WOAH!! 2018 – where did you go?! Oh I know – you quit your safe job and went to France for the summer, got your first job in the wine industry, took a French Wine Scholar course and exam (awaiting results) and got yourself a 20% loyalty discount card at your local pub. WINNING!
I’d say 2015 was my life ‘changing’ year – you know, that sliding doors moment when something happens that makes you evaluate, decide whether to wallow or just bat it to one side – bat it I did and three years later in 2018 I finally ‘changed’. Not me personally you understand – but certainly my life.
As readers of this blog know, I’ve been a corporate girl for coming up to 20 years. With the corporate world generally comes stability, security and of course salary. And I decided to give that all up to pursue what I believe to be a better life for me and my boy (dog) Rex – who has been ‘honoured’ as the name of my new company Rex Communications (website and EVERYTHING in development!)
To in some part review 2018 without intentionally repeating previous blogs – I told my boss back in February that I was leaving in June. The relief for me was palpable. Not because I disliked the company – in fact it’s probably been my favourite company, role, management group and team in my career but I was ready to go. I felt I’d done everything I could in my corporate career – the only way I could have furthered it was to go to a bigger FTSE – please excuse the language but it would have been the same s*** but a different company.
The beauty of a big relationship break up (personal not work) is that when you choose NOT to wallow you start to work out what your values are; what you really want from life. Everyone always says life is short but life is the longest thing you’ll ever do so you have to be happy! I’ve worked in an office since I was 18 years old. I’m now 43. I’ve done my time for other people’s bottom line – now it’s time for me to do what I believe in and work with companies who hold the same values as me.
They say you can take X out of the girl but not the girl out of X and that is true for me about corporate life. I am very disciplined and very planful – in fact, I’ve had to learn over this Christmas period with one of my clients to be much more adaptable, but I have given myself a week of ‘personal planning’ from 2 – 6 Jan; a few days which indicates the honeymoon period is now over. I had an amazing six months leading up to my departure from RSA, an amazing couple of months in France and another few months getting my first lovely client, studying for another wine exam and 100% leaving the work world I once knew. But now, I need to build my new career. I need to pay the bills. And I am sooooooo excited about this very new ‘real’ adventure.
I’ll come back to you next week with my goals for 2019 – I’m counting on you to hold me to account (or actually just repost my messages to help me!)
There’s so many of you that have truly helped me this year. The one thing I have hugely struggled with since stopping full time work is the lack of interaction with people so I can’t thank enough for the continuing support I get from my parents, my best friends (which also include a number of my family) – but also the ‘others’. People I never thought would keep in touch but do, those who have contacted me to share their stories, the friends who have had a bloody crap year themselves but have just still supported me, the complete randoms who I don’t know who comment, like or retweet things I say. Everything you all do – those little acts of ‘we’re thinking about you’ means the world to me.
So… in advance, I wish every reader of this blog a wonderful, extra special 2019. As a friend said to me this year – grab it by the horns and bloody LIVE IT! X
Uncorking The Finer Things 