[Katarina evaluates a prospective job in the Middle East]
“Literally the only downside is…the Tailban.”
– Katarina
Tag: Work
“Today it’s important to be present, be relevant and add value.” – Nick Besbeas
The work I am doing now is challenging. There are no two ways about it. I work for a demanding company staffed with a lot of incredibly intelligent people and I either need to show I can muck in with the rest of them or get out of the way. Every day I’m asked to take on an assignment I’ve never done before or put together a workflow that’s totally new to me. I mostly relish this, but it comes with some dangers
As a marketing coordinator, I’m ranked above a marketing assistant and below a marketing manager. The trouble is, we don’t have anyone in either of those positions at the moment. Recruitment is underway for a manager, but in the meantime, the chain of command where I’m to report is divided between three people. Also, there are some executive decisions that need to be made that I’m simply not in the authoritative position to make, but I still have to work towards certain actions and results. I’m learning to be more authoritative (which is saying something, because on my worst day the way to describe me is bossy) and to find ways to step up and try to take responsibility, but it’s intimidating to do so when you know that means you’ll be jumping in out of your depth.
There is real value to being chucked into the thick of things. You either sink or swim. Most of the time I feel like I’ve been able to do the latter, but I’m constantly conscious of the fact that success isn’t something you do once and it’s done. You have to be able to recreate it over and over again. And since omniscience is impossible for anyone, to say nothing of a person who has only been on the job officially for two weeks (my two months of last year don’t count as I was only supposed to be interim help during a handover), I know that I am going to make mistakes and screw up no matter how good my intentions. My ignorance and inexperience in certain things are going to make themselves manifest. And in cases where they already have, I tend to beat myself up about it because I want so badly to do a good job.
I’m learning I have some tendencies that I need to drop. My desire to be acknowledged for good or hard work? Yeah, that needs to go. That’s just the baseline expectation, mellennial. My desire to make everyone happy? A recipe for disaster or burnout. Fear of failure? Get over it, kid.
None of these are groundbreaking revelations, but they are good to be reminded of nevertheless. Work is hard. Get to it.
“A good half of the art of living is resilience.”
― Alain de Botton
Woof, this week. The training wheels are off, kittens. Development, project management, and construction planning is such an interesting industry because there are so many moving parts going on at any given moment. Our project managers conduct architects, artists, constructions workers, heritage societies, politicians, contractors, suppliers, and truly heroic amounts of paperwork. Though slightly less harrowing, working on marketing means that I don’t get to focus on just one project. I’m on all of them, all the time. It’s a lot of fun and the good kind of hard work, but there inevitably comes a moment each week where I feel like I’ve put together a really solid timeline or project and got all the moving pieces into a beautiful line…only to have one tiny thing that no one can control because it’s a provider or external system fall out of the row and take my meticulously laid plans down with it. I knew I’d “arrived” last week when a major timeline was pretty significantly impacted by months and my reaction was not to panic but to sigh, make a cup of tea, and just crack on with some solution options. Britishisation is almost complete.
Here are your links, tell me what you’re up to this weekend in the comments!
Perhaps telling you that Katarina and i have legitimately speculated on turning a good portion of 15th century British history into a totally fictitious web series, set loosely in a modern day high school or some place correctly hormone charged and overly-dramatic…will explain why I found this hilarious. No?
And while we’re on Buzzfeed, apparently I’m “West London Posh.” Ha. I’m a quarter WASP, a quarter Slovak, and half who knows, thank you very much!
Very much behind all of these.
Downton Abbey has little redeeming value anymore besides being a well-costumed soap opera. So here’s an interview with the costumer! I make no apologies for my continued plan on turning into the Dowager Countess in my old age.
There’s historical treasure everywhere. One of my favorite memories of the PD was being told to bin a ton of paperwork only to discover it was an unintentional archive of information about my alma mater from the perspective of its resident law enforcement office going straight back to the 50s.
