New Job

One year ago I was working from home for a retailer (Victoria's Secret) in the Finance department. I loved the job, my team, the work and everything besides the drama that is partly COVID and partly pre-COVID related but ultimately means possible layoffs. It likely would have been smart to look for a new job instead of waiting things out, but I didn't want to proactively leave when I thoroughly enjoyed the company and trusted my leaders. 

One year ago I was preparing for a family vacation to the Florida panhandle with my family. We had canceled the first trip due to COVID and only felt comfortable taking this trip due to certain precautions (we all quarantined before the trip). It wasn't the normal place we vacation, but still it was likely going to be a fun trip. 

This year I am also preparing for a family vacation to the Florida panhandle with my family. COVID has thankfully calmed down considerably from last year (even though there are still people who won't get a vaccine which very much confuses me). It is the normal place we vacation and I am sure it will be a great trip.

The big difference is that I am no longer working from home. If you had given me a brief snapshot I would have thought it was because I was let go from Victoria's Secret and then didn't find a job for a year. The first part is true (I was let go), but thankfully it didn't take too long before I found a similar role at DSW. The reason I am no longer working from home is that I quit my job at DSW. I am grateful for the opportunity they gave me and all that I learned, but the reason I could quit was I found a better job leading Testing at Carter's. 

It has been a very strange journey with Carter's. Originally the role needed to be based in Atlanta and I thought it would be my last conversation with them when I said that I needed to be located in Columbus. That changed and now I am going to be fully remote (with trips to Atlanta 6 times a year). I set up a desk / office space yesterday (I've been working from a cardboard table for 1.5 years) and now I am ready to go. The people at Carter's seem like exact kind of coworkers I loved at Victoria's Secret / Honeywell - they are smart, personable, funny and they ask challenging questions without coming across negatively.