What’s Your Job?

I went to film school with dreams of becoming an Oscar-winning director by the time I turned 25… welp, I’m 42 now and while I don’t have any Oscars, I did find my way to working in the film and television space as a Production Coordinator! We’re the unsung heroes of your favorite movies and TV shows. The Production Office (PO) is the central nervous system and I often feel like an air traffic controller. Everything comes through us- contracts, call sheets, schedules, contact sheets, equipment rentals, cast & crew travel, etc etc etc. It’s freelance work and not for the faint of heart. I worked almost 15 years in nonunion reality television and came out mostly unscathed. Then in 2024 post-SAG and WGA strikes, I got the opportunity to be an assistant on an indie film starring Rose Byrne and even though I had to start back at the bottom, it opened so many doors for me within the scripted/narrative space. Then I got into the IATSE union a year ago and finally I have protections, health insurance and earning a pension! I’m not sure what’s next but my goal is to continue to work on awesome shows with fun people and to avoid burning out. It’s not easy work but I love what I do and seeing my name in the closing credits makes it all worth it.

This past May I finished my 20th year of teaching individuals with disabilities. I LOVED the individuals that I worked with and celebrating the big and small moments with them and their families. I still keep in touch with some of the families and students that I first taught 20 years ago! But, this past year I realized there were changes coming that I didn’t agree with and I really was longing to be in control of my day to day schedule…so, I decided to make a leap and change careers. Decluttering and organizing has always been a passion of mine so this spring I got certified in decluttering and have started my own small decluttering and organizing business. A huge part of my identity has been teaching and it has been scary to make this change, but also really freeing. And, I am realizing that now I am just teaching in a different way! With my students I loved when things “clicked” and I am seeing that with the individuals I am now working with in their homes that ideas and processes can still “click” which is very exciting and rewarding! Plus, I just want everyone to have more time to do the things they want to do instead of picking up their homes and managing so much stuff. Getting rid of stuff frees up physical AND mental space!

I own an HR outsourcing firm in the Midwest. We specialize in the people side of things (leadership and communication training, people strategy, employee coaching). We pass along transactional HR (payroll, benefits, compliance) to other HR firms in the area.

I’m an international trade lawyer – work has always been busy but is now incredibly, unbelievably, exhaustingly busy since our neighbours to the south decided to turn the trade work upside down:) Luckily, I can work from anywhere and my husband’s job is currently in Europe so I am appreciating the opportunity to be “home” with the kids even if I’m basically working non-stop. I love the intellectual stimulation of my job and how every file is unique but I’ve burned out so many times before in this job and I’m worried about the next time it hits – already trying to incorporate more self care to preempt that and daydreaming of my future when I just get to do whatever I want!

I work as a nanny and I absolutely love it. To watch couples develop their styles as parents, to watch every new milestone. I mostly work with young babies so being part of their development is priceless. I get to have so many joyful moments throughout the day, and knowing the parents appreciate my work and trust me with their most valuable assets is pretty great. I start with a baby and months later there’s a whole little human walking around and babbling words!!!!!!! It always amazes me.

I started my first job on Capitol Hill when I was 16 years old, and I loved it so much I came back after college and have been here for the last 15 years! The job is much less dramatic than the news/tv shows make it seem, and much more collegial. It’s a job I thought I’d have to leave when I had kids (it can be as demanding as it is unpredictable) but all my bosses have prioritized my family life and ensured I could still support them in the job I’m passionate about and not sacrifice time with my kids and partner.

I keep coming back to this post to chew on all these comments, I think I’ve read every one, or have been loading more comments hoping not to miss one. Sort of like that one post about personal finances! So much to chew on here. I’m currently job/career hunting and while it’s been a demoralizing and stressful time, I remain hopeful. Catching a glimpse into this brilliant readership and their careers gives me hope and also makes me feel a bit more surrounded by inspiring, aligned people.

