New Day, New Career Path, And Some Must-Reads For YOU

In the time since I launched this blog, a lot has changed. For the better. For the best, really. I’ll follow up later this afternoon with some new decor I’ve been excited about, but first… Happy Friday: I quit my job!

I’ll be substantiating this post with a couple of images for you. Because there wasn’t enough evening sunlight yesterday to capture me literally jumping for joy and running in happy circles with the doggums. Both have been pinned on my pinterest page, and are also credited accordingly in this post:

(Illustration via the amazing Linzie Hunter)

I’ve become inspired, impassioned, and excited about my professional future all over again. After years (4 years, 10 months, and 2 days, because I’m exacting like that) I left my job at a reputable Rochester ad agency to carve out my own path as an independent entrepreneur. Yesterday. This all went down yesterday. I’m nothing but grateful for the experience, it was just my time to leave and try out new things. I had lots of opportunity, met wonderful people including Pete and received almost everything I asked for (from responsibility, to challenge, to a cubicle with a view). And I had a series of amazing bosses who not only gave me the room to grow personally and professionally, but also the means in which to do it. Wow, I can make it sound pretty sunshine and lollipops, right?

But, get this: After 4 years of the day-to-day, I was terribly bored. And bored me is the worst me. I had work to do; I was plenty busy, don’t get me wrong, but I wasn’t excited by it anymore. At all. Getting through the day made me a really angry person too, and I didn’t like that, nor did I like that I was bringing those bad vibes home with me, and I really (really, really) didn’t like that my Sundays had gone to shit because I was angry about the following day being Monday. Who wants to live like that? Not this girl.

I put in my notice a month ago… and walked out of the office last night with a huge weight off my shoulders (OK, and a new huge weight ON my shoulders); the best part of this whole experience? The support from friends, co-workers, and clients alike. Here goes nothing. Here starts everything.

This blog you’re reading turned into more than just a creative outlet, and more than I intended it to be originally. I had approached it with a pretty open mind. I was inspired by some other bloggers, but mostly looking for a different way to share what I had been up to around the house, meet some new people, and find out what this whole blogging thing was really about; my photo “blog” on tumblr wasn’t enough for me anymore. In the last 6-months, Merrypad has become something that exuded promise and opportunity, a chance and place to really express myself in a strategic business development role. From the ground up. Starting from nothing is fun. And this post is really just my way of sharing my perspective on new business from the very start. I’ll be blogging. I’ll be making and selling art (launching within the next week). I’ll be marketing-consulting. I’ll be representin’. I’ll be happy.

I like to think I’m approaching this whole “Emily, Reinvented” thing with a perspective on marketing, advertising, and business development unlike some others in the niche space; my agency experience and general interest in how businesses and products launch and grow really makes me feel positively about my decision (obviously I wouldn’t have done this if I hadn’t felt confident in my own abilities). I’ll find a way to make it work; stuff’s already happening, and I love… stuff… happening. As I can often be quoted saying, “Everything is Awesome”. Can you believe I found this on Pinterest just yesterday? Add “quilling” to the list of things I need to learn how to do.

(via Erin Casner’s flickr page – Do yourself good and check out the rest of the set on Quilling when you have a few minutes.)

So, I can’t say it better than any of these folks I’m about to introduce you to (or maybe you’ve already met). I have no intent of this site transitioning into something that’s a small-business consultancy, so I’ll leave you with this short list of some influential articles that I recommend:

• The Good Job by Chris Guillebeau for The Art Of Non-Conformity
• ProBlogger (because it’s good to think BIG); also, this article from guest author Jon Morrow was amazing too.

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P.S. Sincere thanks to everyone who entered the giveaway for SentrySafe! I’m so pleased with the response both via comments on merrypad.com and Twitter. The winners are Patricia H. and @fallonbryce. Stay tuned for another giveaway – it will be announced next Tuesday!