turns out I'm NOT an idiot (and your team isn't either!)
I spent age 21 with extremely high self esteem because I was one of the few of my peers to get a sweet office job after college,
(anyone else graduate shortly after the 2008 recession?)
and yet also crushingly low self esteem because I was doing a terrible job, every single day.
The company I worked for was a small digital marketing agency, and I was immediately put in charge of the company's biggest and most volatile client.
My first week, I was handed a slide deck with some of the company's history that I retained zero memory of after consuming and then was instantly put on the weekly call with said VIP client, all by myself.
In a devastatingly embarrassing moment in my life, the client ended the call early.
They had no choice but to put me out of my misery after I answered every question with an extremely timid:
"uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhmmmmmmmmm iiiiiii ddoonnn'tt knoooooooooowwwwww.....?????????"
Mortifying.
I waited for things to click or someone to give me more...direction?
None came.
Instead, I spent the first month of my first office job doing the deepest dive on the ever-evolving case of Canadian adult-actor-turned-murderer Luka Magnotta while pretending to work.
At the old age of 35, I now wished my 21 year old self had thought to ask someone for help.
But I didn't even realize I could do that.
I thought that since no one told me anything, I was supposed to just know what to do and was too embarrassed to say anything too contrary.
I eventually got into some sort of rhythm, but for the next year I was constantly feeling unsure, nervous, and embarrassed at work.
I clashed more than once with more senior co-workers who couldn't understand why I was such a fucking idiot.
I struggled to support my nightmare VIP client (I just had the one!), and honestly, only got away with it because the client contact was also in his 20s and very clearly had a crush on me.
(I now realize this is why I was hired, because why else would they hand me their most important client and no one else? Pretty privilege, reporting for duty🫡)
Cut to a few years later:
I'd moved to Denver, CO and spent 9 months HUSTLING for my next office job.
I finally got a legit interview at another digital marketing agency for a role as a QA specialist.
During the interview process, one of the account managers asked me about my experience QAing against a blueprint for a website.
I looked at her funny.
"Huh? What's that? We didn't have those at my last agency."
"What?"
"We didn't use blueprints at our last agency."
The account manager then - AND THIS IS REAL, THIS REALLY HAPPENED - stood up, opened the door, and shouted to another account manager:
"SHE SAID HER LAST AGENCY DIDN'T EVEN USE BLUEPRINTS!!!!!!!!! CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT?!"
In that moment, I realized something.
I wasn't! a fucking idiot!!!!
I just didn't have what I needed to succeed!
I was never given instructions or a map to follow.
I spent the whole year at my first agency guessing and muscling through projects.
Luckily, I NAILED the test project that came with that interview and spent another year with an agency that actually made me feel supported, competent, and proud of the work I was doing every day.
The second agency was much bigger and I can tell from LinkedIn has grown even more ever since.
The first agency, uhmmm, not sure what happened to them to be honest.
With the amount of drama and other people jumping ship around the same time I did, I can't imagine they made it much longer.
This experience has impressed upon me a most important lesson: we need documentation for our team to be successful.
This is a crucial part of the builds I do for my clients.
Our initial Process Map acts a blueprint for them to follow when they are navigating the systems I build for them.
And the SOP library I build for them acts as documentation for them and their team while navigating projects.
So no one on your team is feeling like I did at 21 years old in Sarasota, FL.
Instead, you can have a happy, healthy, and growing team like my second agency in Denver, CO.
Let's take the first step - apply to work with me.
