my transition back to 'corporate'

Last Spring I said “yes” to a lunch in NYC with former colleagues that I had not seen in years. That lunch (and 2 margaritas) eventually led me to saying yes to a full-time ad sales role at a company I'd worked at for nearly 10 years earlier in my professional career. I had not been thinking about leaving coaching and this was all completely unexpected! I took a leap of faith in an old friend who would become my boss, and I decided to just go for it! I knew I would always have my coaching business and felt like it was a fun challenge to try out. I guess you could say that after being holed up for 2 years, I was ready to shake things up!

I started my job back in corporate last July, so I have been on the job for over 7 months now. Considering I had worked for myself for nearly 8 years, and suddenly had a boss again, everyone (including me) wondered what it would be like for me. It’s a big life change and bound to be stressful and challenging.

This may surprise you, but if I had to sum my return to corporate up in one word, I would say it has been FUN. REALLY fun.

Let me explain…

1) Though I will eventually be hybrid, my transition has been almost fully remote except the occasional meeting or meal with teammates or clients in NYC. Working from home has made the transition so much easier for me and my family. I get to leave my house for work from time to time, and have a reason to put on some nice clothes and do my hair! Someone else (aka my husband) has to deal with the kids and dogs for the day when I work in the city. I feel like I’m just starting out in my advertising career again, except that I know what I’m doing. The ramp-up time has been much faster than I would have thought, and I’m getting a major ego boost out of that. That to me feels FUN and exciting.

2) I am reconnecting with old friends every day who I worked with for years (and genuinely like). These people remember me as the ambitious, energetic professional I was back in the day. I'm more than OK with that, and feeding off of the feeling of connection as well. And even though making genuine connections with new colleagues is much harder remotely, I am loving my new team members and appreciate the opportunity to interact with a diverse group of people of all ages. It’s been FUN and I really value feeling connected, and part a team, working together to achieve a common goal.

3) Returning to Spanish language media after a 7+ year hiatus, it has been a blast getting up to speed on the current trends in music and entertainment. I feel like I am learning so much about my local Hispanic community and also reconnecting with my Mexican roots (my dad is half Mexican). For me it's been really fun to dust off my Spanish skills too, which I haven't been using much in past years. I have always felt very proud of my Hispanic heritage and it’s an exciting time to be in media with all that’s going on with streaming video and digital. It’s FUN and rewarding too.

I left corporate so I could have more balance, more time for my family, and I really wanted to focus more on home life. But now that my kids are teenagers, I’m looking to have a little fun, get out of the house and see where my career goes from here. It’s exciting. My kids continue to be my top priority but what they need from me now is very different than it was when I left my corporate career to start my business. And the working world has largely changed- I now have flexibility that would have been unfathomable before COVID.

I know that coaching will always be part of who I am and what I do. Sometimes you have to take a calculated risk and just know that whatever happens, it was meant to be.