For the Ones Who Fought for Me

Today is a big day. For over four years, I have coordinated special event permitting for the local government in my town. From day one, my title has been Senior Office Assistant. I stopped using it a long time ago. Imagine holding meetings with organizers of the biggest events of the year, the Mayor or City Manager, city representatives, department heads, lawyers, CEOs, doing media, hosting seminars, making wide-impacting decisions and just being the one all of these parties turn to for event-related business; when they ask who you are, you tell them you are the Senior Office Assistant. That has been my predicament since I started. So I stopped using the title, but today, I officially get a new one: Event Permit Coordinator.

The best piece of advice I give others is that it is better to ask for forgiveness than permission. In other words, take initiative — take risks. I was a receptionist who did just that. It took a lot to get here. I have a creative background that helped, but there was lots of sweat, tears, battles, losses, wins, headaches, and I may have even developed an anxiety disorder because of it all. There were times I have wanted to leave and have even had several big job offers. I am still here because, above all else, I love what I do. But that wasn’t enough.

The way I got here is another story for another time. Today, I want to thank the people that got me here. I am here because I surrounded myself with an amazing team. I don’t only mean co-workers, but all my friends and family that followed me throughout the adventure. Not having a college degree, and making the jump from the classification I was in to the one I start today, was a climb several years in the making. I could not take it on alone. Instead of going down the long list of people that fought with me and fought for me, I think it’s best to talk about what they did for me.

It started with them recognizing that I was much more valuable than I gave myself credit for. There is nothing wrong with the title I had. The job is hard, honorable and integral to operations at any organization. But everyone has a calling and I was not going to reach mine in that capacity. After realizing I had more to offer, someone took the time to help me hone those skills and adapt them to the new environment I walked into. I thank these people for becoming my mentors — for becoming my friends.

The toughest lesson I’ve learned is that the higher you climb, the harder you fall. When there is more at stake, the environment becomes fiercer, and there was a period where it was relentless. When you don’t have a degree, you always have to defend yourself. You have demonstrate why you deserve to be there. When I got tired of doing that and didn’t think I had anything left to offer, my team stepped in again. They went head-to-head with those calling me into question and helped me stand up for myself.

Not having the degree feels like I don’t deserve to be here; like I skipped ahead in line. Last year, I was recognized by a local magazine for my work. One of the programs I helped put together with another organization received international recognition as well. It was the people that support me that celebrated harder than anyone. They cheered me on and helped me see the value of what we had accomplished. It was at that moment, because of those people and those recognitions, that I finally came to terms with the fact that, even without a college degree, I was successful.

There were pep talks behind closed doors, venting sessions over lunch, strategy discussions during impromptu meetings and therapy sessions over group texts. That is what my team did for me. They helped me see that I didn’t fail. They believed in me when I wasn’t sure I believed in myself. I could be more specific, name names, and tell you exactly what each one did. But if you’re reading this and feel like any of this sounds familiar, then you were part of this. This is for you. Thank you. I don’t know that I will ever truly feel successful, but with a team like this behind me, you haven’t seen anything yet!