Archive for the 'consulting' Category

being necessary

May 3rd, 2009 -- Posted in career, consulting, the city | 1 Comment »

i always wanted to be “necessary” in my jobs or my career. not in the way that a relief worker is necessary - or people will starve - or in the way a surgeon is necessary - or people could suffer and die - but simply in the ways that related to my job. i guess everyone probably has a bit of that desire, but i’d venture to say that i went further out of my way than most people to convince myself that i WAS necessary: i’d sit in on meetings that i didn’t really have to be a part of, i’d come in early to work - even when i wasn’t asked - if there was a crisis and they needed extra help, i’d volunteer for all the special projects, train the new hires, etc. etc. and not because i was trying to get ahead or because i was trying to get in good with my bosses, but because i really wanted to believe that what i did was a necessary function.

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i’m a pro at turning down jobs

April 8th, 2009 -- Posted in career, consulting, the city | No Comments »

i’ve started writing guest blogs over at collegefinance101.com, and my first post is on the “art” of turning down a job. i’m practically a pro at doing this, as i’ve refused a disproportionate amount of jobs considering the length of my career - so when should you turn something down, and should you ever rufuse employment in a recession? here’s an excerpt from the post:

I’ve turned down about as many jobs as I’ve taken, and yes - some of them have even been offered during this recession. Yet, I haven’t once regretted the decision to pass on a certain offer. These decisions haven’t always been easy (some have!), but I feel confident I’ve made the right one largely because I know I have a game plan that I’m sticking to. While each decision to accept or turn down a job is very personal, there are a few guidelines that can help when you’re on the fence about a position. A few things to consider…

continue reading the rest of the post here.

i [heart] risk

June 18th, 2008 -- Posted in consulting, entrepreneurship, finances, san francisco, the city | No Comments »

ok, that statement isn’t ENTIRELY true. there are certain types of risk that make me super-un-easy. and i’m not saying i jump in with both feel without doing the research. but i’ve come to realize i’m far more OK with risk than most people. a lot of this has to do with ryan, who also loves risk - he tends to feel that if you’re not risking something, you’re playing it too safe. and of course, there’s the old cliche, the greater the risk the greater the reward.

a lot of it has to do with my friends - many of whom are entrepreneurs - their examples, support, and encouragement. then there’s the factor of where we live. San Francisco and Silicon Valley are areas built on risk. you can’t sit in a coffee shop without hearing several conversations about start-ups, funding, elevator pitches, etc. We live in the “entrepreneurship bubble” and i have to remember that this area is HIGHLY concentrated with unlikely stories of people who have risked it all to hit superstardom, or at least risked a lot to succeed. of course some have lost it all - but if nothing else they risked it for something they believed in.

and … a lot of my risk-loving - especially the components that existed prior to ryan and San Francisco - comes from my military upbringing. it contributes to my feeling that “if you’re not moving on, you’re not challenging yourself.” growing up, “moving on” usually meant literally MOVING, but as i’ve grown up it’s coming to mean other things.

Another reason I’m a fan of risk is that big dreams usually come with some degree of risk. and i was brought up to believe that i can - and SHOULD! - actually achieve my dreams. it’s taken me a while to mold these dreams but as i have, this seeming cliche has become more important to me.

we bought our first investment property at 21 (and the two to follow) with the dream that these will help us on our road to financial independence. i.e. not HAVING to work if we don’t want to.

we moved to the city - to fulfill our dream of living somewhere awesome  - with no jobs, no apartment and no furniture.

when i didn’t want to be a slave to an employer any more, i quit my job to work for myself.

i founded an eco-friendly pet product company to get a start on my dream of working with animals and doing everything i can to make their life - and our planet’s life - better.

there are many more in this list, but these show varying degrees of risk. and when i look at some of them “on paper” they look downright stupid. and i’ll admit we haven’t always made the best-advised decisions, but i think as we’ve matured we’ve gotten better at taking calculated risks as opposed to blind risks.

for me, i think it comes down to, “what’s it going to take to make my dreams a reality?” or, “what do i need to do to change the world in a way only i can.” I’m not talking about risking it all for delusions of grandeur, but we each have a passion, purpose and dream that is uniquely ours. and finding the road to fulfilling that purpose will, likely, not be risk-free.

