It's been so hard to be consistent with blogging this year. My hope is that 2014 is very normal and we get into a stable routine in our lives. That way I will be able to make time for blogging, working out, and other hobbies I have neglected in 2013.
The reason for my leave of absence is because right after my last post, I started interviewing for a new job! That's right…I'm going back to work! So every spare moment that is not consumed by Waverly or my daily life has been spent prepping for interviews, traveling for interviews, and having phone interviews. Then after I got the job, every spare moment has been spent looking for childcare, thinking and talking about childcare, completing all my hiring tasks for my new job, and preparing for Christmas. Last year Christmas was crazy too because we had just moved to Alexandria…I look forward to a calm Christmas season next year.
So back to the new job. I'm head back into the beer business and will be working for the 3rd largest craft brewery in the US, New Belgium Brewing. The 1st being Boston Beer (Sam Adams) and the 2nd being Sierra Nevada. If you are interested in the entire list of the top 50 craft breweries, click here. New Belgium is a huge brand out west since they were started in Fort Collins, CO in 1991, but just recently expanded to the East Coast in the past year and a half. North Carolina, then Virginia...they are now in every southern state as well as Maryland and Delaware. When they open a new brewery in Asheville, NC they will then have the brewing capacity to produce beer for the Northeastern States and will open PA and north. While at Sam Adams I was fortunate enough never to have to deal with them as a competitor, because I left DC before they arrived. The East Coast manager is excited to have me on board so I can provide information and help them open up the New Jersey and NYC markets in 2015. Once nationwide, New Belgium will continue to grow and be a huge brand. All the employees are excited about the future given that the company is 100% employee owned.
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| me in Fort Collins where it was 5 degrees! |
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| New Belgium Brewery |
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| the brewery is really pretty which sounds weird, but it's true. |
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| sour beers in the making! |
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| whoa that's a lot of beer. |
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| bottling and packaging lines! |
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| this was very loud. I wore ear plugs. |
SO my job...is Area Manager of Virginia. The whole beautiful state :) I will get my urban kick by going up to Northern Virginia and my country kick by heading to places like Blacksburg! I will manage all the state distributors for our brand as well as a sales team of 5 "Beer Rangers" - quite a title, huh?! I have met them all and they are all pretty awesome. Everyone has been SO SO welcoming and warm to me and they act so excited to have me on the team. To be honest I'm a little humbled and hope I can live up to their expectations! It's an incredible company with some kickass people. It's a VERY laid back culture. To paint a picture, most of the people at the office/brewery bike to work and wear outdoor gear. The VP of Sales interviewed me in jeans, hiking boots, and a beanie. Although Sam Adams was business casual, it was very Type A, fast paced, and intense at times. So this is a change for me and I'm getting used to the pace and being part of the "New Belgium Family"...the internet is called the "Mothernet"! Everyone has been awesome to me and I feel pretty lucky that I landed this gig. I'm excited that I will be able to wear jeans and my new company Patagonia gear during my entire 2 week training sessions in Colorado! Oh and I guess I should mention that the beer is equally as awesome. Fat Tire is the main brand, but there are so many great beers they make that I am just now trying for the first time. Look for Snapshot in February - new Hefeweizen!
My choice to go back to work was a very tough one. I thought about it a lot and did a lot of gut checks toward the end of the summer. This could be a completely separate blog post, but being a working mom and CHOOSING to make that my path took some serious thought. I couldn't have been luckier to have the past year and a half home with Waverly and count my lucky stars that I was able to do that. I try not to think about my next children and not being able to do that with them. However, I missed my career. That's basically it. It's not that I didn't love being a stay at home mom...I did. Even at my wits end (because being a stay at home mom is 1 million times harder than working), Waverly would wake up from a nap and I would cuddle and kiss her to death. Yet I want both...I want to be a full time mom and a full time professional. I'm sure part time would be completely ideal, but that's not really my profession. It's seriously the hardest balance that women today face. There is so much guilt and anxiety involved in not being the person to take care of your kids all the time. Then there's the selfish thoughts of wanting to have a career. You can tell yourself that there's no reason to feel these feelings, but it doesn't make them disappear. Every working mom has this difficult reality to face and it seems to be something only women feel, not men. But in the end, I want to have a career in the future and worked hard to get myself to where I was when I left Boston Beer. I also want to set an example for my children and be able to provide things for them that we wouldn't be able to without my job. I think I have made the right choice, but only time will tell.
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| words will never explain how my heart explodes during moments like this |
I was ready for a change from my last job and welcomed the break, but I did love it and wished for something similar in the future. Somehow God answered me and delivered...it couldn't be more similar, it's uncanny. I wished for all these things: working from home when I'm not out in meetings or working with my team, managing a team, sales, awesome company culture, flexibility, great people, not too much travel, a quality product, and of course (let's be honest) a salary to make it worth it. I got them all. I feel blessed. Not to mention I get to drink beer at lunch and it's more than appropriate and I get to see all the awesome bars and restaurants across VA. What's better?
Now this doesn't mean it's all fun and games...it's a bigger job than my last one in scope. But not in business volume (YET!). Managing 5 people and 8 distributors is no joke. But I think I can do it and still be the mom I want to be given all the positive things mentioned above. My dad said, "you know, you're going to have to give 100% to your job" to which I replied, "oh yea Dad, 110% to my job, 110% to Waverly, 110% to Nick, that's how it's done, right?" This was a comical exchange and we both chuckled while I felt immediately stressed. haha.
After accepting the position, Nick and I dove headfirst into the childcare search. My parents are awesome grandparents and agreed to watch her 2 days a week which I love and am so grateful for. So we needed part time care from someone else. We weighed all the options, in home care, nanny, and a daycare center. I didn't have much luck finding any in home daycares, but toured daycares and interview nannies. We found two options for each that we liked, but it took me forever to decide. I want Waverly to have a lot of attention, but want socialization. I also will be working from home some, so that would affect the nanny dynamic. I also needed a flexible schedule and backup care for when my parents go out of town, etc. In the end daycare seemed to fit all our needs.
We transitioned slowly into daycare and Waverly had her first full day last week. She cried when I left which prompted me to cry all morning. I called mid day and they said she was doing well, but when I picked her up she was crying. She didn't nap very long and something set her off...it wasn't what I was expecting. I wish I had expected the worst...because I was thinking all positive and thought "she probably had a great day and will be so excited to see me!", so I set myself up. Stupid positive thinking. So we need to get adjusted and tweak a few things. I do believe she's getting good care though and I need to give it some time. Nick said, "it can only go up from here!"...well I freakin hope so. I am honestly not looking forward to January and February and knew that this would happen. It's going to be an adjustment for childcare, I travel to CO for two weeks, it's cold outside, the holidays are over ,and it's cold and flu season. Wah, Wah, Wahhhh. Somehow we will all survive and if it's not working, we will re-evaluate and make a change. In between it may be rough.
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| haha....what a great fake cry, look at that lip! |
Thanks to all my family and friends who have reached out and asked how it's going. It means a lot to have support and people to talk/cry to.
This was an epically long post, but there was a lot to tell and I didn't want to hold back. Next blog post will have lots of pictures from our holiday season! Thanksgiving AND Christmas in Richmond were awesome. Now go buy some New Belgium beer! :)
Love from Richmond!
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