founding head of cx | exec ghostwriter + brand builder | i write — so you don't have to | heretic : the agency | austin chapter lead, women of cs | art liaison | ΣAAΣ
in 2018, i left tech after five years to work at a local flowershop. i'd just gone through a sexual assault case at a previous tech company, and i was needing an escape; some solace (and a whole lot of peace.) joke was on me tho cause here i was: knowing nothing about building a business or what it takes to really run one envisioning all the beauty in it (which there was plenty of!) but not realizing just how HARDDD that work would be. how many more hours i'd dedicate to someone else's dream than my own. holidays like valentine's day always remind me of that job because this week was the craziest. we'd work for a week straight from 5am to 2 or 3am, each night leading up it. changing into pajamas after work, ordering food together, blasting music, making floral arrangements, writing cards, prepping delivery routes ... as the biz ops manager and because of my sales experience, i'd hop on the phones and place orders with people. stuck in a small little hole of a room filled with art, flowers, my laptop, and a headset. just crunching those credit cards and telling mr. gilroy he needs to come up with a better card message than 'happy valentine's day' for the 3rd year in a row. but tbh, that job changed my life. i met lifelong friends + learned toooo many lessons. it's where i realized i wanted to be an entrepreneur. it gave me a new passion in local business. + it's where i rediscovered myself. so now, when i talk to people who're burnt tf out from tech, my advice? maybe it's time to get out for a while. what dream are you helping someone else build? + which dream of your own are you putting on the backburner to do it? ... 👼🏼 video from valentine's day, 2019. and me coming out of my little hole to join the party (for 5 seconds)
Never know where the inspiration will come from! Just keep approaching every day with "yes" as the default.
Love you, your ENDLESS strength & this post ❤️
the dance the best proud of you
"so much is jiggling" This could be the title to my future autobiography 😂
The shop looks like Camelback Flowershop in Phoenix… which has some of the coolest selections I’ve ever come across.
I love this post! Some of my best memories are from my lowest paying and toughest jobs, the camaraderie and bond I had with my colleagues back then is next to impossible to duplicate! Those years formed the badass I am today 😋
Gratitude jumps out! It didn’t feel like it then (2019). The affliction is where you gained the most experience. Thanks for sharing a piece of you tonight. kelsey calabro
People Leader | Sales | Relationship Architect | Customer Obsession
8moMy wife envisions running a flower/p-volve/Weimaraner puppy shop somewhere warm on the West Coast. Here's to working hard so she can do that one day!!