I am a education coordinator at a botanic garden! Most of my job involves coordinating field trips for school groups and homeschoolers. Every single day is the “best day ever!” (according to the kids who visit). I do want to note, I probably could not have afforded to leave my job as a classroom teacher to take this job if I did not have a spouse who makes more than I do :(

I am a quality and systems improvement manager for a non-profit. Essentially, my work revolves around using data and data analytics to one, improve the work we do internally, and two, communicate the impact of our work in the local community to funders, partners, and the community at large. I also lead the evaluations of our programs and guide the research. Short form, anything related to research, evaluation, or data in our organization falls under my umbrella. I really love it because research is a huge interest for me so it works to my strengths. Plus, there are not many black women in research so I feel especially proud to be here to represent the community we serve with respect and care. The only negative is that most don’t know what I do besides dealing with numbers and reports!

This thread reminds me of Richard Scarry’s What Do People Do All Day? I’d love to play along: I’m a therapist. I listen intently to people. I help them accept the realities of an imperfect universe and embrace small opportunities for empowerment. I’m filled with grief and awe daily.

I’m a stage manager and lighting designer! I’ve been freelance the last three years (after 2.5 years on staff at a theatre) and love all the different ways I get to make theatre magic. <3

So many cool jobs! Figured I would chime in with my very regular job; I am a healthcare recruiter in the public sector. The organization I work for is multi union so lots of collective agreement interpretation in addition to candidate sourcing, screening, staffing and planning,and the occasional career fair.

I am a speech language pathologist in Canada. I work with minimally speaking autistic children and implement AAC (alternative and augmentative communication) systems with them. Honestly feel very burnt out only 3 years into my career :(. Pay is very low here and I find this clientele very challenging with all the behaviors it entails. Its really inspiring to read about all your careers and I am hoping I can find something that suits me b etter!

After a phase when I thought I was going to be an English literature professor, which was derailed by a near-death twin childbirth and followed by a decade of stay at home parenting, I am now 4 years into my culinary career and am a sous chef and oyster shucker in an oyster bar. I love working with my hands, I love that service keeps me so busy I have no time to think about anything but what I need to do next and what comes after that, I love meeting and chatting with guests, and most of all, I love FOOD. I don’t love: scrubbing down the bar every night, or guests who treat hospitality workers like servants.

I’m a golf course manager. I have been working in golf for over 20 years now. It started as a random job to pay for college and I never left the golf business. I still love it.

I used to have an exciting and glamorous job in international affairs, then I switched to consulting in that field which let me move around and lead on the kids for my husbands similar job. Now my work has dried up and I spent a year getting back to what I love, which is reading academic history and sharing it. So I’m starting a masters in history this fall “just for fun”, and helped develop a course for middle schoolers in my country of residence , and am slowly working in my hs credential. The goal is to spend time learning and teaching – whether university, college, or high school – or in another format- time and evolution will tell. What I know for sure is I’m calm, collected and love feeling my brain wake up again in my early 40s How am I affording this? Spouse with a salary and benefits, hcol salary and rent collection while living in a lcol country., كول

Love hearing about everyone’s interesting jobs! I work as an Account Executive in cybersecurity for the public sector (mostly protecting public schools, small cities and counties, as well as libraries and critical infrastructure). After 13 years of running my own e-commerce shop, the transition was a bit of a shock, but 3 years in…I actually enjoy the work.

I in Corporate Development for a Fortune 500 company. Day to day, I am quality control and coaching for the various teams bringing forward growth capital investments ($10 B per year). Sometimes I also buy / sell assets and companies to accelerate grow.

I lead the outreach interpretive staff (think nonformal educators, not language interpretation) for a large regional park system. My job is to: develop community partnerships where we bring nature, history, culture, and recreational opportunities to schools, libraries, senior centers, events, festivals, daycare sites and support our park-based interpretive staff. I write and manage grants, nourish partnerships with all kinds of organizations and people, develop and lead programming (personally specializing in workshops for teachers from pre-k through high school) that help them teach outdoors and connect the public to our southeast Michigan natural world. It’s the actual BEST job in the world (for me). And because my office is in one our parks, I spend time outdoors every day and can get my walk/run/bike in before or after work.

