Finally coming up for air!

Ahhhh .... end of year wrap up, the holidays, and organizing the house (a struggle for me to begin with... add a toddler and the bottom falls out) ... aka - insanity.

But now, insanity is cooling off a bit.  Why?  Well the holidays are over... And I LOVE the holidays.  Even with the craziness, I LOVE the holidays.  As we know I thrive off of insanity, so as long as I have my two weeks off, I can love the holidays as much as I did when I was a kid - but for different reasons.

Over the last two weeks, I have managed to travel for three days for work, go to four holiday parties, pick out many presents and wrap several more, put together a "Step 2" kitchen for my toddler (which I might add puts my kitchen to shame), clean and rearrange my bedroom and closet, have several tea parties with my little one (love the Mrs Potts Tea Set and tray), Cook and bake like a maniac - cheesecake, jello tortes, brownies, cookies, cupcakes ... a complete turkey AND ham dinner with all the fixings (yes, it was my first time cooking a turkey and it was a success... or so my guests said), finalize some loose ends at work while I am away, and start to chair an event at my little one's school.

As you can tell, there were many accomplishments that I had over the last couple of weeks.  Some work related, but most little person / family related.  While the accomplishments shifted to my little person and family, the common theme here is the insanity that I thrive on.  Which is why when I go back to work on Monday, I am going to miss the home craziness, but will like the change of pace... especially because I will only have a week or so to put together an entire day of client meetings!

But, as I roll into 10 days of craziness at work, I will have come up for air for a bit with a clean house, a happy child and husband... and then will dive right back into it.

Good riddance 2010! Thanks for everything

It's that time of year again where the Christmas holidays are over, all the presents unwrapped, and our houses (that looked like a bomb went off) and lives are finally starting to get back to normal. Hopefully you all have been able to find some time to rest and spend quality time with the family. Oh yea, and of course hit all those after-Christmas sales! (I know I'll hit them a few times ; ) Soooo, with New Year's approaching, now is time to start the usual reflecting on the past year and looking forward to the next.....

And God am I looking forward to the next! I'm not going to lie and deny that 2010 was a shit year that I'd like to forget. Actually, for most of us. I've been at parties where we've played the "who gets the brownie for the worst year" game. And the stories are usually doozies. I thought that I would win the brownie for having 3 jobs (starting 2 new ones), moving twice, packing and paying for moving twice, a mortgage and rental for 6+ months, being uncertain and unhappy about decisions, not knowing often where we belong, trying to adjust to new things, realizing who our real friends are and who we can trust (the hard way), and still trying to recuperate from it all.

When I had this conversation with my husband - being the optimist he is - reminded me of all the good things that came out of the year. That we went through everything we did in order to realize certain things - where we really want to live, where we want our kids to grow up and where our home is and we truly belong. We also now know who our true friends are and how lucky we were to have jobs through it all. I'll be the first to admit that most of what we went through in 2010 was self-inflicted. We chose to move, put our house up for sale in the worst market ever, start new jobs and change our lives, etc.

I want to say we made the worst decisions this past year, but there's also nothing wrong with taking risks in life. Sometimes they work out for the better and sometimes they don't. Life is boring without taking risks - I've just come to realize that they need to be more calculated. And perhaps a bit smaller....

That being said, I'm sure you can guess my New Year's resolution! Don't get me wrong - I will still continue to take risks in life - that's the kind of person I am. But the next time I feel the urge for a big change in life, someone PLEASE remind me to redeisgn a room in my house, take a trip or just get a new wardrobe. It will be so much easier and cheaper!

So, thanks for all the lessons you've taught me 2010. Good riddance and thanks for everything!

If Agency life isn't crazy enough...throw in the holidays

So if our lives working in agencies (crazy hours) and being moms (24/7) - go ahead and throw in the holidays!! It's like someone said - let's make things EXTRA fun and EXTRA interesting. But I'd be lying if I said I didn't thrive off of the craziness even more.

This year the craziness started earlier this month with my son learning how to climb. And when I say "climb", I mean getting up onto things and then falling his way off. Which has definitely made life interesting. He comes home from daycare every day with some new bump or bruise and somehow wakes up with new ones in the morning. We can't let him out of our sight....even for a second. Or else he ends up chewing on our iphone cords or hanging out in the dog's cages - which would be fine if he didn't try to eat their bedding.

Anyway, things at work are crazy with clients trying to cram everything in before the holidays. Of course wit's the "see how much we can fit in" before they all go on vacation (because of course we agency people never really get a thing called vacation). We are going through all the last-minute meetings, concerns, etc that makes our job really fun.