Disney has it’s value, but I maintain it’s largely terrible at modeling life choices.
Interesting idea. I think I still have far too many bad American habits that likely set me back this side of the pond.
I have said it before, and I shall say it again. How do you lose something like this?!
This headline stands alone. Also, penguins.
A bit of a downer, but there’s this from the world of Mormon news. Whether you agree or disagree with the actions, this has been an interesting year for excommunications in the community and it’s worth having a conversation about why. You know, if you’re into that sort of conversation. If not, just ignore it.
“All happiness depends on courage and work.”
― Honoré de Balzac
Hi, ducklings, I’m alive.
In October last year, I took stock of what I’d achieved with a year in London under my belt and what I wanted to do next. 2014 was my biggest freelance year to date, with my most notable bylines and highest amount earned thus far. But there are unique challenge to working for US clients while based in the UK (not least of which, the currency exchange), and so I decided to push hard to find some actual London based work.
I thought the process of finding opportunities would take a long time. It turned out to take less than a week. In late October I was interviewed for a temporary role as a Marketing and Sales Coordinator for a development firm here in London, and offered it less than 24 hours later. The 19th of December was supposed to be my last day, but they asked me to stick around through the new year, and last week, they officially hired me on in a long term capacity. I’m beyond thrilled to join the team I have, it’s an innovative, design-led company that’s in an exciting phase of expansion with some incredible projects and properties that make my nerdy little history heart flutter.
Some weeks I spend at my desk, organizing reports and spreadsheets, others I put on a hard had and boots and get to go through construction sites and protected historic buildings that we’re renovating and preserving (SO much better than tearing beautiful sites down), and yet others involve heels, LBDs, and events organizing. My baptism (by fire) into the company was throwing an event at Somerset House, a major venue in London, for nearly 80 VIP guests and two weeks to plan. The pace has largely kept up since.
And in the midst of this, I’ve maintained my freelancing. Meaning that after putting in at least nine hours in the main office, I’d come home to more work in the shape of freelance assignments.
Kittens, it’s been a bit brutal. When the most hard working and go-getter woman you’ve ever met says she’s worried about the pace you’re keeping, you know things are looking fairly grim. I literally worked myself sick at one point in January but with the new year (and its attendant rebrands, site overhauls, press releases, and projects) largely put to bed, I’ve been able to come up for air and have a look around. I know we’re a month into it, but consider this my glimpse ahead into the new year.
I’m on track to more than double our income.
We’ve paid off nearly half of our student loans.
We think we’ll be able to pay the other half off with one more year of hard work.
I’ve found the next step to take with my writing and marketing experience.
I finally have the space to work on my own writing projects for the first time in years.
Jeff’s nearly done with his exams.
Everything, as the kids say, is coming up Milhouse.
“For last year’s words belong to last year’s language
And next year’s words await another voice.”
― T.S. Eliot, Four Quartets
Well, hey there, well-beloved-but-desperately-neglected minions! We’re back from the States, back at work, and back at the grindstone. Let’s catch up. Jeff has dived straight into studying for his next round of exams (we’re down to less than a year of this slog), and I’m back freelancing and in the world of London luxury development. The first couple of week of a new year are always a bit hectic, but we might be setting a new record for post-holiday self-destruction. Luckily, there a few things keeping us sane.
We finally coughed up the money for a shiny new laptop that is causing me to coo, “the precious…” every time I open its sleek lid. It’s long overdue. I’ve been using a refurbished laptop we bought for about $400 at least three years ago that’s been getting increasingly clunky and hard to manage over the last year. When I couldn’t have two windows open at the same time without the whole thing freezing, I knew it was time to let Marvin go to his rest. Let’s just hope all my image and music files transfer over alright.
The intrepid Caitlin Kelly is in town and crashing at our place this week as she journeys around the city, conducts research and interview for assignments, and generally puts us all to shame with her pace. Last weekend, completely backward due to jetlag, we all went out on the town and had some much needed adventuring. We ate good food, had great conversations, and did some truly impressive vintage shopping. Caitlin’s got the touch for spotting a deal, let me tell you!
