never say never
Hi fam! Admittedly it’s been a minute since I sat down to write a post here, which was not my intention at all. Lot’s has been going on! The last time we spoke, I had just moved into our new apartment in Cobble Hill! Since then, lots has happened. I’ve taken a bunch of fun trips over the summer- Chicago for a wedding that C was in, D.C for another wedding [this time a friend of mine from high school], Santa Barbara to visit C’s family, and back to D.C to spend time with my brother and family. I also got a new job!
I don’t often write about my job here on my blog. I try to spend as much of my time outside of work focused on other endeavors–one of which is this sparkly corner of the internet. It’s only natural that it does occasionally slip in here as my job does often tie into larger life decisions, like where I live, how I spend my days, and larger goals that I set for myself. So I took a little walk down memory lane to see where and how my 9-5 has shown up here.
When I first graduated college, I chronicled moving across the country to San Francisco to start my very first corporate job as an Associate Product Marketing Manager (APMM) at YouTube. This was a big transition for me having left my family, my friends, and the community I knew and loved on the East Coast.
The APMM program was 2 years and rotational, so about half way through it was time to start planning [manifesting as I like to call it] where my second rotation would take me. It’s funny to read back on this now as I can hardly remember all of the details of the anxiety around what team I would land on next and what city I’d move to. But eventually, as all things do, it sorted itself out and I landed on a new team (and stayed in SF).
After the majority of my community had left the Bay Area and moved all across the world, I truly started to struggle with being a Black woman in the Bay. Eventually, I was able to move back to NYC while also pursuing a new role at YouTube on the then new Fashion & Beauty team.
After 3.5 years at YouTube, I decided it was time to wholeheartedly go after the fashion dreams I’d been holding onto. Turns out, the pandemic hit right as I was planning this transition, but my lucky stars had it that after 4 months [read: four long, tough months], I started a new role as a Product Marketing Manager at Rent the Runway [yes, the very same company where this dress is from]. This was a complete full circle moment for me not only because I’d been a loyal RTR customer prior to working there, but also, since I was an on campus RTR rep during my sophomore year of college.
And now, after almost another 3.5 years, it's time for another transition. I’ve started a new role as a Product Marketing Manager on the Google Photos team! Ready for another full circle moment? My journey with Google first began in 2012 when I took a trip to the NYC offices as a high school senior. That one trip was the catalyst which led to me interning at Google both my sophomore and junior years of college. And then, of course, when I returned to YouTube post graduation.
It’s funny because when I left YouTube I thought that was the end of that chapter; that I’d never return. But as I’ve gotten older, and as time has shown me, it’s never really the end. Never say never. I firmly believe that all roads lead you to where you're supposed to be. So here’s to a new chapter, a new journey!
Dress: Saunders Collective via Rent the Runway// Shoes: Dr. Martens
