How I decided that self-employment seemed like a pretty good idea. By Kim
Last April I was dying to go back into the Manufacturing Operations industry – I was eagerly looking forward to the challenges and being able to interact with peers, I just wanted to get through the summer. In May, I was eagerly searching, figuring it would take the summer months to find something and get the ball rolling but that I would be able to enjoy the time with my family. In June, I was less actively searching but still jonesing to get back into my profession after school started in the Fall. In July, eh….but a couple of prospects had come along and so I thought that I might as well go interview.
Now I’m not going to say that THE INTERVIEW(s), and everything that went along with them, completely made me want to explore the possibilities of self-employment, but….
After my time in Thailand, where I had to wear everything to death due to the lack of shopping for “Western-sized women” (“we don’t have extra extra-large size for you, Madame”), I came back to the US with one suit and one pair of shoes. No worries, as you only need one to interview. I found them, pulled them out and started getting dressed. Maybe you’ve heard the expression “two possums wrestling in a gunny sack”, well apparently some badgers had eaten the possums and were PISSED to be stuck in this particular gunny sack – not pretty, not pretty at all. OK, no big deal, I would just have to go shopping, I thought, that’s fine I like shopping and at least I have the shoes.
The shoes….after 20+ years of wearing heels of every type, you would think that a person’s feet would be immune to just about anything and there was a time that I could’ve jogged the NYC marathon in stilettos without even wincing. Unfortunately, after a year+ of sandals, flip flops, tennis shoes and ballet flats, sliding back into those fabulous heels was a bit like sliding into medieval torture devices. I was undaunted though, my feet just aren’t used to heels anymore, I’d wear them around the house for a while and get readjusted in no time flat. Twenty minutes later, I was pretty certain that my effing feet had also gotten fatter, and as I crawled up the stairs to my room, I cheerily repeated to myself – shoe shopping too, I love shoe shopping!
Shopping day…trying on suits. I was feeling pretty good because I haven’t actually gone up a size, it’s more like bits of me have shifted around (read: down) a little and that’s ok, it’s normal in fact, gravity and all that (full turn in the mirror)…..what the hell is that on my ass….is that….cellulite??!!!
The best thing that I can say about that particular shopping excursion is that I did find the penultimate pointy-toed heel – Cole Haan makes all of their shoes with the Nike Air technology in them and the Miranda Pump is without a doubt the best multipurpose “work” shoe I’ve ever worn. Don’t misunderstand, it’s still a pointy-toed heel but your “back-to-work” feet will thank you!
I know that I haven’t even gotten to THE INTERVIEW yet, but I’m going to have to regroup and have a glass of wine before I can recount the rest of my humiliating tale.
"If it’s been so long, and so much about me has changed, that my work wardrobe is obsolete, I can’t begin to imagine what has changed in my industry. I know that there are new business philosophies, technology, and buzz-words, and that business practices have shifted along with the economy. But I’m not entirely sure what has changed AND if I have this much trouble getting my wardrobe together, how am I possibly going to catch up on my industry in time to sound articulate and relevant (and not like I’ve been talking “mom-speak” for the past 5 years) in time for THE INTERVIEW, much less in the actual workplace? Being humiliated in the dressing room is one thing, being humiliated in front of my peers is another!"
…..and you’ll find the Spanx link in the LifeSavers section of this blog! ;-)
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