It's ME. I'm Next.

Today I officially received an offer from Lois Paul & Partners; and I accepted (OBVIOUSLY!).

Words can't express how I feel; all my dreams are coming true ( WOW, didn't think this post could get any cheesier, but It just did).

On a serious note. I couldn't be any happier... and it's not even a full-time job (What?!).

It's a paid internship, 40 hours a week, and it's the opportunity I have been looking for. A real boot-camp internship where I can LEARN all the fundamentals of PR, at a prestigious company in BOSTON, but small enough where you are ACCOUNTABLE and NEEDED on a day-to-day basis. That extremely long sentence consisted all of the underlying values I looked for in my future employer. LP&P exceeds every one of them.

Patience is a Virtue.

Not to mention, there is a high success rate for those interns who do well to become an Assistant Account Representative, which includes salary and benefits. If the opportunity doesn't occur, (which it will!!!) I am confident that the experience will be a crucial stepping stone in my professional career path. It is a foot-in-the-door in Boston, the industry, (they specialize in IT/health- care/clean-tech - a huge market in Boston) and I will be truly qualified for whatever comes next.

Ironic as it may seem, #thejobhuntcontinues. As one of my interviewers from LP&P said, "Work for the job you want, not the one you have" and I know I will be working plenty hard to earn my spot there.

A Collection of Quotes, Sayings, and Nonsense

If I may quote my favorite Business book,"Networking is not a passive sport. You need to get to the people you want to meet, and it takes planning and work and overcoming inertia."

An idea I've been living by since I've read it. And now, as Carol from New Directions said, "Things are finally getting sticky." A phrase, that right off the bat may seem like an undesirable feeling but makes perfect sense. After six months of introductions, sending an email here or giving a business card to someone there... my network is starting to truly develop.

After a "Black-Hole" day... (as my former roommate calls it. A day where you're feeling particularly "unemployed-ish" and you grieve over the death of your college days)...

I decided it was time to revisit my contacts. Writing, "Hi remember me again" email after another and leading them all with Khiara's personal favorite, " what about this weather?" I finally had a break through. For the sake of "not counting my chickens before they hatch," (I couldn't tell you who came up with that one but everyone knows it) I will be vague about the details. However, I will say this much.

• I had an interview. (I possibly had a booger in my nose for at least half of it but other than that, it went AMAZING)
• It's A PR agency located in Boston (Check, Check)
• I absolutely love the place and the people (I think they liked me too)
• And I think I have a shot

"Only time will tell." (Again, I couldn't tell you who thought of that one either....)

"Pleasure To(oth) Meet You"

It was our last day of events at FutureM and we were ready. Although the previous events were AMAZING, we found ourselves sometimes wishing we had done some things differently. For two girls who find themselves more confident than not, we didn't realize how intimidating networking at this level of sophistication could be. So like I said, this time we were ready...

Elevator speech. Check. Outfit. Check. Rule #4 -No glass of wine until our last event. Check. List of things not to bring up (for example: The reason I have a lisp...."I have a fake tooth in my mouth that can be removed - want to see?") Check.

Unfortunately the dreaded tooth removal (read post) had taken place the day before and the result of it was as obvious as a bad hair cut. The fake tooth caused me to have a terribly embarrassing lisp, and a tooth that would occasionally pop out at the most inconvenient times- like when I was introducing myself to Barbara, CGO of Digitas, or while I was eating cheese and crackers at our last networking event. My eyes lit up in horror as I realized I was chewing on a piece of plastic- now toothless- at a black tie event, while Khiara had to cover her mouth from shrieking in laughter.....

So it was a tiny bit of a hassle, but hardly a damper on the day. Khiara, Dave and I were going to make the most of it- and we did. Our first event, Rich Media and Mobile Advertising was held at Digitas. (The building was something out of a movie!) Speakers gave their perspective on the path of Mobile Advertising and the barriers it has been breaking thus far.

