What I’ve learned in the 6 months as the Youngest Marketing Specialist
By the time you read this, I would have already been working at Junior Achievement of South Florida (JASF) for at least 8 months. But, I thought I’d write about my experiences and the plethora of things I have learned while my time at JASF. When you work within an environment where teamwork is such a big deal, there can be conflict involved. The real question is how you react to tough situations. For the purpose of this story, I will talk about moments where it tested me not only as a person but also as an employee and how I chose to overcome any obstacle.
To start, I can’t go on talking about my time as a Marketing Specialist without shout-outing essential individuals in my life who have really shaped and guided me. First is God. He gave me these incredible gifts to adapt and anticipate scenarios. Every day He challenges me in ways that I don’t expect, and that is something I am grateful for. Next, my parents, who sacrifice, so my siblings and I have a proper education. Literally, without them, I wouldn’t be here today. Last but certainly not the least, is everyone who I’ve crossed paths with and pushed me to better. From my elementary teacher who taught me how to communicate, or that friend who stood by me even when I would be dramatic.
These individuals, whose names I can physically write down along with how they’ve impacted me, are the folks that keep me accountable for my actions.
So, simply — thank you.
Learning how to anticipate monthly
Seeing that I only work part-time at JASF, it has its pros and cons, but it sure taught me how to look ahead. The benefits of being a part-time are the flexible work hours. School and family have always been a priority of mine, so scheduling around my responsibilities was never an issue. For most, the downside of being part-time is the lack of hours you could work in a week, but for me, it is the lack of downtime I have with my coworkers. I wasn’t able to influence others.
Personally, being surrounded by people who have the passion for the youth is welcoming and gives me that “good” feeling.
As a solution to my dilemma, I started planning out my work schedules monthly. Not only did it help my manager plan out specific tasks for me to handle, but it also organized my time wisely. Either it was working on a marketing project or taking the time to get to know someone in the organization, I anticipated how my work day was going to be.
Valuing the little things
Every interaction was an opportunity to create a relationship. Looking back from my first day to “Day 58” (Check out my Instagram Stories to see how I document my day-to-day at JASF), I can confidentially feel that I have made an impact on my co-workers. It could be subtle as delegating credit or to create small moments as significant events.
Finding value on the littlest of things was what propelled my relationships with my coworkers. And it doesn’t stop there.
The other day I told my friend from school that relationships are like plants, they continually need water to grow. So what are some plants you think that needs watering?
Being resourceful
If you have checked out my Instagram Stories or even my LinkedIn feed, it is no secret that JASF has had me working on a major project — the DIGITAL SPONSOR PACKAGE (bold and capitalizing letters create emphasis). It was the initiative to catapult our Development Team to the next level. Providing an interactive interface that demonstrates the many sponsorship opportunities outside organizations can choose. The problem was we had no idea what it exactly was going to look like or how it was going to be done. So, the best way to do it — give it to a young mind like me to figure it out. You can feel the leering pressure on me. Every day, every hour I looked at various designs, taking inspiration from other designers and development teams. It was a daunting and cumbersome task, but man I loved the challenge.
Like a knight fighting for the castle, defeating this “dragon” would bring back prosperity (donors and sponsors) to the land (JASF).
Maybe it wasn’t too honorable, but you get the point, after researching complex programs or paid-to-use systems, I found a cost-effective solution — PowerPoint. To this day I pinch my self on how I’ve managed to milk this fantastic piece of software. I know I am not the first, but what I was able to create with what I already had in my small office computer was surprising. Not only did I impress myself, but also my co-workers. The lesson of the story is that I used what I had and increased it’s worth. And I think it’s possible to apply that to everyday problems. Finding that sense of creativity and knack to solve problems is what it means to be resourceful.
A story that keeps on going…
I couldn’t believe how much I was able to accomplish this year. There are countless interactions to describe and plots to explore in my ever growing story as the youngest marketing specialist. This served not only as an update to what goes into my job but also as a kick-starter to the many moments I can write about. Stay tuned — I can’t wait to take you with me.