Reflections on my job:
I knew going into this things would be different. Really different. For starters, I am coming from a hedge fund so the office culture is pretty much the polar opposite.
Here:
Jeans / flip flops.
different technology.
no daily fresh fruit.
no milk.
no hot cocoa /sugar-free hot cocoa / marshmallow hot cocoa.
single stall bathrooms. coed.
i work 8-5. at 5:03 you can hear a pin drop.
i work with my husband. it’s been….a learning experience.
we have a weekly office discussion about current events. called “The Perspective” a knockoff from “The View”. Someone may have dressed as Whoopi.
we have bi-monthly “coaching” meeting and talk about my goals with my supervisor.
I could go on.
Let me say that the things I listed above that we “lack” here at a non-profit, as opposed to a money-making machine, are not things I am complaining about. I can live without fruit, and cocoa. Believe it or not, I think I’ll survive. I just wanted to give you all an idea of just how different the day-to-day atmosphere is for me. I LOVE it. It makes the gifts we receive that much more of a surprise and a blessing - not the norm. Like an unexpected Christmas.
The thing I am most thankful for here is the “coaching”. At first I thought it would kind of be annoying, something to roll my eyes at. I was very wrong. My former boss was one of my close friends in NYC (still is, hi!) but there was no coaching system there. We didn’t meet to discuss my goals and see the progress I was making. I was not a priority there, which I completely understood because things were happening in the financial realm - FAST - that I couldn’t even begin to understand. There just wasn’t time to talk about what I was getting out of my work.
Here I am the priority. WE are the priority. And together our priority is to SERVE the Lord and His people in Mexico.
After (almost) 3 weeks of working here I am beyond pleasantly surprised. I knew coming from an industry I strongly-disliked I had to approach this in a way that wouldn’t make it something it isn’t. By that I mean it is easy for you to expect way too much of something in hopes that it will lift you out of your job misery (my default in the past). So, I told myself, “nothing is perfect. Amor is not perfect. Non-profits are not perfect. Although you fully support what Amor stands for, it is still a job and it is still run by imperfect people like yourself. It’s okay if you don’t love it - but find the things you do love and run with it….don’t set yourself up for a let down.”…And I haven’t. I love what we get to be a part of. Yes, i can see the imperfections here, but i love that they are out in the open and everyone else acknowledges them too. I can already feel myself growing - and wanting to grow…I am not sure I’ve felt that in awhile.
-Joanna Christine Bell Flavin
