Y’all. I’m too tired to write it all out, but the new job at The Cutie Pie company is anything but cute right now. It’s not like this is a big surprise, and I know I am brand new, but here are a few of the highlights, bulleted for my sore, tired brain:
I have a staff of four - fine and good
But three of the four are BRAND NEW. Two of them started a week before I did!
They all work remotely and I’m the only one in the office daily so I can work face-to-face with Product Development (I’m the Design Director)
My team is all brand new because the company has grown so fast. So my team of 5 used to be ONE full-time person and one freelancer.
The CEO, to whom I report, is out of control with runaway ideas! She thinks my team of 5 needs to be constantly busy so she makes work for them to do because she doesn’t want them idle
We use Slack for everything - requests, reviews, approvals…everything. I have never used Slack in my whole career and I can’t keep up! How am I supposed to go to meetings if I have to constantly watch for questions, instructions and approvals to come through Slack?!
My team doesn’t really report to me yet because the CEO is giving them all of their direction! I know that the CEO wants to have a comfort level with me and my direction, but I’m trying to figure out how I can prove that to her if she keeps doing it all herself?
My designers are so stressed out that one of them actually RESIGNED to me today!
The CEO talked the designer off the ledge and asked her what she wanted - to which she gave a laundry list of demands and NOW I HAVE TO WRITE UP A NEW JOB DESCRIPTION FOR HER! Because she was a spoiled brat and threw a tantrum and quit (??!!)
The office is pretty chaotic and sadly, not very social because there’s not enough time in the day for pleasantries. Remember how I said when I interviewed that it didn’t look like people took lunch breaks? They don’t! I’m afraid to go to the bathroom for fear I’ll miss something!
But believe it or not, there are still things that I’m excited about and that I love:
I’m bringing my dog to work (though I will take her to daycare for her introductory session tomorrow to see how she does)
I believe in the product and I think it’s SO FUN and exciting!
the company has grown SEVEN times over since 2020
There is SO MUCH potential and if I can make this work, I think I can make something HUGE out of this.
I want to make this work!!
I’m brand new and think I can make a difference if I play my cards correctly
The CEO is super smart and is clearly doing something right - I don’t know if she can ever be reigned in, but I think there can be systems in place that will work!
OK. I’m tired. Today was A DAY. But I’m excited that tomorrow is a NEW DAY.
How was your day?
GS
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