On top of work and taking care of my son, throw in the holiday parties, get togethers, cocktail hours, etc. And of course we decide to have friends over for a get-together as well. And we can't forget all the time shopping for gifts (from the toy store to the liquor store) and then the pain of wrapping and shipping everything. This is also why we go to visit Santa at 5:30 p.m. on a random Tuesday - because it's the only time we can find to squeeze it in. (Which actually worked to our favor because who the hell goes to see Santa at that time???)

And if we weren't short enough on time, we decided to go to New York for the day on Saturday to do some shopping and see some friends who are moving down south. Because of course we have to do it now. And on Sunday we are having our get-together so we can see our friends who we consider family and have quality holiday time with them.

I'm not going to lie and say that I don't love it. But I'm not going to lie when I say I can't wait for the actual holiday to get some R&R. Because we decided this year to opt-out of the festivities for the actual holiday. That we are going to spend it at home - just the 3 of us. The way God intended it. In peace and quiet. With our Christmas lasagna and presents we actually asked for. Who could ask for anything more?? Ok so I'm asking for a real vacation without having to work between Christmas and New Year's - but one can always dream, can't we???

Tis the season to give - or not....

This past week, a co-worker “shattered the glass” around someone we both mutually know from our past. If you’ve never heard of this phrase, it is when someone points something out to you about another person that you never really noticed before – something huge that you’ll probably never really be able to get over or past. Well, my co-worker “shattered the glass” that this person had the choice to really help me in a certain situation – to make a huge difference, and purposely chose to turn their back. Now, I knew this to some extent, but since I had a long-standing relationship with this person who I really trusted/respected, I think I purposely tried to ignore the truth. To give them the benefit of the doubt. The hard part is that this person also acted like they were actually going to help me and specifically choose not to – for whatever reason (although I can guess).

So, now that the glass has been shattered around this person, it’s hard for me not to be angry about it. And of course now I’m wary of asking anyone for help ever again. But then, looking back on the year, I can’t help but reflect upon the help that people have given to me personally and to my family – most of the time without us even having to ask. Those who have given of their time and helped me network and find jobs (2 this year to be exact), helped with my son, helped us move twice, help us get acclimated to new places, helped us make new friends, vested time and interest in us, drove us to and from airports in MA and PA, provided us free places to say, given of their time listening, given advice, counseling, coaching, people who have invited us into their homes, given of their food/liquor, thrown us parties (going away/coming home), someone even helped clean our entire house this year for us prior to moving back in…

So moving forward, I’m going to focus on the good people in our lives. It’s hard enough to accept help when offered, but I think it’s even harder when we actually had to ask for it. And a thousand times harder when asked for, and purposely not helped. Or maybe it’s just a thousand times harder to swallow.

My general philosophy in life is that if someone asks me for help, I try to do everything in my power to help them – with the hopes that when I need it, the same favor would be returned to me (if not by them, then by someone else). You know, the whole karma thing.

So where am I going with all this?? Tis' the season to give. Be careful who you trust. And to everyone that’s helped us over the past year – I can only thank you and hope that I can somehow repay the favor. To those who purposely didn’t….well…you know who you are. What goes around comes around and karma can be a bitch!

How the Heck Did I Get Here Anyways?

Well, let’s face it.  I have ALWAYS been competitive.  I always wanted to do EVERYTHING at once … and do it all really well.  So what does “everything” mean?  In High School, it meant, all honors classes, captain of the football and basketball cheering squad, working two jobs (24 hours a week), and applying for and getting into my top reach school.  While at that reach school it meant overloading on classes, being an RA, working 20 – 40 hours a week, being in a sorority, and participating in the dance program.  After college, it meant going to grad school (there were no jobs when I graduated school … so why not further my education), work 40 hours a week and try for a near perfect GPA, and choose to conduct and write a thesis (yes, I said chose).

Well – getting out of grad school, I knew I wanted to be a consultant.  Why?  Well, while working at my job in Graduate School, I decided that I wanted to be a consultant.  Because I like losing myself in a project only to find my way out after 12 and 16 hour days.  You read that right I LIKE working 12 – 16 hour days.  Yes I am a glutton for punishment.

Enter the opportunity of working at an agency.  Which, happened quite by accident, by the way.  I found myself immediately diving into client campaigns, spending hours working on strategy and recommendations, reporting, and presentations.  But, I began to THRIVE on it, loving every minute of it.  I'd work hours in the office, and then bring work home with me at night. I’d find myself sitting next to my husband (then fiancé) on the couch, watching TV and tapping away ferociously on my keyboard. I was 100% addicted.

I got excited about my client campaigns and the work I had produced – the results, the relationships and the fabulous PowerPoint presentations.  My excitement and long hours paid off after less a year and a half when I was promoted.  I continued to pour myself into my job for another year and a half … and then again, I was promoted. 

Then I became senior management.  And soon thereafter, I found out I was expecting.  This scared the crap out of me for many reasons… but most of all because I was going to have to be a trailblazer. 