So fun to read about all these amazing jobs. I manage the Operations for a fine wine trading company but am also a qualified freelance journalist and finally (!) carving out time to write; notes on culture from London if you want to come and join the chat! https://substack.com/@apero

I work as a revenue cycle representative for a local university research hospital. That is a really indirect way of saying that my job is to fight it when insurance companies deny patient care. If you’ve ever felt like you were being scammed by your insurer, you were and it’s the job of myself and my colleagues to hold them to the terms of their policies with subscribers and their contracts with healthcare providers. It can be repetitive and frustrating but it feels worth it every time I get a denial overturned. Most patients don’t have the necessary knowledge and time to fight back when their insurance denies services and it’s rewarding to fight for them

Coming to this super late since I don’t have free time for “non-business” emails, because my job is a small retail shop owner. My husband and I moved upstate about a decade ago, I opened a kitchen and tableware shop with a focus on antiques and handmade things, and my husband learned to restore antique copper cookware. Parts of the job are awful, and sometimes I feel like we are barely making ends meet, but I get to wear whatever I want and listen to whatever music I want all day long and do most of the inventory shopping, so it’s kind of the most fun I’ve ever had.

I’m a graphic designer at a public library. I create monthly event calendars, newsletters, yearly reports, signage, marketing campaigns, and contribute to the library’s social media accounts! The coolest project I’ve worked on was designing new library cards. I’ve also started freelancing recently to help libraries who can’t afford a full-time designer but still want expertise on their higher-impact materials. I love that I get to promote institutions that I LOVE and genuinely believe in. Libraries are huge for literacy and reading of course, but they also do so much good for their community in so many ways!

It’s so interesting reading about people’s jobs! I’m a full-time climate lobbyist in Canada, focused primarily on clean electricity and environmental regulations. It’s very fulfilling and it’s great to be in a progressive environment, but I find myself wondering if it’s truly the right fit for me. I spend every day thinking about climate change and the energy transition, and sometimes I wonder if my time would be better spent becoming something like an electrician or a solar panel installer, where I can contribute to the hands-on need to fight climate change. All that to say, I’m in my 30s and trying to start a family, so it can be tough to imagine a change like that. Wondering if your team would ever consider doing something about women in trades or about folks who transitioned from white collar jobs or academia into the trades? I think especially as we see our world more impacted by climate change (hello, heatwaves!), this will become a more common pathway for folks in traditional office jobs

I lead the research team of an NGO based in the Netherlands that focuses on preventing child exploitation in all its forms (e.g., child labour, sexual exploitation). I love the diversity of my role and the different tasks, audiences, countries, populations I get to work with. But it’s heavy work to hold the stories of so many affected children.

I work as a project manager at a consulting firm for the criminal justice sector. Basically, I develop and manage projects funded by the European Commission in the area of social reintegration for people who are or have been incarcerated. I really enjoy what I do, but I’m not satisfied with where I do it. I’ve been passionate about ceramics for years, and recently I’ve been able to take some open enrollment courses in that area. My dream is to make a career transition, but I have to admit that being in my mid-30s scares me a little. I live in a country with a public healthcare system; I think this is worth mentioning because I’ve noticed it’s relevant to many readers.

Palliative care doctor here. I work with adults with serious illness in the hospital, managing complex symptoms and empowering people to have their medical plan tailored to their values and preferences. I work with a wonderful team including nurses, social workers, and chaplains, and get to use both my head and my heart to make a difference for people every day. I also am the associate director for a small community fellowship where we train other doctors to do this work. I love the teaching and mentoring, as well as the deep engagement with patients and their support networks.

Late to the party, but just retired after 30 years teaching K/1. Taught hundreds of kids how to read and write! Ready for what’s next!

I’m a midwife! (The CNM kind) I love so many things about my job-the physicality, the sisterhood, watching mothers do literal Magic!!!!! I don’t love how corporate healthcare in this country is, the moral injury, night shifts and holidays away from my family. And the pay is not commensurate with the work we do!

