Life Update October 2022

Oh my goodness I feel like life has been going a million miles a minute! I truly can’t believe we’re already halfway through October. I wanted to share a little life update because I feel like it’s been a while since I sat down and wrote out my thoughts and filled you in on what’s been going on.

Starting back in about May I decided I was no longer happy at my full-time job and began my search for something new. I came to this decision because of multiple reasons. I felt like I was a cog in the corporate machine and I felt a big disconnect between the work I was pumping out daily and how it was truly impacting the business. I also really felt unsettled about the company culture, the lack of flexibility, the lack of innovation and creativity, the lack of support, and leadership, as well as the lack of female empowerment. Ultimately, I just had a hard time going to work every single day to sit in a cubicle putting money into an already billionaire’s pocket. Although I learned some valuable things during my time in this role I just didn’t see a future and I could see how it was negatively impacting my personal life. If there’s one thing I leaned from the pandemic it’s that putting yourself and your mental health first is key.

Now two things to know about me and my career are one, I get bored at jobs pretty quickly once I no longer find them challenging or stimulating I tend to move on and two, during the interview process I tend to have a hard time deciding how I actually feel about the job and it becomes more about landing the offer than it does making sure it’s the perfect fit. However, now that I’ve been through this process several times I told myself this job search would be different. I needed to sit down and think about priorities in my next role, my passions, and where I want my overall career path to be in the 10-15 years.

Through that time of reflection, I came to the conclusion that I wanted to be at a female-founded company with under 200 employees and the long-term goal would be to move into a CMO or VP of marketing position. I know that’s very specific but over the last 10 years in my marketing career, I’ve worked for small start-up companies, large corporations, and ad agencies. Out of all the different industries, I felt the most fulfilled in the small start-up companies where it was all hands on deck and everyone was building something together. The work your putting is out is very clearly making a difference and you can see the instant gratification.

From May to September I interviewed with about 15-20 different companies some I wasn’t a good fit for and some they weren’t a good fit for me. Boy, does interviewing take a toll on you though. Balancing phone interviews during lunch or taking personal days or “doctor’s appointments” to meet in person. It’s tough! I took each interview as if I was interviewing them just as much as they were interviewing me. Finally, when it came down to it I had two really strong offers one was a perfect fit with the career path I wanted to move into and one was in the travel/hospitality space which was very similar to the role I was in. Because I took the time to think about my long-term career plan, although difficult to decide, I knew in my gut the answer was clear.

So I made the decision and in August I started as the new Director of Marketing at Sprinkled with Pink. Since August it’s been proven that I made the right decision. Not only was Sprinkled with Pink the perfect fit for me but I was able to connect a colleague with the other position I declined and she was offered the position. It truly felt like this was how it was supposed to end up.

So I joined the Sprinkled with Pink team in August and in my second week I got a severe kidney infection that literally didn’t allow me to walk. I have never experienced such pain in my whole life. I was stuck in bed for the second week of work which wasn’t a big deal because I work from home but it was still a lot being brand new in a role and having health issues. Finally, after about a week of antibiotics, I was feeling back to normal.

Jared and I then went to Nantucket to celebrate my birthday and had the absolute best time. You can read all about it here! We came home from Nantucket late Thursday night and then I packed up and headed to Dallas on Sunday to spend the week in the office at Sprinkled with Pink. It was great to meet the team and be in the office but not being home for almost two weeks was exhausting.

Now I am finally finding a routine and getting settled into working from home consistently. I head back up to Dallas in a few days to spend another week in the office but I’m feeling better about everything now that I have a better grasp on life overall. The plan moving forward is for me to go to Dallas once a month for about a week or so which works out because my friends and family are still in the Dallas area.

I feel like I’ve been holding my breath since August and I just now feel like I’m starting to exhale. Thrifty Pineapple has been and will always be a hobby for me so there are times when I can spend a lot of time writing, creating content, and filming videos, and other times when it needs to take a back seat. Either way, I am so thankful for your support!

Love,

Angela