Real Swedish meatballs. 😉
Carisa decided to give me some salt with my breakfast…needless to say, I was a bit perturbed. 😠
Ice Hotel in Northern Sweden in the Artic Circle! Swedish village of Jukkasjärvi, to be exact.
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The beginnings of a new year have begun. Last year I wrapped up 2017 with a pretty lackluster ending. The first time in my life I was laid off at the end of September 2017. Kelley Blue Book was a very, very stressful place to work and I believe I aged 5-10 years in the > 2 years I was there.
I use to be insecure about sharing my livelihood with others, for fear the world would use it against me. But I’ve changed. I stopped caring what others would think. Those that were very negative in my life I’ve removed. I’ve found eliminating all forms of toxicity has made me a happier person overall. There were individuals I tolerated because I’d known them for years and years, but it was a form of tolerance that a school teacher extends to an unruly child.
I’ve grown. Memento Mori. Remember death. Often we forget that this life truly is soo short and that we waste the precious time we do have to worry about things we cannot change. Stoicism has been my guiding light in dark times. I’ve used the ideologies time and time again to get me by. I look to authors and writers such as Marcus Aurelius, as a son would seek guidance from a father.
Back to the layoff. It was a learning experience for me. My severance package, however, made the sting a lot less. I ended up better because of it. I have more in my savings now and I now earn more with my current company, Beyondsoft.
I took a lot of PTSD with me being laid off. Working for a boss that does not value you as an employee is not fun and is not worth the stress or heartache that follows it. I was depressed my last year at KBB. I was constantly worried, wondering when I was next. When the day finally came, there was a sense of relief. Knowing finally that it was my turn gave me a sense of finality in an ongoing situation.
It’s amazing, strange and an odd thing how people can do a 180 on you once you’ve “served” your purpose. I got my previous boss out of a lot of heat when I first came on board. I was his “star” employee. My second month I earned the PAI (Product Analytics Insights) award for employee of the month. I assisted in interviews, onboarding, tackling new and upcoming projects and challenges and the list goes on and on. Then things changed…
I honestly, wholeheartedly believe that the role I was hired for evolved outside of my skill set, which I humbly believe is why I was laid off. I eventually helped in hiring the individuals and developers that would replace me. Nothing against them at all. In fact, one of them became a mentor, tutor and good friend of mine. I’d still go out of my way and bend over backward for him if he but ask.
As a Tagging Specialist, I was a jack of all trades. The role itself drifted much more to a developer role, involved in a lot more coding, which I am still in my infantile state (I will be gaining additional skill/schooling in the next 6 months, but I am not quite there yet).
Now, I am a Sr. Implementation Analyst. My day to day consists of troubleshooting tags on Toyota.com and dismantling/deciphering what goes into the data layer being ingested into Ensighten (tag manager comparable to Adobe’s DTM and Google’s GTM) and then kicked out into reports.
I love this job. I love the people I work with. I feel this is where I was supposed to be. I know, I know, honeymoon phase…but I already get a long with everyone I work with and have hung outside of work with the group too.
I’ve been taking a break on my topscitech.com. The site needs some major upgrades. It still is a hobby of mine, I’ve just been slacking. I will pick it back up, mark my word.
Oh and I went to SWEDEN! Let me find a way to link some of my Instragram photos.
Thanks for reading!
-Alex