And I did what any other crazy person would do … which was the only thing I knew how to do – trudge forward, continue working hard, entertaining clients, and ensuring my team was servicing their clients well … and grow a baby.  But that was easy... my body seemed to take care of that for me.  In fact, I had a fairly ‘normal’ pregnancy – barely any morning sickness, only a little exhaustion, average weight gain, and no cravings or mood swings.  Some said I was crazy, but really I was only doing what I knew how to do … add something else into the mix, and trudge forward.  Figure it out as I go.  I guess my body was just used to this because I ended up with an induced-but-textbook labor and a very healthy and beautiful (If I do say so myself) 10 pound baby.


Today, I am still working at the same agency and loving the chaos, challenge, and adventure ... and learning that even the most unpredictable toddler is easier than the craziest of clients.  But that is what keeps me coming back day after day.

  

How I got here.....

It’s funny because I didn’t even know what marketing was until I was a sophomore in college. I headed into my freshman year telling everyone that I was going to be the next Katie Couric – a trailblazing television journalist reporting on foreign wars and politics - and went into school as a Communications major. Toward the end of my sophomore year, I was involved in a class discussion with a business professor who was teaching a communications class (who just happened to be head of the Business Dept). At the end of the discussion, he shouted me out to the class – asking me why I wasn’t a marketing major. He called me out as having the personality for it and told me to sign up to be a Marketing major before I wasted any more of my life and money on useless Comm classes. The best part is that I actually listened to him (not sure if it’s me being young and naive or that I knew deep down he was right) and changed my major with limited research on the topic. I just knew that it was something that I was drawn to….something that was made for me and fit like glove…..its funny how little moments in your life like that can change it forever - so thank you Professor Stamm!!! Love you.

So after graduating from college, I decided that I wanted to work at a real agency in the “big time” in New York City. I went to college 40 miles north of NYC, so could only afford to work there if I continued to live in an over-priced shit-hole 1 bedroom apartment and commuted 1 ½ hours each way by both bus and train. I took the first job I could get as a Group Assistant for an account team at Young and Rubicam. According to me during that time - I hit it big. Which is really funny because I made $24K and couldn’t even afford to buy food or anything for that matter. But I was sooo excited that I was going to learn about real advertising from a real reputable agency located on Madison Avenue. And who doesn’t want to be 22 and work on Madison Avenue?? Little did I know what I was getting into – loooonnng days and nights which also included weekends and holidays. All I ever did was work. My first boss ever was a true workaholic (yes she actually had the disease – I could tell you stories). I remember falling asleep one late night my desk, only to be woke up by the sound of fat rats running around (just my luck that there was a dog food acct on my floor, which meant they had an endless supply to feed all the rats in the neighborhood). My husband who was my boyfriend at the time, threatened to break up with me because he thought I was cheating on him because I never came home. It’s funny because he was right - I was cheating on him with the agency and that life. It was hard, it was cruel, it was cut-throat… it was addicting - and I loved it. Because along with the rats and work-a-holics, I was exposed to some of the best creative minds, thinking and work of that time for Fortune 500 clients…work you would see on TV or online…. some work that may be remembered to this day…

I’ve worked at numerous agencies since then – four to be exact. Some better than others. I’ve also worked in New York, Boston and Wilmington, DE (don’t ask). So I’ve been lucky to have various experiences on all sorts of clients. Needless to say, I’ve worked my way up – sometimes pretty quickly and other times not as quick as I would like. Ok – so never as quick as I would like. But I’ve been through everything from screaming fights with my bosses, creative teams at odds to the pure adrenaline rush of winning new business, selling in new creative work, or just really nailing a presentation.

If life wasn’t crazy enough, last year I got pregnant and had my Dylan. I had the worst last few months of my pregnancy at work which I fear has affected my career. Coming back to agency life after maternity leave was really hard and it’s been a tough, bumpy road since then. I wish I could tell you that having a child actually helped my career, but well, you know how it goes. I think it takes a certain type of person to lead this life and being a mom at the same time. But my Dylan is beautiful and I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world!

Needless to say, I’ve paid my dues. And still continue to pay them everyday. That’s how I got here.

Who we are.....

We work at agencies. Marketing. Advertising. Search. You name it.

We struggle with working crazy hours all while raising kids, running a household and trying to have a life. (The emphasis on trying)

We are still working our way up - have paid (and are still paying) our dues.

We often sacrifice the work-life balance in the name of needy clients (and because we are adrenaline junkies).

We struggle with trying to be everything to everyone. Which doesn’t always work in our favor.

We drink too much wine (especially on weeknights).

We shop too much and can never pass up a good sale.

We are crazy to do what we do. But we are crazy for what we do. And we are even crazier about our kids, husbands and families.

We are Agency Moms.

And these are our stories…