I’m self employed as a virtual administrative assistant. I work very part time and the rest of my capacity goes to managing my chronic health conditions. Prior to this self employment, I did administration, management and rehearsal direction for dance organizations, ballet studios, and a youth dance company.

I’m a Senior Content Developer in marketing and… I hate it. My job used to be sort of fun: writing content for a variety of different clients, mostly legal, but home services and other random industries as well. And now? All I do, eight hours a day, five days a week, is edit the same AI-generated slop over and over and over. It especially irks me how AI is framed as a tool to eliminate the more mundane or repetitive parts of our jobs, but the reality is that it’s eliminated the only creative and enjoyable part of my job (actual writing) and replaced it with something horribly mundane and mind-numbing (editing poorly “written” AI content). It’s honestly SO bad. If you’re reading a business website, there’s an almost 100% chance it was written by AI. Solid chance a lot of the content is also inaccurate or completely made up, because not every company utilizes “editors,” which is what my role has become. I stay because I’m the stable earner for my family, the only one with health care. I don’t mind the benefits — flexible time off, work from home, a paid cell phone — but I don’t know. I feel like, as a writer, I’m having an existential crisis every day about what I’m going to do for the next 30+ years in the AI age.

I’m an engineer for a company that produces castings for the aerospace industry. Every part of the manufacturing process has to stay ‘fixed’ aka unchanged, so my day is a series of decisions on whether or not very important airplane parts have remained in compliance! I love that the problems I solve enable people to fly safely, but that’s also the stressful part. Every decision has nuance and a million factors to consider.

I am a children’s book editor, which I liken to being a movie director. I take a writer’s words and marry it with a vision, establishing the look and tone and constantly championing it to get more investment and good marketing. It’s rewarding to see children reading the books I’ve worked on and to make authors’ dreams of being published come true. But the publishing industry is like a bad boyfriend. I put so much energy and passion into it, but it definitely doesn’t care about me, especially as a woman of colour. I’m just a girl, standing in front of a career, asking it to love her!

I work as a press adviser at a government ministry. My job is to advise ministers on media relations, handle press enquiries, and prepare them for interviews. I really like that no two days are the same. It’s fast-paced, which I enjoy. I also have the best coworkers, and I live for the daily banter in our office. The hardest part is probably that politics is so unpredictable. You can have your whole day planned, and then suddenly everything changes because something more urgent comes up. Most of the time that’s actually what makes the job fun, although it can be a bit stressful. And, to be honest, politicians are like everyone else, some are simply more fun to work with than others. But fortunately, most of them keep the job interesting.

I manage research projects in Family Medicine. There’s a lot that I like about it (variety of project types/topics, good people, I get to use my sociology background a lot) but I’m ready to move on. I’m not sure where to go, and the whole hiring landscape looks awful. I also work remotely so I feel like I don’t have much opportunity to network into new things. Would love to not rely on grant funding (!).

I do public health policy and currently manage a learning network for public health professionals. However, my entire team is getting laid off at the end of August. I’m a single mom with 0 savings (still paying off my divorce debt). So…COJ community–if you have any ideas for me, please let me know! : )

I am a special needs preschool teacher at a large urban school district. There are lots of parts of it I love… and I overall feel very competent and fulfilled day to day. Of course there are times (usually around January-March, LOL) where I am tired, burnt out, and it feels both overwhelming and monotonous. But I always come back to the joy of working with kids, and the patience, love and creativity it requires. Plus, the hours are good, I am in a union, and with my masters degree make more money than I thought I ever would.

I like to think I’m in a bit of a romcom with my work right now. I’m a public law litigator and I love the work so much. But I don’t like the place where I work so in the last few years I really cut back my role and the amount of work I did. I had more time to develop other interests. And do you know what? It was nice but there’s something fundamental missing at my core. Now, I’m interviewing for a new position where I can do the work I love someplace better, even though the position will be much more demanding of my time. Which is to say: I’ve been flirting around with other ways to spend my time, like extended travel and hobbies, and it turns out work really is my true love. And I’m getting ready to give that relationship the time and attention it deserves!! (I think this is the part of the story where I’m running through the airport hoping the new relationship will be as great as I believe it will be!)

