Gratitude Monday: turning it around

Today is the final Gratitude Monday of 2019. What a ride, eh?

A year ago all I could hold onto was that I’d discovered Pousse Rapière on my take-it-or-lose-it vacation. Because I was still working with the Clown Car, where I was ignored at best and disrespected at worst.

And then—I don’t quite know what happened, but I just started to turn things around. Perhaps something to do with scoping out the IT infrastructure the program would require—despite the Clown Car being collectively dismissive of what that represented—reawakened my sense of product management. Even though I’d been out of the field for nearly five years, it was like catching a scent that suddenly transports you back to a place where you were happy.

I began my job search more actively, including reaching out to people I didn’t know well, but who had offered help. I connected with someone who really energized me and gave me the #playingtowin construct. So that when the Clown Car organization announced they’d be laying me off due to lack of funding, I was so ready to move on.

I was reminded of Jesus telling the disciples to go forth and spread the Gospel, but “whosoever shall not receive your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake the dust off your feet.” Look—I have no delusions of grandeur, but if anyone had their ears closed to what they needed to know to get their program off the ground, it was this lot. And I definitely shook the dust off my feet when I walked out that door.

For perhaps the first time in my life, I waded into the job search with confidence, notwithstanding the challenge of moving into a new (and extremely competitive) field, and the fact that I was going to have to a lot of dot connecting if I wanted to be a product manager again. But I was open to it, and I ran that search like a military campaign. The stars, as they say, aligned: I now have my aspirational job with my aspirational company in my aspirational field. I work with people who are committed, supportive and welcoming; they make me want to do my best.

This year I have so much to be thankful for—all the people who helped and encouraged me, old friends and new; taking a fork in the road that I’d never thought I’d be able to see, much less travel. New things to learn; some things to teach. This year has been a gift to me, and I’m deeply grateful for it.