How I became a Community Manager
I first started managing a community (a World of Warcraft guild) back in 2006, long before I had any idea that that was a job. I remember seeing the guild feature in the game and wondering how it worked, because surely everyone wanted to run their own guild so why would anyone join someone else’s!?
After a few years of running a guild I definitely understood why not everyone wanted to run their own guild! I quit the game completely for a while and when I came back I vowed that I would be a guild member only. That lasted a few months until the leadership of the guild I was in had an argument and most left the guild. I gave the remaining guild leader a pep talk and offered some advice. The next day I logged in to find I’d been promoted to a leader!
When it became clear that guild was never going to get off the ground again, I tried again to just be a member. I joined a new guild and vowed to keep my head down but when it, too, started to run into problems I just couldn’t keep my mouth shut. Sure enough, I soon had a leadership role there, too! I probably should have realized then the universe was trying to tell me something but I had still never heard of ‘community management’.
When I wasn’t playing World of Warcraft I was spending my time getting a degree (in Chemistry) and then teaching Science to high school students.
A few years into teaching I was starting to realize that teaching probably wasn’t my dream career. So, when my (now) husband suggested we move to San Francisco from the UK I decided it would be a good opportunity for a career change. I didn’t initially have a work visa so I took the opportunity to do some soul searching (and to play World of Warcraft full-time).
I started making jewelry and selling it online and at craft fairs. I learned about marketing and social media and started my own blog and social media accounts. I also got involved with the local maker community (SF Etsy team) and started running weekly tweetchats for the team to share advice with one another, and helping with the team blog.
After a while I realized that wasn’t my dream career either but I still wasn’t sure what I did want to do and I didn’t have much experience or any qualifications in anything that sounded interesting to me. Eventually I got a job at an e-commerce platform as — you guessed it — a Community Manager!
But the story doesn’t end there. I actually didn’t really like that job which was (as I realized later) much more customer support than community management. I eventually quit that job and tried being a freelance blogger for a while but that wasn’t for me either.
Finally I discovered my current job and something about the description just spoke to me. I took it, despite several very good reasons not to, and I’ve never looked back! My role has changed quite a bit since I first started but that’s a story for another post!