I work but don’t have a career in the traditional sense. I completed a career qualifying degree at university and still occasionally work in that area but I am at my happiest doing whatever job helps me be the type of mum, child, sibling, community member I want to be. I evaluate my work against my commitments on a fairly regular basis and change jobs if whatever it is I’m doing means I can’t turn up for my people as my best self. I’ve had some brilliant roles and worked with some amazing people. I feel really fortunate to have had so many opportunities while being able to be very present in the lives of those I love.

I’m a freelance aviation investigative journalist who writes primarily about aircraft accidents and safety within the commercial aviation industry. It’s very hard being a freelancer these days – in fact it’s impossible. To a certain degree this has become more of a hobby then a way to support myself, but I’m sure folks have heard that a lot from journalists. Still, I think it’s important as there are so many questions after plane crashes and it falls on those of us who understand aviation (I’m also a licensed private pilot) to explain what happened.

I’m a pelvic floor acupuncturist. Pain during or after sex, no desire to have sex, urinary/bowel incontinence, nocturnal urination, rectal pain, tailbone pain, erectile dysfunction, nerve pain down under… I’m your girl. I also teach patients how to have sex and offer better positions to manage pain. Yes, I do needle the labia and penis. It’s awkward to work on people’s private part in silence for 1-1.5 hours so I usually explain and narrate what I’m doing throughout and pause to ask about their favorite colors, hobbies, fashion, movies, sports… This is also my way to connect and get to know who they are and how did we get here.

I’m an executive coach/facilitator! Basically, I go into companies and teach employees all kinds of things from how to have hard conversations and delegation to giving feedback and coaching. I absolutely LOVE it! My degree is in psychology and everything I teach is based on science and psychology. Helping people have “a ha!” moments is so cool, and they always have MUCH more fun than they think they will!

I love this–it is so interesting to get a glimpse of all these different jobs! You all are amazing! I manage a program focused on resolving conflicts between wildlife and livestock on public lands across the west at a large conservation NGO. It includes policy work, negotiating with ranchers, fundraising to support the work, and working with wildlife biologists and land managers. If is a politically divisive topic, so it can be challenging, but it is never boring and the positive impacts are very tangible.

I’m an inpatient pediatric NP for medically complex children! Mostly cardiac/single ventricle kiddos, mostly vent dependent. I love my patients!! I love carefully going through all their medications and history and treatments and trying to find a way to ensure they live the most beautiful and full life possible, hopefully at home, and that their families feel included as equal partners in care.

I am a death doula and community health volunteer after 25 years of hospital nursing (rn). I love being able to help people sort out what they want/need at the end of life to be fully themselves. Supporting families during this tender full time has been just about the best job ever. I also volunteer with my county providing free cpr classes and help out at our local children’s cancer camp. Agency to choose how I spend my valuable time is such a gift- I so appreciate “driving my own bus” in this phase of life

I am a high school social studies teacher (government & American history), which I have described before as similar to being a stand-up comedian who performs a different set every day to the same audience who doesn’t always want to be there ;) But I love educating kids about the good/bad/quirky parts of our government system and all the unsung heroes in US history. Also, teenagers are hilarious. During my 8 weeks of summer, I am a full-time mom to 3 kids (almost 12, almost 10, and 3.5) which is a whole other circus – I wouldn’t trade either job!

