As I’m writing this, my face feels like it’s the size of a watermelon. Cute, right? Over the weekend, I took a few days off (a big feat considering that I, by my own stubbornness, have not taken a day off since December) to enjoy Lollapalooza with my good friend @meaganfish. It was an incredible experience to say the least. Over 130 bands, many of them favorites of mine, and we even had passes to the after parties at the Hard Rock. I took the precaution of covering up despite the heat and wearing SPF 70. But, alas, today I discovered that the weekend in the sun (Sunday was particularly brutal) left me with sun poisoning nonetheless.
I usually write about work and growing up digital here but wanted to write a quick post about the lesson I learned through this experience, because I think it’s really important.
My sun poisoning is by no means severe (mostly just the annoyance of insanely swollen eyes and face and needing to stay home for the next few days until it subsides). However, it was a big lesson that A. I need to not push my body to withstand the heat- I’m just not made for that weather, I guess and no band is worth the risk and B. Since moving to my new city of Chicago about a year ago, I’ve been so passionate about work that I haven’t taken the time to get normal things in my outside life in order to be there when things like this arise. I didn’t have a personal doctor in the city that I could turn to when I needed to get checked out rather immediately. Instead, I lucked out and, on ASL writer Mary Metcalf’s recommendation, found a great doctor at an immediate, non-urgent care doctors office a few blocks from work.
I will be the first to say that I personally have never had any interest in finding balance between my work and personal life- mostly because I love what I’m doing so much that it’s hard to pull myself away. I think a lot of young people who are fortunate to find a job they love right outside of college, and especially in this economy, feel the same way. It’s an incredibly fortunate problem to have, don’t get me wrong. But I’m learning through this experience that I absolutely need to make that more of a priority. Work hard and love, love, love what you’re doing, but take care of yourself and take those little everyday steps (like setting up a doctor when when you move to a new city, not when you need immediate care for something) to take care of yourself. We’re out in our first years, learning some of the most basic life skills that our parents or college used to magically take care of for us. Some of us are hopping around to new cities. That learning curve is overwhelming enough and annoying enough for most of us to put it off until a real need arises. But really, those little steps to take care of yourself are as important as the big opportunities you latch onto.
Blagica, a friend and colleague in the space, has an excellent site, Gals’ Guide, that is my new go-to for all of this kind of info and advice. I would highly recommend subscribing. She’s also hosting a Gals’ Guide Summit this October. Please spread the word and attend if you can. I’ll be there, taking notes for sure.
-Amanda
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I can’t believe that the last words I’ve written on this blog in over a month were embedded in a silly hipster DIY graphic reading, “You make me want to practice my MySpace angles.” Ha! Brilliant.
I started ASL and blogging during my sophomore year of college. At the time, it felt incredibly simple and fast and I loved that I had a little platform to throw my random thoughts, regardless of how intelligible or respectable they were (prime example: “You make me want to practice my MySpace angles”).
Now, however, WordPress feels a little like homework. Tumblr is just sooo insanely easy and it’s part of a little community that I’ve become quite fond of.
On top of that, I’ve been so genuinely crazy at work and writing for other blogs like Edelman Digital’s, Ruby Pseudo and Paper’s Word Up, that it’s tough to find the time to write (these are times when I most appreciate the ability to reblog).
So, similar to what Rubel decided to do (although, at least I can say that I was #herebeforeoprahrubel in terms of shifting my focus to Tumblr as my main publishing platform), I’m going to use my Tumblr blog as my daily feed. ASL will remain a central spot to share my more thoughtful (hopefully) digests of my experiences starting out in the space and growing up as a digital kid.
Stick around for periodic posts from me and our whole ASL crew and find my daily feed on Tumblr here.
-Amanda
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My First Year Out
Tonight, I got home from work and realized, I’ve officially been at Edelman for an entire year now. I’ve officially been graduated for a year… completely on my own for a year… It actually struck me pretty hard. When I think about everything that’s happened in that one year, it blows me away.