Less immediately important, but still pretty vital, I finally got my local library card and might actually have made headway in getting a British bank account. Long story, will rant later. In the meantime, I’m putting together budget proposals of numbers so high as to give me a nosebleed, working with a grade-A creative team and a world class illustrator, and checking off new items from my list with satisfying ticks. Here are your links, catch me up on your holidays and tell me what you’re up to this weekend in the comments!
Some people have more…something…than sense. Not sure it’s money.
You lucky ducks, Caitlin is blogging her adventures (plus tips on renting flats in Paris).
Unsure about the background of Tolkien’s mythology? CPG Grey is here to help.
Jezebel gives a pretty good account of the “fluffication” of this history surrounding Empress Elisabeth of Austria.
Headline of the week, I feel.
I barely use my iPod for music anymore, it’s all podcasts through and through, so this list from Medium about interesting podcasts from 2014 (minus Serial, because obviously) hooked me.
Women’s issue news worth sharing and a cause worth supporting.
Since I’m still working in London housing, this is fascinating.
Carmen Sandiego and Oregon Trail forever.
A response that moved me on the attack in Paris, a city where Caitlin is just visiting us from and returning to at the weekend. Thoughts for safety all around, please.
“There is no time for cut-and-dried monotony. There is time for work. And time for love. That leaves no other time.”
― Coco Chanel
Better late than never, kittens. A slammed week ended with my first ever proper British holiday work party, the stuff of stereotypes and pop culture memes. It ended up being a lot of fun and quite festive. The company I’m working with is chock full of interesting and driven people with amazing stories–such as a managing director who nearly joined the Household Cavalry regiment at one point, and had to participate in a hazing event where he and other recruits were hunted…on horseback! Or a project manager who, as it turns out, is also an Olympian silver medalist for Australia. I have to be careful not to feel quite dinky in comparison!
This weekend it’s freelance reports, Christmas shopping, and general meandering with Jeff, trying to take in as much of the city during the holidays as we can. Let me know what you’re getting up to, and share anything else worth reading in the comments.
Interesting. Apparently I’m pretty resilient, though I could improve in some ways that I find useful to think about.
This is not a drill! Opinions, please?
Er, thanks for clearing that up, legal system?
I see your Christmas jumpers and I raise you these!
Incredibly relevant to my current interests and obligations.
Learn about something new every day, darlings.
More things to read. My US library card recently expired leaving me in a terrible conundrum! I usually have about five books going at once and quite suddenly I shot down to zero on my kindle, and I still don’t have a London library card–due to the ongoing and deeply annoying problem of trying to get a bank account, and thus bills, information, and credit in my own name to open a library account. I cannot imagine how women lived without a legal identity, and in the not too distant past. I simply can’t.
Someday I shall open a business called…Bantam and Frost.
Minor warning for pearl clutchers, but this is a really fascinating article about what historically could be put on tiny photos.
“And I like large parties. They’re so intimate. At small parties there isn’t any privacy.”
― F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
On Wednesday I put on construction boots and gear and got to go through a Grade II listed historic building site getting nicely dusted up. Yesterday we put on the event I’d been primary planner on at Somerset House and spent a few hours going around in heels and a LBD entertaining the super wealthy with caviar, champagne, and vodka (the sourcing of which on such short notice has rather consumed my work life for the last week and a half). In other words, the gig continues to be great!
It also continues to be terribly busy so here are your links, quick and dirty!
Pemberley is for sale, team. And it has a bear pit.
Words can’t express how heartily I endorse this.
Well, this is grimm…sorry. I’ll show myself out…
Who knew that C02 could like this artistic?
Ebloa, already a horrifying disease, has another scary component I just learned about this week, a degree of sexual transmission ability. Yikes.
