Please forgive me….I am not your typical blogger. This is actually my first blog ever!
The year was 1997, and I was suddenly in a place in my life where I needed a new challenge. I was unhappy with my job and realized I wanted more out of life than working in a restaurant. I had been in the restaurant industry for eight years and decided it was not my calling. Unfortunately, I had decided to continue working after graduating high school rather than attend college and my options were limited.
While making the decision to leave my job, I also decided to move to another state. I moved to Marietta, Georgia in hope of finding a new and exciting job. I searched for a couple of weeks for this exciting new position and came up with nothing other than an offer from a day care center. This was not the ideal job I had hoped to obtain. I passed on the opportunity and continued with my search.
I was at my mother’s house one day faxing my resume when I heard a knock at the door. I opened the door and there stood a middle-aged man dressed in a business suit. The man was there to inquire about the new fence my mother had around her pool and back yard (the fence company used my mother as a referral). After my mother allowed the man to look at the fence, she mentioned that I had just moved to the area and was looking for a new job. The man thanked my mother for allowing him to look at the fence and went on his way. I continued to fax my resume and search through the employment section of the newspaper. Suddenly, I heard a knock at the door. I went to open the door and to my surprise the same man was standing there once again. The man asked what type of work I was interested in and if he could have a copy of my resume (thinking at this point that he is weird). We began to talk about the company that he worked for and the fact that he was looking for an assistant. He remembered that my mother had told him just a few minutes earlier that I was looking for work, and he wanted to see if I would be interested in coming to his company for an interview.
Three days later this man and three others interviewed me for a marketing coordinator position. I had no idea what a marketing coordinator was supposed to do, but I knew it sounded more glamorous than anything else I had come across. I received a call back for a second interview and a few days later I was offered the job. I had little to no computer skills and knew close to nothing about office work. The nice man that asked for my resume just a few days earlier turned out to be a Vice President for the company. He offered to have me trained and increase my salary as I progressed. He now considers me to be his “success story”. Not sure that I would call myself a success, but I am extremely grateful to have been given the opportunity as it helped pave the road for my career.
I worked for the company for a little over a year and then a change in my personal life lead me to Florida. While the man that guided me over the last year was sad to see me go, he offered to help with my search for a new job. He told the owner of the company that I was moving to Florida and asked if he knew of anyone looking for a marketing assistant. Once again I seemed to have just a little luck. The owner was on the Board of Directors for an Orlando based company and was happy to forward my resume. I flew down for an interview and the marketing department had just lost their coordinator. Lucky for me I did well in the interview and was offered the job a couple weeks later. I started as a marketing coordinator and after two years was promoted to marketing manager. After being with the company for ten years and increasing my marketing skills, I found myself back to where I was in 1997…in need of a new challenge!
In the last few years with that company, I was fortunate enough to have been introduced to a person “living his dream” and actually making money while doing so. I’ll admit I was skeptical when I first heard about this company that produced music themed cruises. I had never heard great stories about cruising and pictured the music as an act on “The Love Boat” (the only cruise ship I knew at the time). I soon realized this was a really cool concept and it seemed like great fun. Why not? On behalf of the company I was working for at the time, I agreed to a sponsorship for The Rock Boat. Needless to say, this was the start of a great friendship and partnership that has continued to grow as the events have grown.
The year is now 2008, and I seem to have just a dime size amount of luck left when it comes to my career. Thank you Andy for believing in me and allowing me to jump on board this great adventure and become a part of the awesome Sixthman Team!
Nikkole
It may be that when we no longer know what to do, we have come to our real work, and when we no longer know which way to go, we have begun our real journey.
- Wendell Berry