Discovering Hidden Talents

So, I’m going to be talking lots about my job this week.  Why?  Because it occupies lots of my time and I’ve learned lots about myself in the last year.  The best life lessons come from, well, LIFE: and this is mine.

Remember that Baptism by Fire?
Yeah, the one where they threw me into oodles of stuff right out of the starting gate?  It didn’t end there.  Before I knew it I was wrapped up in all of the client calls, making decisions on high-end purchases and even dabbling into some of the financials and warning of budget implications.  I was up to my elbows in the muck of this project and didn’t even realize it.

So – Senior Interactive Engineer:  What IS that exactly?
It sounds super fancy and technical huh?  What it really means is I develop websites at a little higher level than your entry level guys or in my case; I’ve been doing it longer.  Also means I can help guide and influence those entry level guys and steer them towards good development by sharing my own experiences.

It also means I play translator and interpret things like:

·         PHP is not an illicit drug, it’s a programming language used by lots of website. It stands for Hypertext Pre-processor (and if you want me to translate that, you’ll have to hit me up later to explain it).

·         .NET is also a programming language/environment AND a domain extension like .com.  A website like Mixes.net is NOT build on a .net environment (it’s built on PHP, I built it).

·         MySQL is only pronounced My S-Q-L by rookies.  The rest of us pronounce it “My Sequel”.

Now you can speak a little geek, but enough of the geek speak for now.

A Senior Interactive Engineer is NOT:

·         A Project Manager

·         A Financial Advisor

·         A Decision Maker

·         A Client Person

·         A Technical Advisor

Senior Interactive Engineers are builders, we make things.  We’ve just been making them a little longer.  So why were they letting me, the closet do-everything-from-behind-a-computer-so-I-don’t-have-to-talk-to-anybody-person, do all these things.  Because I did it without even realizing I had.  I didn’t know I could, and neither did they.  I just did what I always do, get stuff done.  They asked me to do stuff, I did stuff.  That’s what you’re supposed to do right?  In my freelancing days I took on clients who expected me to be something different and I ended up usually morphing into something more.

What did I learn?

·         If you can manage a household effectively, managing projects is a cakewalk in comparison. Plus add in juggling a bouncing child or two on my lap while developing, project management to the MAX.

·         Budgets and financials were easy once you’ve tried to pinch every last penny to stretch a super thin budget and tried to find pennies where none exist. Plus I managed billing for my own clients.  It’s even easier when the money is already there and all you have to do is spend it or ask for more if you’ve run out.

·         When you’ve had to stare down a screaming three year old who is adamant he WON’T go to bed and had to stick to your guns, staring down a board room of decision makers is a breeze.

·         Consoling an emotional or irrational teenager while trying to give them enough strength to find their own way is no easy feat.  Pushy Clients, psshh.. easy peasy.

·         Hacking up a Wii so your 4 year old doesn’t scratch any more discs, yeah I’d say that qualifies me to help make decisions on technology.

WHOA, WAIT A MINUTE HERE. My best skills came from PARENTHOOD????

That’s right.  My most valuable skills I didn’t even put on my resume.   I didn’t know they existed let alone were the skills which would set me apart and open up more doors for me. My most valuable skills came because I am a PARENT! 

A few months back one of my clients was out for a technical discussion and training session I was leading.  At the end of the day was a big dinner, which every other time I skipped but since I was their main contact this time around, I attended.  I was mingling with the client when a coworker of mine walked over and said “Well have you figured out why she’s such a good project manager yet?”.  The client gave a puzzled look, as did I, and my coworker shared “She has lots of kids, isn’t it incredible?”.

It IS incredible, and yet often undervalued, even by ourselves.  Parenthood is amazing and awesome and has taught me more about life, myself, and more than any other experience or challenge I’ve ever been faced with.  We have lots of new parents in our families and I hope you know how loved and appreciated you are, you are creating the future problem solvers of society.

 Parenthood is a very tireless and thankless job.  Some days it’s all you can do just to get dressed amidst the chaos AND it’s a sacrifice, in a big way.  But remember, each of those moments when you’re teaching your children, they are also teaching you.  You are learning skills you probably never dreamed you had and you’re adapting in ways which DO benefit you and your children. You matter, I matter, and it matters, all of it.

And of course none of this would be complete without a quote:

“While we try to teach our children all about life, our children teach us what life is all about.” - Anon