Career Interview: She's a diva. A Pink Lemonade Diva

So, to continue on in our series of giving me hope and something to live for and look forward to, I present you to my next victim. Actually a lie, because none of these fine women were victims. They were all EAGER to share with me. After they sang my praises that is and told me why they are so drawn to me:

Believe it or not, I started my blog for the same exact reason you did - lost and confused in the working world, trying to help others who came along behind me. And now I'm reading YOU!

Anyway, I give you the aptly named Pink Lemonade Diva (PLD). Though, again, I lie, I’m not sure of her exact feelings for pink or lemonade or being a diva, but hot damn, she’s another awesome and lovely one. In fact they all pretty much are. Enough with the praising and onward we go with the Q&A. Because really? They’re all considerably more impressive than I:

What did you want to be when you 'grow up' or perhaps, what do you want to be when you 'grow up'?

I wanted to own an interior design firm. I had a few wallpaper and carpet samples and used to play Interior Design office, which mostly involved having my younger sister answer the phone and take meetings, and me smoking candy cigarettes and rushing off to meetings in my pretend Corvette.

Are you doing that now?

Mais non! I volunteered at a local design firm when I was in high school. Remember that episode of Who's the Boss when Sam's friend worked at Angela's advertising office and she reorganized the file drawers and made them all perfect? That's pretty much what I did at the interior design firm except it was cataloguing the wallpaper books. Do you KNOW how many wallpaper options are out there?

What did you do (or where, if you are willing to share) for your first job out of college?

I was an advertising coordinator at a magazine written for high net worth individual investors.

Was it the job that you wanted to do?

Uh no.

A horror story from that first job or a horror story from a job that you got soon there after

(As usual) I was trying to be the best little advertising coordinator I could be and I promised a client that I'd try to find out what banks were going to be listed/named in one of our top 10 issues (I forget the topic). Keep in mind that the companies talked about in an investment magazine are usually the ones who advertise as well. Well, I inquired with one of our ad sales managers and got the whole Advertising/Editorial Separation of State lecture. Whooopsie!

What do you do now (again, or where, if you are willing to share)?

Interestingly, I now work in (a version of) Angela Bower's office, as an advertising copywriter. Though I have yet to create a jingle.

Is the current position that you hold along the lines of what you really want to do/have always wanted to do?

1/2 yes. I LOVE what I do, but never even thought about doing it when I was younger. If television is supposed to have a profound impact on youth and I watched every single episode of Who's The Boss, how come I never thought of going into advertising?

AD HOC QUESTION: "then how did you eventually land in a job you love so much?"

The best advice I can give is to be a sponge. It's so much easier to find out what you DON'T want to do, so even if you're in a dead-end job, try to isolate what you do like about it. Organizing? Balancing numbers? Planning events? Writing press releases? Soak up as much as you can, pay attention and ask questions about coworkers' responsibilities that you DO find interesting. I had a wonderful manager who quickly realized that my skills were not in an Excel document. She encouraged me to take a few continuing education classes in advertising, worked her Rolodex to introduce me to some people in the advertising field and lo and behold - I fell in love.

Thanks PLD! And one day we'll have to discuss how much Who's the Boss I missed given that it was all in syndication by the time I learned to use the remote. I know, sad.

Previous interview: Lucy, Bellydancer