CAREER –

CAREER

When I was a child and people asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up my reply was that I wanted to be a secretary. My grandmother was a secretary and I loved going to work with her. These were the days of electric typewriters but not computers. I would watch her type up the “stencils” that she ran on the mimeograph, or ditto, machine (Google it if you don’t know). I remember a hand cranked machine before they got an automated one. Those of us of a certain age can remember the smell of dittos.

My first paying job was as a babysitter. I started at age 11 and continued until I was 14 when we moved to a different state. I made a ton of money as a babysitter. We lived in an apartment complex and I would watch several families at a time when the parents went out together. I made a lot of money for a pre-teen and teenager back then. The best part was that the kids would play with each other and keep each other entertained. Easy money. LOL

After we moved, I worked for my grandaunt and granduncle in their store. That was a lot of fun and I got to be creative and use my artistic gifts. I also learned about business, people, and sales.

My first “grown-up” job was as an Executive Secretary. I loved it! I loved filling out forms, typing things up, taking notes (I took shorthand in school and was very good at it), and everything about being a secretary. Organizing, planning, scheduling . . . that was heaven for me. It wasn’t long before my supervisor decided to promote me and I was no longer a secretary. I was still doing paperwork but it was different.

I wanted to go back to doing what I loved so I found another job as an Executive Secretary to Chief Operating Officer at a different organization. I stayed there until my boss retired and recommended me for a job elsewhere as a secretary.

I remained at that organization for quite a while but every year or so, my supervisor(s) would promote me to something bigger and better. My last supervisor in this organization was leaving to head up a new business venture and he took me with him, but not as a secretary. In fact, he took me with him again when he left there to run a different organization.

The pattern continued with me moving up the corporate ladder administratively because that’s where my talents are. While I have been fortunate to enjoy every job I have had, I kept getting promoted further away from what I loved. Eventually I married someone who had his own successful business and I was able to take over the paperwork/administrative side of the business and I was in my element once again. I continued to do that job until after our divorce.

The past year or so has changed me in many ways. I have learned even more about myself including that I still enjoy working and don’t want to stop. But…I want to do what I love. It is time for me to go back to my roots. At my age, this is very scary. Wish me luck.