I’m an EMDR certified trauma therapist and clinical licensure supervisor with my own private practice! I specialize in therapy for ethical non-monogamy/polyamory and complex trauma (developmental and relational trauma), with a particular focus on supporting people who have left high control religious groups and cults. I work with many queer folks, eldest children, other healthcare workers, creatives, just the most amazing people. And I live in the Bible Belt (a suburb of Nashville TN), so….an interesting place to specialize in all of the above :)

Everyone has such amazing, cool jobs! I love reading about it. For the boring corporate girlies out there, I am a senior manager in assurance at a public accounting firm. Basically, I lead audits of the financial statements of mid-sized companies. I have a lot of mixed feelings about the industry as there are a lot of changes and issues with it I won’t bore people with but the positives are great. I was able to take 6+ months of maternity leave with both of my kids (20 weeks of it was paid). Post-covid we are hybrid and rarely go to client sites making the working mom life much more manageable. I’m also able to work an 80% schedule so I only work 32 hours a week (~40 hours during busy season) for 80% of my salary. It’s a battle to keep my hours from going over but I’m lucky to work with partners who also have young kids and respect my flex schedule. I keep debating making the leap and going to work at a corporate accounting role with better work life balance but for now my job works for me!

I’m a theater actor, dialect/vocal coach, and college professor (of these topics). Acting is where I feel most alive and (perhaps ironically) most like myself, but the logistics of the business are very hard. I’m grateful for a steady teaching job that I mostly enjoy, if perhaps not as passionately, that helps keep me and my family fed and insured!

As others have said, it’s really fun to read about everyone’s jobs. Could we do a similar post on everyone’s hobbies??

I’m a veterinary anatomic pathologist, meaning that I’m a veterinarian who is board-certified in anatomic pathology. I also have a PhD. I work in preclinical drug development, helping to ensure that drugs and vaccines are as safe as possible before they’re given to any human patients. What I love about it: I’m trained as a scientist and a veterinarian and I get to use both every day; there are so many smart people working in this field who care about making safe drugs and it makes me proud to be part of that; I’m always learning; I get to see lots of innovative, creative new medicines that will hopefully help patients; it pays well; microscopes are inherently cool :) What I don’t like: being part of the pharmaceutical industry (even though everyone I’ve met personally is in this to help people, I know the industry as a whole has lots of problems); that we use animals for testing (scientifically unavoidable at this point, although there are many initiatives working on reducing it); uncertainty about valuation of science and expertise in this country and the use of AI.

Loved all these! Would love it if CoJ maybe did a feature on being unemployed right now? So many of us have been impacted by layoffs, and it’s not something people are talking about as widely in mainstream blogs.

I am a senior transport&logistics procurement specialist. I just love it. I’ve been working in the transport&logistics industry for over 15 years in various roles and different companies and I can safely say that this is the best job I’ve ever had. Highly recommend!

I manage clinical trials from when it can be given to humans in a trial. I don’t have a science degree, but this is a way to be involved in drug development. I love the chaos and working with so many different people. Feels like I’m spinning a bunch of plates in the air, but it’s so satisfying getting that first patient into the study (and hopefully even getting drug approval).

So many different jobs!! My day job is admin work at a university but I am also a freelance translator and an artist and I also teach art workshops, and will begin teaching History in highschool next semester!

I am a pelvic floor physical therapist and I think I have the best job in the world. It is easy to take your bladder, bowel, and sexual function for granted but it has a huge impact on one’s life when it goes awry. I love being able to help people see that they don’t have the accept leaking or prolapse or pain as their new normal and get them back to doing things they love. I also love empowering people through education about area of their body that is often subject to so much shame and mystery. I could talk forever about how much I love my job.

I’m a field geologist and professor at a small university! I love being a professional adventurer and explorer while also having the most stable job imaginable. It’s such a privilege, to go on amazing adventures because it’s my job, but in any given week, I’m doing an ordinary and predictable shuffle between classes, meetings, and daycare pickup. While I love getting to make decisions based on my own interests and ideas, I do wish that healthy teams and collaborations were easier to come by. There’s a lot of being a professor that feels like running a small business with a couple of interns but no other full-time employees at the helm with you. I love working with others, and there’s a lot of push and pull to my collaborations because at the end of the day, my peers are usually also professors with their own independence, responsibilities, and schedules, rather than the true team setup you’d find at a company. But of course, a real team in a “real” workplace would come with all the headaches of not having as much autonomy as I’d like!