 After, we grabbed some lunch and decided to head to Hill Holiday in order to get good seats for the next event, "The Pitch". We waited in the lounge on the 34th floor and envied employees on their lunch breaks - to them, this was just any other standard work day.... We had another chance to connect with some employees of Hill Holiday. Khiara introduced us to both Chris and Lauren who happened to be walking through, and it was yet another chance to practice our networking skills. Finally the Pitch began, and it was by far one of the more exciting events. Five people representing real start-up companies entering the market, had to give their pitch in a matter of eight minutes, followed by a real live panel of judges made up of journalists and agencies.

Boris from CampusLive receiving feedback from the panel

The seminar was then broken up into a networking event, where Khiara and I broke rule #4 and found ourselves sipping on some wine as we mingled. We had a chance to meet with the young entrepreneur of CampusLive, Boris and his lead sales member Melanie. Melanie was nice enough to share her story of how she got to where she was in Boston, and encouraged us to reach out to her.

Leaving Hill Holiday we had some time to kill and headed over to Faneuil Hall. Khiara dragged me into Coach where we almost impulsively bought a bag (the equivalent of half a months of rent in Boston). In return, I dragged her to the Salty Dog across the street to indulge in something more in our range of financial capabilities, Sam Adams on tap.

One drink later we headed back to our final event, Content Curation, where we had the chance to get more insight on start- up companies from a Community Manager herself, Elizabeth.

Although this conference wasn't going to result in a job offer, the insight we now have about the industry is twice as much as we had a week before (and nothing we could have learned in class). Above all, now that I've had a taste, there is nothing stopping me from having anything less.

Tweet.

This entire week at FutureM has been absolutely amazing, but for now, this is all I have to say about yesterday...

A Light Bulb Just Went Off - (Or On)

Yesterday around 5pm, a light bulb simultaneously was ignited by not only electricity but also an epiphany.
After going Five whole days without power, running water and cell phone service, I was feeling disconnected. both the world and myself.

A lot can change in a week huh? To get everyone up to speed. Following the freak- of -nature earthquake on the East Coast, came Hurricane Irene (said to be in the top 10 deadliest hurricanes to hit the US ever). Rhode Island was fortunate enough to not get hit dead on with the old broad, but the storm that radiated off her caused 60% of the Ocean State without electricity, and some still won't expect it until Labor Day Weekend. Of course it could of been worse, at the end of the day you realized what's important, your family and friends- and life basically - but still... it was TERRIBLE.

Not only did Irene come abruptly, so did a a job opportunity. A friend of mine gave me a lead to an opening at Konnessi, (a company he's been helping while finishing his MBA). The lead turned into a interview, which then lead to a second interview, which then lead to a job offer and a " See you on Tuesday at 9 and we will get started."

For those who have been keeping up with this blog, have most likely gathered the following: I am determined to get out of RI - want to have a career at a prestige agency - and have a career in Public Relations or Marketing. On the contrary, this job opportunity is in RI - is a small start up- and is a sales position. To my surprise all my determination for a goal I have been tirelessly working for was being thrown out the window, and I was beginning to entertain the idea of this new career path. After all this market is unforgivable, I don't have any planned interviews or ins at the moment, I am young and everyone needs stepping stones, and time is passing faster than sand in an hour glass.

I weighed the pros and cons back and forth. I would be excited at one moment as I envisioned a day working for this company, and the responsibility I was accountable for, and overall dominating the human race. The excitement would then be replaced with anxiety and second guessing. The salary being offered was "peanuts" as my father said. Granted in sales, the sky is the limit to make income, but there was an undeniable risk here for what seemed to be an extensive demand for a more than 40 hr work week.

But in the end, it wasn't the amount of work being asked that bothered me, nor the pay check. It was my vision. Life throws you windows of opportunities at random times and there will always be a risk in taking them- that's the only way you get anywhere. But the one thing I hold dearly is this vision, well- you all read it in the first post. And this wasn't it. As Khiara puts it - "do you feel like you have exhausted all your options?" - and I don't. The fight in me is not even close to being tarnished.

