We did this as a congregation in
2021 and I'm doing it myself this year. My life feels different now than
it did 365 days ago, and I hope this will keep me grounded and help me
live my faith.
Today I focused on Friends and Family. Rita was a junior writer at my last agency. She was let go the same day I was, but, fortunately, already had a new job lined up!* It's with a smaller agency, but considering how the vaunted big agency C-Suite messed up, this isn't necessarily a bad thing.
Anyway, this is Rita's first week on the job and she seemed a little embarrassed to be working on the weekly ads for a regional grocery store chain. Like somehow it's a step back from the web banners and event marketing she had done when we worked together.
I pointed out to her that 1) shoppers will be looking for and reading her ads, as opposed to the intrusive web banners we did, that likely were only clicked on 5% of the time† and 2) our client never asked for or paid for those event marketing initiatives. The event marketing may have seemed exciting to her at the time, but they helped get us all tossed to the curb.
I told her she's contributing. She's helping busy, time-stressed working moms (like herself) plan their shopping trips. She's helping her client move product. Getting the word out about saving $1 on Quaker Oats may not seem glam, but it's actually more relevant to her audience than anything she did at our high-end agency.
I think she heard me. I hope so. I understand her frustration, but I know I'm right about this. Plus, it's only her first week! Her new agency does signage for grocery store brands and fast food restaurants you know. She'll get higher-profile assignments once she proves herself.
There's a baseball phrase managers tell pitchers: Trust your stuff. That's why I told her. "You're there for a reason. Do your best. Trust your stuff. Appreciate the value in what you're doing."
*Bitch all you want about inflation, but the job market is still solid. Does that mean we are or aren't on the verge of Recession? I don't know ...
†Think about it. How often do you actually click on those banners?
I commented on inflation in my TT, but I wasn't bitching about it. It's here, you deal; I try to understand it. I think we are already in a recession. I am basing that on the number of home foreclosures that have increased a great deal in the local paper. That is what happened in 2007, too, as that recession rolled in. I'm glad your friend was able to land a job so quickly.
ReplyDeleteExcept joblessness is so low that the state has closed some of the unemployment offices. I don't know that we can have a Recession when jobs are that plentiful.
ReplyDeleteMaybe we need a different economic term for what is going on?
DeleteI wish I worked with someone like you who could build me up just a bit on rough days (of which I seem to be having a whole lot this year). Your kindness truly makes a difference.
ReplyDelete