I am a CSR officer in my company, a mid size international industrial group, operating from Europe. I was an executive assistant before and graduated in History. A new field for me at 60. By the way, I can see a lot of ads when using my phone, which we do not take kindly in Europe. Just saying

I’m a wine and spirits specialist working for an importer. I love the storytelling, the art, the community, and producers’ connection to the land. The toughest part is alcohol abuse and misuse, knowing that people are struggling with their body’s relationship/reaction to the thing I have given my career to. You have to have your own “why” as the field is full of contradictions. It’s a glam field that doesn’t pay great, so you’re around luxury, selling to a lifestyle, and have normal non-rich people money troubles. It has also largely ruined going out to nice places and drinking for me. Now those things feel like work and I just want a simple meal at home and to be thinking about other things. Also people automatically think you’re a snob which is exhausting!

I work in payroll for a PEO, personally servicing about 35 different client companies. It’s a lot of screen time, and can be high-volume, high-stress at times, but every day is different and I enjoy the problem-solving and customer service aspects.

I’m a lawyer. I was a prosecutor for a while, took a break to work for a federal judge, and am hoping to get back to prosecution. I know defense attorneys have it harder, but here’s my shoutout for prosecutors! Prosecutors stand up for victims, who can be even more vulnerable and disadvantaged than defendants, and hold people accountable for their actions.

Just retired from teaching high school for 17 years. My retirement income isn’t enough to live on, so I am looking to find a position in corporate training or something similar. But ageism is real, I’m afraid; I’m 63, but a young 63 :) :(.

I’m in marketing for Visit San Marcos in Texas! I make TikToks, write blogs, compose newsletters, and also oversee filming projects (movies, commercials, etc.) that come to our city. I’m wearing a lot of hats, but boy, do I love my job. I get to tell everyone about why I love San Marcos so much? Pinch me!

I’m in marketing, 10+ years, for a mid-size company. There are a lot of joys: being able to be creative, playing with fun trends, writing. Continuous learning. The cons? Everyone thinks they’re an expert in social media whether they’re in your field or not and can be quick to tell you how to do your job/what you’re not doing well. And because marketing can be so all-encompassing, especially when there are only a few people running half a dozen locations, you can be fairly spread thin.

I am a disabled stay at home wife to be. It was hard to stop working due to illness as so much of my self worth was tied up with my career. Untangling that took a while but I’m in a happier place now.

I do outreach for a foodbank and spend my days in food pantries, shelters and prisons helping people enroll in benefits like SNAP, Medicaid and cash assistance. I’ve been doing it for about six years and really love it. It can be very tough (our systems are so broken and there are so many barriers for the people most in need to receive assistance, and so many things that are out of my control) but being able to be a supportive, caring resource for the community is incredibly rewarding.

I am an advertising copywriter. I absolutely love my job and the way it allows me to deep dive into very niche products/services and then find a way to make them relevant to people, while obsessing over the placement and use of every single word. I could happily live without the endless creative directors’ egos, client approval rounds, testosterone-fueled meetings and production stages that come with it.

I’m the director of grants for a large, urban community college. This entails preaward (e.g., working with teams to develop programing, proposal writing, budget development, interpreting regulations, managing relationships with funders) and post-award project management (e.g., on boarding/training, compliance monitoring, contract review, closeout). When my kids were young, they used to go to ski club and one of the other parents said, “So your job is like having homework every night” and I had to laugh because that’s sort of true and I love it.

I work serving people with development and intellectual disabilities. Since my first job, I worked with special ED high schoolers. I graduated with a master in sociology and I did not want to work in academia. Work in nonprofits was my choice from the beginning. The individuals that I serve are the best people in the whole world. They are fighters, they are full of life, and they are survivors. The challenges that I experience at my line of work are the ones that I need to deal with agencies as DHS and Social Security. The fight for funding is our major fight.

Safari camp manager in Zambia :) It’s extremely tough but when I have made it through another day of car breakdowns and chef running out of eggs again and yet another plumbing issue, I look at the sun set and I feel happy, happy, happy…