I started trying to write down all of the things that have happened this year… the accounts, the crazy new biz pitches, the life moves made in the course of a few days (or how I ended up in Chicago), the mornings (every morning really) when I walked to work and felt a huge sense of responsibility (can you ever know enough in this business? can you ever really describe what it’s like to work in an area that’s so completely new) and opportunity (can I really describe what it’s been like to have a job that takes me from New York to Brussels to Seattle…to the headquarters of giant global brands where my bosses encourage me to speak up and share my ideas), to teammates who have become incredible friends, to figuring out giant internal business processes on the client and agency side that social media suddenly disrupts (for better or worse)…
I can’t articulate what that year has been like and I realize that I’m rambling on here. But really, overall, what I mean to say is a giant thank you to everyone I work with and, to anyone who’s just starting out like I am, I can’t tell you enough that even now…and especially now, it has never been a better time to be starting out in this business.
I thought I’d re-share a post I wrote a year ago, right before I packed my bags, moved to NY and started on my first day. My first year more than surpassed the anticipation I felt as I wrote and posted this at 3 a.m. that night.
Reading “Half Way There” as I’m Just Getting Started
It’s 3am in Boston, two days after graduation and I’m still up digging through my reader, pretty feverishly checking out posts and videos on the Web. I’m media snacking and studying up on new concepts, thoughts, ideas and news in digital. I’ve graduated but I’m studying with the fervor of finals because in a few weeks, I’m headed to New York and I’m starting my dream job at Edelman Digital. I’ve been waiting for this for several months (since the unforgettable day when the recruiter called and officially offered the position I accepted without a second of hesitation).
Now, as I sit here, blogging away the last few weeks before my official start, the reality of what I’m about to jump into (working alongside the people I looked up to most during my studies in school) is pretty scary and exciting.
Anyway, as I was going through my reader just now, I came across a post Richard Edelman wrote for his 6 A.M. blog. He posts “Half Way There” on the 30th anniversary of the day he officially joined the Edelman team. He writes, “I was to start immediately… So much for the cushy job at a family business! My father had an offer in 1978 to be acquired by DDB Advertising but preferred to carry on as an independent on the premise that I would try the business for a year. So here I am at age 53, half way through my Edelman career– my dad is 87 and works every day– prepared to tell a few stories.” He goes on to recount some of his memorable clients, pitches and achievements.
So here I am at 22, fresh out of college, about to begin work with Richard and his team, and it’s pretty incredible to imagine what my experiences will be in the next 30 years. What’s even more incredible is having a platform available to me that allows me to connect with my boss and his experiences with the company weeks before I ever officially join the team. I know this wasn’t available to my parents and their peers when they were my age and starting their big post-graduation jobs. I feel pretty lucky to have a boss willing to post his thoughts and experiences and have access to the Web, which makes reading his posts and sharing and reacting to them possible. It definitely makes the whole college-to-”real life” transition a lot easier.
-Amanda Mooney
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I’m seriously addicted to the work these guys at Multitouch Barcelona are doing (also love PSFK for introducing me to them). Enjoyyyyyy!
-Amanda Mooney
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Congrats to Sarah and Will!!!!
ASL’s own @sarahhutton and @willwheeler graduated from Emerson today!! Join us in congratulating them!
I thought I’d repost a video @lauranelson made last year for her, @amyyen, @pamelump @mariagarcia @melissaeddy and my graduation.
I seriously can’t believe it’s already been a year for us and I can’t wait to see what Will and Sarah do in their first year out!
-Amanda and all of us at ASL
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I’m interviewing this guy for PAPERMAG and I’ve found myself playing his songs on repeat. Check out his original track, Two-Step.
-Amanda
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A film written by Dave Eggers can be nothing less than epic amazingness. I haven’t even seen it yet and I already know it will be one of my favorite films of the year (hopefully. really hoping it lives up to that). Anyway, thought I’d post a little note to tell @focusfeatures that I have endless appreciation for making this little film possible but that I’m also really happy to see how you’ve engaged the community around its launch. A live Twitterview with Maya and John? Really, thanks for that. I only wish I hadn’t missed it and had to read the transcript on Facebook.
-Amanda
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