Leap of Faith
/Raise your hand if you quit your job this week.
No? Just me?
It's been a weird past few days. I've laughed and cried and cursed at my (still) swollen, purple ankle. I dropped a pan of hot oil (almost) on myself at a cooking class at Sur la Table. I cried some more. I laughed. I made an abundance of carb-y foods for my boyfriend and myself this weekend. I reevaluated my collection of cookware a little. I didn't kill my fiddle leaf fig tree. Oh, and I quit my job.
“I quit.”
Man, those words feel good! I've been thinking about leaving my current job for a while. Not because it was that horrible, or I hated my life there, or I was so miserably unhappy that I came home and ate a tub of ice cream and cried into my oversized sweatshirt while watching The Bachelor.... because, you know... who even does that? But I was just feeling a little underwhelmed. Sorta like how I would imagine being lactose intolerant would be: technically you're still eating and gaining nutrients and stuff. But would the world be a happier place if queso was a part of it? Yes. Definitely, yes. So I decided to take the path (possibly less traveled).... that led to queso.
But narrowing down what I wanted to do from here was a tricky thing. It's like, "what next?" I knew that I wanted to get away from corporate retail for a little bit. It was such an incredible experience and I learned so much in the three years I've been in this weird world of costume jewelry. I was given the opportunity to visit a domestic jewelry and plating facility that did (and still does) work for Tiffany's. I got to email people in China every day who opted for "American names" like, Snow and Vivid and Michael Jordan. And most importantly, I was able to make the jewelry of a national retailer better for both the customer and our brand. [Is it too late to get a corporate sponsorship? Because I feel like I'm doing a great job of promoting my former employer right now]
But it was time for something new. Jewelry is great, but I found myself lately being more focused on interiors and decorating (mainly my house, because its beautiful) and also this blog (because I like to shamelessly talk about myself, apparently). But who will pay me to buy beautiful things for my home and subsequently write about it? My parents weren't interested, even though I think they're missing out on a very lucrative investment.
So I started researching interior design firms. Stalking them, slowly at first, until I found an email address and bombarded the poor soul at the end of that inbox with questions, resumes, cover letters, updated resumes, updated cover letters, a portfolio (that included no interior design work) and a maybe a sob story or two.
Just kidding about the sob story part. But I was in contact with a firm for several months and did send them several resumes, with several different formats. I'm sure they would have thought I had a multiple personality disorder if the information on each resume wasn't exactly the same.
But miraculously, they took a chance on me and hired a twenty-four-year-old technical jewelry designer with no formal interior design experience. It's times like these when I believe in a higher power, because if they knew that I was wiping Cheeto fuzz off my fingers when I received their offer letter, I'm 100% sure they would rescind their congratulations on my new employment. Thank you Jesus, for letting computer screens and virtual mail be a thing.
So, its happening. I'll be working for LauraU here in Houston for a bit while I figure out what direction I want to take my career and this website. Because Mimi + Meg is also part of my future career. I have to find someone eventually to pay me to buy pretty home decor and then write about it, right?
If not, I'll just have to do it myself. You'd buy home decor and tchotchkes from me, right? Pillows, prints, throws, macrame coasters (you never know)... Just think about it.
So raise your hand if you think I'm absolutely crazy for leaving a stable career for this unknown experience, and I'll cheers you! - with my now-Cheeto-free hand that is holding glass of champagne. And yeah, its Andre - because, budgets.