Jeff has found his next cooking project.
Well this is just positively heartwarming. Be sure to read the follow up for extra heart warms.
There’s nothing like living in a fashion capital to make you doubt your style abilities. Bill Cunningham to the rescue.
The effort that goes into cheese. Totally worth it.
“Be steady and well-ordered in your life so that you can be fierce and original in your work.”
― Gustave Flaubert
It’s Friday, I’m putting the Russian event to bed and gearing up for one involving Rolls Royce. Life is surreal right now. It’s also Jeff’s 29th birthday and I get to tease him about being old (while wiser people roll their eyes at us). I have to say, he is aging marvelously.
We celebrated earlier in the week with an excellent dinner at a restaurant we’d both wanted to go to for over a year, and it was worth it! Tonight it’s pizza and movies with presents. Over the weekend it’s freelance, food, and writing/editing. I’m pleasantly tired and looking forward to it. If I could find a way to mix in regular exercise again, I would be downright impressive. Here are you links, with extra holiday cheer, and share anything else worth reading in the comments!
The John Lewis Christmas film has arrived. And I am in irrational love with it. Call me ridiculous, but as the companion of an intrepid and well loved teddy bear, I think this advert nails both the relationship and the general loveliness of the season. Sue me.
Sainsbury too?! Guys, my heart grew three sizes this day.
And speaking of childhood wonder: loop forever.
The madness needs to stop!
Newly working with luxury developers as I am (she humbled bragged), these caught my eye.
In case you haven’t noticed them on The Toast, their women in Western art pieces are hilarious. But this is my favorite yet.
I snort laughed, remembering the feeling of the limitations of my first paycheck well.
Oh dear…some of Jeff’s “dance” moves are validated…
“Don’t loaf and invite inspiration; light out after it with a club.”
― Jack London
Happy Halloween!
My life got extremely busy, extremely quickly the week. I just picked up a short term gig as a project and marketing assistant coordinator for a luxury retail design company–no exaggeration, Russian oligarchs may or may not be involved–and two temp assignments in my field over three days. I’m very pleased at the unexpected good fortune, just trying to schedule it all in. I also had a doctors appointment, a venue scouting, a creative onboarding meeting, and a mass of brand new freelance assignments all at pop up at once on my To Do list for tomorrow.
Translation? There is a pile of dishes in my sink that are just going to have to wait and heaven help the rest of the flat. Jeff’s right next to me in the weeds too, this week, and has been waking up a 5am to get some extra hours in at work. I foresee grumpiness until Sunday naps can rectify the situation. In the meantime, here are your links and let me know what you’re getting up to in the credits.
The 11th Duke of Marlborough passed away just a couple of weeks ago, which news caught my eye since we were so recently at Blenheim Palace, the Marlborough seat. Apparently the 12th Duke and his father had a major falling out (due to a rather public drug addiction issue and other problems) and steps were taken in the 1990s to make sure that though he gets the title, he isn’t entirely master of Blenheim. Who needs Downton Abbey, I ask you? Tatler has a look back at the 11th Duke’s admittedly full life.
Say it with me: freedom of religion does not mean the ability to force other people to conform to your religion. In fact, it’s kind of supposed to protect against that. This sort of new genuinely frightens me.
Interesting piece on my generation’s trend of not buying the things that our parents and grandparents considered necessities–and that traditionally pull nations out of Recessions. Truthfully, I don’t miss having a car at all and it will be years before we even think about the potential of buying instead of renting.
“The emotional, sexual, and psychological stereotyping of females begins when the doctor says: “It’s a girl.”
― Shirley Chisholm
Facebook, your standards on acceptable depictions of the female body (as discovered when researching image regulations for a client’s social media posts) trouble me. I think we can all agree that bathroom selfies need to go, but out of the three (of four total) images depicting women, the bottom left image is the one showing the most inappropriate amounts of skin? Really?
Small Dog Syndrome 
