Yep, that’s right, I have a new career. It all happened so fast and yet looking back at things now, I realize that it was one of the most frustrating times in my life. But I’ll start from the beginning. I use to work for a pharmaceutical company. My hours were from 2p.m. - 12:30 a.m., 4 days a week. I loved, absolutely loved my schedule. I’m a night owl. I’m one of those rare people that can actually sleep during the day and be awake all night. But the cherry on top was working 4 days as opposed to 5. I didn’t particularly love what I did. Tedious crap that kept me busy and paid my bills (paid me well considering). Then starting the beginning of 2007 things started to change around at work. They quit having a 24/7 facility. It was now a 24/5 day facility. My schedule (along with many others) changed. I ended up working at first from 10 a.m. - 7 p.m., 5 days a week (who works those hours?) then it changed from 9 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.

I never really hated my job, even though the work sometimes did leave you a bit comatose. But my boss, my lord I couldn’t stand her. I won’t speak ill of the past, so I will not get into it too much, but she is just not supervisor material. It really didn’t affect me before since I only saw her for about 3 hours, 4 days a week, but then I was working those 8 hour, 5 day weeks.

Slowly, people who were very much my mentors and I looked up too at work, started leaving for better positions. One would leave here, then another there. This one morning in March, my alarm went off and I started to get ready for work. I’m one of those people who have a routine. I usually start by brushing my teeth, taking a shower, checking my email while watching fox news or a local news station in the background while I wait for my hair to air dry a bit. I’ll then eat something quick for breakfast, put on my make-up, perfume, dry my hair, put on my clothes, make my bed, and then get all my chingaderas and get my ass to work. Well, somewhere in between eating breakfast and blow drying my hair, I started to get a huge headache. As I got to work, my head started just pounding and the closer I got to my destination, the bigger it felt.

That day, at work, my best friend from work, Alicia, announces she has found another job and she’s outta there. I felt so bitter-sweet symphony-ish. I was happy because she finally found a better position and was closer to home, but I wouldn’t have her at work with me anymore. Alicia later came to my work area and bluntly said, “Claudia you need to get out of here.” She pointed at all my pictures I had up on my wall and desk, “You are wasting away here, all of your talent is going to waste, this place is sucking the life out of you.”

I knew she was right. I knew the headache that I had that day wasn’t due to not sleeping well or personal problems or even health issues. It was out of stress, the stress I was carrying with me due to that job. It’s so hard for me to change, I have this set way of the way I like to do things. Even my day-to-day stuff. The idea of me just changing jobs when I knew I was getting a good salary and fantastic benefits, doesn’t logically make sense in my head.

About a week later after that day, I’m driving home and I’m stuck in the worst possible traffic ever. I hadn’t moved an inch in 20 minutes and the car started to feel claustrophobic, not to mention I had had a very busy, stressful day at work. These huge crocodile tears started to form and I was about to start a cry fest when my phone rang. It was my friend A. I answered and he replied with his famous, “What’s up loca?!”

I just let it out. I started to whine and complain and throw a (very grown up, o’sea) tantrum. After what probably seemed like an eternity to A, he replies with, “It’ll be alright.” This from a guy who not even a year ago was not having a too shabby of a life due to personal reasons. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing with my own ears. A was being calm, chill, and just sounded very happy and content.

“Okay, what are you on and where can i get some?!” I demanded he tell me immediately.

He laughed and said, “I’m not on anything. It’s just everything is cool. Life is good. It’s not perfect, but I love my new job and everything is just good.” He had recently quit a very steady, well paying job to work as an apprentice at a tattoo parlor to follow his dreams. Everything else was still the same, his personal life issues, not much had changed. But because he was following his dreams and doing what he loved, it changed him, I could hear it in his voice, his attitude was completely different. His whole perspective on life had changed.

I came home that afternoon, took a much needed, stress-releasing nap. I woke up and I knew what I had to do. I do not have a lot of control over a lot of things in this world. I know that I have my mind set on not finishing school. I wish I had it in me, and every time I think something within has sparked and wants to go back, it doesn’t last long. I don’t know when I’ll meet Mr. Right or even Mr. Right Now. I don’t know if I’ll even meet him. I have no control (haha, website name, get it?) over someone falling madly in love with me and wanting to start a family with me. I have no control over the weather, political issues, life or death situations and just every day little tidbits that happen to everyone on a day-to-day basis. I just did not see myself here 10 years ago. What am I waiting for? I need to just do something about this and change it. What I do have control over is what most of us end up doing for about 80% of our lives. I have control over where I choose to work and what I’ll end up doing most of my week. I was exhausted, tired of being treated like another number. I was tired of doing work that was unfulfilling and dragged on and on. . and on. I loved my team members and I made life long lasting friendships, I didn’t regret it, I was just tired. I could do the work, it was almost a no brainer. . .and that was exactly the problem. I needed to get out, and get out fast.

I got my checkbook, all my monthly bills, opened up my online bank statements, calculated how much I spent on all my bills, how much I spent on things i needed in the past 6 months, came out with a mean from all 6 months, and came up with the least amount of money I could make and still be financially okay.

I pulled out my resume, cleaned it up. Sent a couple of emails out to friends who work in the creative industry and begged them to pass this out or just keep a look out for anything that was in the photography field or in the photoshop field.

Then I went to craiglist and clicked on art/media/design job link. The first job posted was a full-time production manager assistant position for a photography studio. I clicked on the link and read. They needed someone who was creative, familiar with mac computers, and photoshop.

Check.

Check.

CHEEEEECK!

But my work history couldn’t prove that. How was my working for non-profit organizations, DHS, DEA, and pharmaceutical companies going to prove that I was the person they needed. I decided to write one of the most unprofessional, honest cover letters I could muster up. It pretty much said, “My job history does not prove my capabilities, knowledge, and passion I have for working in the photography industry. But I will not disappoint you.”

Throughout the week, I’d get random emails from friends seeing job openings for people who knew how to work with photoshop and I randomly start applying. I love my friends, they are just, fantastic! About two days later I received an email from a Jessica. I open the email and it’s from the photography studio, it said they received and overwhelming response to the craiglist opening and had more questions they wanted to ask their favorites before they started to interview.

So I answered each question as honest as I could.

After days of not hearing anything, from anyone, I started to become hopeless. My poor friend Lici, I was nagging to her and she was like, “DUDE, take a breather!” That very same afternoon, as I left work and got into a small (very tiny) car accident, i look at my phone and I had a missed call. Jessica was calling me for an interview.

I jumped up for joy. I couldn’t believe it. I ended up going to the interview the following week at the Dallas Arboreteum, since they were having a weekly photo shoot there. I interviewed outside, surrounded by a gorgeous garden with these two spectacular ladies, Kim and Jessica, the owners of the photo studio.

I was hired on the spot. They just loved me.

I started on April 2nd, and haven’t looked back since. I have learned so much from this experience. I took a noticeable pay cut and I do not miss it at all. What I have gained by doing this is so much more important to me then money. I love, LOVE. . .LOOOOOVE going to work every morning. I work with four ladies. And they’re all fantastic in their own way. The atmosphere is a complete 360 from where I was before. My stress is completely gone. It is unbelievably noticeable to everyone who comes in contact with me. I’m back to feeling like the very boring, worry free, stress free cad I use to be. I’m laughing at work most of the time, working on creative ideas, working with a spectacular team, and just actually enjoying. . what I’ll end up doing for 80% of my life.

And it feels sooooo good!