5 Lessons in 50 Days

The day has finally arrived: This is my first blog post since I started with Floricane last November. If your only interaction with Floricane is through our blog posts: Hi, I’m Caroline. It’s really nice to meet you.

Today I’m celebrating my fiftieth day-iversary of becoming Floricane’s first full-time employee. Here’s how I felt last month when I was offered my very first full-time job:

Over the past month a nd a half I’ve learned a handful of pretty important lessons. Let’s cut the small talk and dive right in to my top 5*:

Job titles are sometimes confusing.

I often forget my new job title. When I went from Project Coordinator/Administrative Assistant to Project Coordinator Plus/Client Experience Manager last month, I had way more important things to think about than how to describe my job to others (i.e. how to write 3 reports in a week, how to purchase enough ice cream for 200+ people, and how to make our Summer of Self-Discovery sessions feel comfortable and fun). Sometimes I just tell people, “I work at a consulting firm and do everything the consultants don’t do.”

Giant to-do lists are essential.

If at one point I ever thought I could do my job without a 2’x3’ to-do list taped to the wall next to my desk, I thought wrong.

40 hours/week is a LOT more than 20:

Some projects are more fun with friends!

I was the kid who dreaded group projects and partner-work in school*, but working at Floricane has taught me to step out of my isolationist mindset and collaborate more. Of all my projects over the last month, I think I might be most proud of the video that Carlee and I made together about the Summer of Self-Discovery series.

Floricane has the best clients.

Okay, so I’ve known this since last winter, but I decided to include it anyway. Though I technically work in an office—some might even say “RVA’s best office”—I love that I’m able to travel all around Richmond and interact with so many amazing people and organizations. As Carlee wrote in her last blog post, there’s nothing better than hearing people talk about their passions. I feel so lucky that my job allows me to do just that almost every day.

(Sorry, I had to add a bonus lesson) People in the Richmond Times-Dispatch love free food…

…and I started the twitter account RTDDonutWatch to prove it.

*Can you guess my Insights colors?