 