So what did I do? The unthinkable for an inexperienced college grad living in this economy. I said I respectfully declined.

As I sat in the living room with my father, as I internally made my decision ...A sign from God, Buddha, or just the right tilt of the earth in this universe - The electricity I was lacking all week fired back on literally and figuratively all at the same time.( I am not even lying.) Not to mention Khiara was back in town and I finally had a phone that was charged long enough to be able to fill her in. After talking to her I felt grounded again...so as of today we are both officially signed up for a marketing conference in Boston in two weeks and it looks like the #jobhuntcontinues.

Time To Shake Things Up

Yes it is time to shake things up around here! And Yes the pun was intended. For those that haven't tuned into their T.V.s and Facebook pages - (Doubtful)- Today the East Coast experienced an earthquake. I however, didn't feel a thing other than the vibrations from my cell phone from the countless notifications on Twitter and the news talking about it.

In Other News...

I had a successful phone interview with the HR from Lois Paul & Partners. I have to admit, I have been really lucky so far because again the HR (Christine) was very welcoming and made it very easy to talk to. I had my "Marketing Plan" in front of me, and overall felt very prepared. It went so well in fact Paul (the man that gave me the introduction) E-mailed me, and said she was impressed and I am near the "top of the list" to contact when a opportunity opens.

What does this mean? - It means I keep going to the gym, keep eating my veggies, keep searching. The #jobhuntcontinues and it is time to mix my strategy up a bit. What can I do now to really WOW the next interview that presents itself?

I have concluded that a Public Relations Career in Boston = Working in the IT, Health/MediCare/ Clean Tech industry, rather than NY which is more consumer based. I do a decent job staying "in the know" when it comes to PR, but I need to learn more about these specific industries. I have started following IT companies on Twitter, reading articles and blogs, and even contacted an alum from URI's Public Relations Society, who did PR for Dimensional Insights, (an IT company in Boston) and asked her for advice on where to gain further knowledge. While reading some of these articles and posts I find myself Googling words I don't understand - how else am I going to learn!

My second move, is to start working with a Head Hunter. I say working "with" rather than "use" based on an article from who else but @AvidCarreist > http://www.avidcareerist.com/2010/11/05/should-you-use-a-recruiter/

Khiara had mentioned her friend had recently got an HR job, and has worked with Head Hunters and she strongly encouraged it. To my luck, my older Cousin Geoff is a Head Hunter ( he's 1 of my 23 cousins - and that's only counting my Dads side - and no, not step cousins, my parents are together... as of now. ) He works for O'Neill Consulting Group LLC, and hopefully he will have some guidance to step up my game.

I am going to need to keep the level of determination high these next weeks, especially since my best friend and motivator- Khiara- has left me today for Oklahoma. Disappointed I will be visiting the infamous Sophie's Coffee myself - I am reassured by Khiara's promise to continue our job-hunt and coffee sessions via Skype.

All I Want for Christmas Is My 2 Front Teeth - And A Job.

Following Khiara's last post - I admit I was withholding the same sentiment. It is getting tough. Some weeks are easier than others, some feel down right hopeless.

It doesn't help either when you had three days off in a total of three weeks. You go to a dentist appointment and they tell you that the line-drive that hit you during softball practice six years ago in high school - an accident that left me with seven root canals, three crowns, and some funny yet embarrassing home videos- is now coming back to haunt me with a bill that my insurance won't cover and over a year of future surgeries. Several Surgeries, that with my time of healing in between them will leave me with a temporary fake tooth that needs to be removed at night. All I could think of is Obie Trices song- Hopefully she's got some teeth as the Dentist explains all this to me. Not to mention a scale that reads I am five pounds over my usual- a direct correlation of now living at home and having food already supplied for me rather than my college days when a bowl of soup and grilled cheese would last me a good day and a half.

Depressing? Yes. Dramatic? Maybe. Nevertheless- down.

