United Media
This story was submitted anonymously to the Work it! Working to Live and Living to Work collection as part of the October SEEQ sessions.
My experience at United Media was challenging but ultimately led me to a career in financial services marketing that helped me greatly in my career and personal situation. When I arrived at UM, I just left a job at a dream company in sports marketing. UM offered a bigger title and higher pay, but it ended up being a foolish and short-sighted move. The UM team was predominantly female. Now, I am not old fashioned and have always had great experiences working with women, but this environment was so cliquey that I had a hard time fitting in. I always seemed to be on the outside looking in. Even when I had business successes — such as pitching and securing the organization’s largest retail partnership ever with Wal-Mart — my inability to ‘fit in was stuck on me like a persistent post-it. Having just had my third kid, things were tight and I felt tremendous pressure to soldier on in an unworkable and unhappy position. After two years, I made a decision that I couldn’t continue at UM. I felt that my achievements were being measured on office politics (which I wasn’t great at) and not business success. So, I decided to look around for other opportunities and not limit myself to my current industry. That was a defining moment in my career and one which vaulted me into a new field financial services marketing where I ultimately had long term success. Handing in my resignation was such a liberating experience! I felt trapped for two years in a dead-end position and it felt good to tell my boss that I was leaving for a better opportunity at a company that seemed to treat employees fairly and was focused on bottom-line success. The compensation at the new firm was excellent and helped me secure my growing family’s future, especially with baby #4 on the way. The key lesson I learned is that you’re never trapped. There are always other options. Keep an open mind and positive outlook and things will always work out.