an opportunity

January 7th, 2008 -- Posted in career, consulting, san francisco | No Comments »

so as i wrote a few posts back, lately i’ve been feeling the itch to do something new (i know, i know, as if traveling asia for nearly three months wasn’t good enough …). now, there’s a semi-opportunity arising and i’m finding it hard to remain neutral about it. a couple weeks ago i felt like yes, i wanted SOME sort of change but i wasn’t sure WHAT exactly - and i was kind of ambivilent about what it was, when it happened etc.

now, as this one opportunity has arisen and i continue to take steps toward it, i’m finding it hard to remain patient. this isn’t surprising to  me - it’s what i always do. i’m not a patient person, and when i “get a bee in my bonnet” (as my mom would say) about something, i want it to have happened YESTERDAY. i was - and still am - trying to ensure that doesn’t happen this time. that kind of mentality - while often motivational for me - has often led me to do things i’m less-than-thrilled about later on down the line. or things i realize i wasn’t that passionate about in the first place.

so for now, i want to remain happily dispassionate about the potential for a new opportunity (one i’ve actually looked forward to for much of my adult life, yet hadn’t seriously considered till now because i never felt the timing was right) until such a time when passion is justified and required. that doesn’t mean i want to be passive in pursuit of a dream, but rather that i don’t want to fall into the “over-eager” trap i’ve created for myself so many times before.

the good news is i’m at a time in my life where i truly would be happy either way. i’d be happy to go in this new direction, yet i’m also thrilled with the way i’m able to live my life now.

i need to remind myself of these things and stay in that “happy either way” spot until plans are cemented and decisions are made - which i know will be incredibly difficult for me!

a cheesy look back

January 1st, 2008 -- Posted in career, consulting, entrepreneurship, family, finances, marriage, military, san francisco, the city | No Comments »

i hate doing just about any thing “traditionally,” so i really need to figure out another time/way to reflect over the past year. i have a friend who does it on her birthday, which sounds like a good idea. but until i figure something better out, here’s my look back for 2007 in a handy, month-by-month guide.

January: Super stoked because i got an offer for a permanent position at my job, where i’d been on a month-to-month contract since September.  additionally, i started thinking about getting into a career in sociology.

February: applied to the School of Social work at the state college near me and started planning a trip to Pakistan to further explore the leanings i had toward social activism

March: birthday month - went and saw “Legally Blonde” before it hit Broadway

April: took on a field producing role at work and got to travel to L.A. to work with our hosts and director to film a special “salute to the troops” for memorial day weekend. definitely the highlight of that job! Also, found out my parents were moving abroad and decided to scrap my trip to Pakistan in favor for taking my vacation time to go and visit them overseas.

May: flew out to DC to be with the fam for the last time before my parents headed to their new assignment. took the red eye there and back and started thinking that living like that was lame - that if i WANTED to go see the people that were important to me, i should be able to - and not have to worry about it eating up my PTO

June: got accepted to grad school and decided i wasn’t THAT into the idea any more (i know, hello ADD). continued my search for consulting and telecommute jobs.

July: went back to see ryan’s parents for the first time since we’d moved away. also went to becky’s wedding while we were there. again, i only made it out for the weekend, further cementing my goal to stop working for  “the man!”

August:  whirlwind month! after being asked by my boss if i’d want to move to LA if my department moved (HELL to the NO!), ryan told me to go ahead and just quit my job. he quit his as well, and we found out my dad’s promotion would be at the end of the month. my parents flew us out for the ceremony and a week in tokyo!

September: first full month of consulting. ryan made more than twice what he made at his old job and i struggled to break even - at least we balanced eachother out! went to SLO to visit mike for a few days, then took a trip to cancun for ryan’s birthday so he could go diving.

October: spent 10 days on the west coast (i LOVE this telecommuting thing!) going to a family/friends reunion in the mountains of NC with ryan’s family. also visited paul and erin in atlanta.

November: managed to squeeze in an 8 day trip back to see ryan’s family for thanksgiving - his grandparents and great-grandfather were also visiting. ryan hung out with highschool friends and i nearly died of boredom! (so glad we don’t live THERE any more!)

December: after returning from thanksgiving, we had two weeks to get everything in order for our 2 1/2 month trip to asia! we sublet our apartment, put our stuff in storage, packed a shit-ton of luggage and were on our way. christmas was in japan with the fam, and we spent new years’ in tokyo with my old roommate, tiffani, and her husband.

in keeping with the trend and our life choices, i’m sure 2008 will be crazy, too! and i just realized this reads like a bad christmas card, but i’m posting it anyway!

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