Being sick and tired of this funk I was letting myself get in, I decided it was time to take control. I have been to the gym everyday taking classes at the YMCA, brushing my teeth three times a day, and eating basically only fruit veggies and salmon. This health kick has been uplifting, not only physically, but inside too. My newly acquired energy has altered my attitude and I feel people taking noticed. Especially on Monday while working a double at the golf course...

A day that is usually dead, hence only one bartender is needed that day, but of course -it was extremely busy. Doing my best to make sure I was servicing everyone at the bar, golfers coming in to grab a pick up order, and groups of people sitting for lunch outside on the patio- all with same enthusiasm and quality service. I had waited on this elderly man with his grandson who began making small talk with me - half of me wanted to throw his hot dog on the table and run considering I had X amount of other people to attend to and didn't have time to chit-chat... but Instead, smiled sweetly with my bright white teeth, (that will soon be removed) and engaged in casual conversation. He overheard me speaking to some customers about my goal to be in Boston doing PR, and that he was in fact a Public Relations Practitioner affiliated with Lois Paul & Partners based right outside of Boston.

Lesson: Never throw a hot dog and run aka treat everyone as if they are a potential network facet.

Turns out his grandson went to high school with my brother - so Rhode Island- and we exchanged contact information. The next day I followed up on his offer of sending my resume through some contacts, and a week later I got an email from the HR of LPP.

Yes it is tough right now. I mean, everyone said it was going to be - but every now and again a lucky break comes your way.

...Is Another Man's Treasure

I worked illegal amounts during the four days of Valley Country Club's 3-Day Member-Guest Golf Tournament. Between preparing over 500 gift boxes (and by preparing, I mean literally configuring flat cardboard into the shape of a box), memorizing 128 members and guests names ( so when they say "just bill me for it" I don't have to ask, "who are you again?!") and sitting out on the middle of the course persuading people to buy golf clubs they already have, on a record-breaking day of 112 degrees, *gasps for breath* I forgot that I was still waiting for an answer from Hill Holliday.

It wasn't until the very last foursome came through the first tee that we started making small talk about the job search. I explained my situation in that I turned down a great job for a chance at my dream job, Hill Holliday, and instantly Mr. Ricci's eyes lit up, "I have a surprise for you!" My heart stopped-

Is he about to hire me on the spot?!

Hardly, but what he did have for me was a Titleist golf ball he found in the woods that had the words "Hill Holliday" printed on it. I couldn't help but to laugh at myself. I was still so excited to accept his gift, which turned out to be the highlight of my day. The golf ball is now sitting on top of my dresser and it makes me smile every time I look at it. I would love to say it was a sign, but that was a week ago, and I still have not heard back... Whether this opportunity goes through or not, I know I will not let that golf ball be the closest I get to where I want to be.

Speechless

Looks like I'm still unemployed, except this time I can't even complain about it. I walked into Eident Sports this afternoon a nervous wreck with my speech playing over and over in my head...."I just want to let you know how much I appreciate your offer..." Except when I actually made it into the President's office, I didn't even get that far before he interrupted me.

"Hold on kid, I already know where you're going with this....and if you have a vision, go for it. Don't worry about turning this down, you're making the right choice."

Mentally, I envisioned my mouth dropping while I tried to keep my cool. Never in a million years did I expect that response! The rest of the time in his office could not have gone better and he only helped reassure me that I made the right decision. I could not be more thankful for that.

I love Eident, I loved interning for them, I love the people there and I love what they do.... but right now I'm ready to break out of my comfort zone. There's no turning back now....Boston better be ready for me.

Bostonians

7:30am: (401): So excited for todayyyyy! I'm on my way...Boston here we come!

7:55am: After getting to her house, Gessenia and I spent a considerable amount of time deciding which shoes she should wear to her informational interview. It was between her reliable "mature" white shoes or her stylish nude suede heels. After weighing the pros and cons, we obviously agreed on the latter...(it may be an interview, but you still have to look fabulous!) With the assistance of her mom, Gessen's outfit was complete and we were ready to catch the 8:38am train.

