2 Terms: Something Worth Celebrating🥈

It’s wild to think that in just a few weeks I’ll be celebrating my 2yr anniversary @ work🤸🏾.

If you’ve been a part of my community for a while then you understand why wild is probably one of the best ways to describe it.

See often, when starting something new, I’m excited for a chance to begin again. But this time around things felt different. On my first day of work, I found myself feeling a mix of emotions, wondering if I had made the right decision and questioning if this is where God wanted me to kick start my career in user experience. 👀 Am I the only one who’s ever felt this way?

In retrospect, I can now say it’s one of the best decisions I made in 2020, and stuck with ✅.  

I guess time really does fly when you’re having fun or working in tech — or whatever they said 🤷🏾‍♀️ I still don’t know who ‘they’ are but stick with me here.

Before reaching this milestone, I’d like to take a moment to appreciate the journey dating all the way back to February 16, 2019.

On this day, a former colleague from my LinkedIn days invited me for lunch at her new job at Instagram. Upon arrival, I immediately flicked it up. Of course I had to do it for the gram one time! The rest of the story of how I went from IG visitor to IG employee is one for the books and will be shared at a later date, but consider this journal entry the TLDR.

I’ve always admired Kevin and Mike for creating the platform we once called “the gram” and now many refer to as “IG”. Since creating my account in 2011, I’ve used it to discover creatives, lean into my own creativity, and connect with amazing people along the way. It’s a full circle moment that I get to work on this platform as a Researcher today.

Here are a few moments that I appreciate from day one as a UX Researcher;

I got to work with some brilliant people

I did something I’ve never done before, and I did it very well

I explored tech Disney world, aka Meta HQ

I did some things I’m proud of

I made mistakes

I celebrated others

I spoke with users from all over the world

I was myself

I asked for help

I said yes to me

I cried

I had fun

I created art

I added value

I got to work with leaders who care about me and my growth

I didn’t get verified on IG

I was promoted

My hope is that you too, take the time to celebrate the journey before reaching your next milestone.

Its only right that I end this journal entry with a video recap of my favorite things in the offices!

〰T.