8:38am: We're only at exit 20 on 95. "Looks like we're taking the 9am train!"

8:45am: We purchased our tickets and it wasn't until we stepped out of Cafe Le France (or whatever it is) that we realized he said the next train was at 9:48. What?! Not possible. Turns out we somehow managed to read the schedule wrong the night before. After a brief moment of panic we did what he had to do and paid the extra money to buy another ticket for the 9:16 Acela.

9:05am: As we were waiting outside for the train I grabbed my camera off the ground to snap a pic of the State House. Silly me forgot I was using my camera to keep my ticket from flying away. Sure enough my ticket took off. As it drifted toward the tracks I had a moment of poor judgment and envisioned myself doing whatever I had to do to get it back in my possession...even if that meant jumping down to the tracks to grab it. Thankfully I caught it just as I stepped onto the yellow section. Gessenia and I died laughing at my frantic scramble and it wasn't until we read the sign "Caution live wires below" that we fell silent. That could have been bad.

9:48am: We arrived in Boston after numerous mock interviews and the extension of our Boston dream. We had just enough time to find New Directions on Oliver Street and grab a multi-grain bagel at Starbucks.





12:00pm: I got quite far into my book, Firefly Lane, while I had waited for Gessenia outside on a park bench down Oliver Street. When she finally walked out of New Directions it looked like a whole new level of excitement had come over her. She was reassured, motivated and was so excited to share the information she had learned during the past hour and a half. (I'm sure she'll go more into detail in her blog to follow)

We lost track of time for the rest of the day and it only continued to get better. We walked around Quincy Market and found Gessenia the perfect graduation party dress at Urban Outfitters. We grabbed lunch at a little Mexican restaurant where we discussed our next move (career wise) over apps and a pitcher of white sangria. We made a lengthy check list and decided to step our game up even more (after the 4th of course!). After we paid the bill and checked our statuses in the mirror, we took off-with no plan in particular just to make the most out of our trip. We hopped around from place to place, even tried watermelon flavored beer, until Gessenia got a call from a friend (who saw her tweet- that she was in Boston) and we made our way to The Landing. It was so exciting to be in the Boston crowd, mixed in with people who were just getting out of work and really feeling like we belong here.

After too many drinks and too many laughs my boyfriend scooped us up after his night class at 10:15pm and we headed home. It was such a perfect day....and we still have unused tickets back!

Here and Now vs. There and Later

I'm in downtown Boston, wearing my new tailored jacket, hot coffee in hand, waiting for the T. Excited, because my new new Account Executive position at my agency has lead me to three new clients, whom I have meetings with throughout the day. It's a Friday, and the Sox are scheduled to play the Yankees, and because of a friend of a friend in my office, my roommate and I have tickets to tonight's game...

REALITY SAYS

I'm on the golf cart, fanny pack strapped on, serving beers and Powerades to old men, for yet another summer. As far as scenario 1- A rough draft of the life I will be living come this Fall. In the meantime I am putting in my hours at the same golf course I have been bartending and driving beverage carts for the past four Summers. Yes, there comes a little sting when I engage in those generic "What are you doing now" conversations, as I explain that I don't have a "real"job yet, that I am still at Beaver River and still rockin the same khaki shorts I bought when I was 18, as I endure my job hunt in Boston.

But To be frank, the sting is minuscule. A very similar version of Scenario 1 WILL happen. Not to toot my own horn, but I have the "smarts" and even more, the conviction. So, I'll flash these pearly whites, do the fake laugh, pull out the same one liners that I have ever year.."I'll catch ya on the back nine,"... "Another Bud Don?"..." Who's buying this round?"..etc etc... and even more, I will deposit all those ones and SAVE, because, God knows that apartment on the skirts of Boston won't be cheap.

So for Now- It's a Friday, it's Hot, I am 21 years old in Rhode Island-the world is my oyster. And more importantly there is a DJ at the Coast Guard House tonight and my gf and I have yet to find the perfect Summer drink.