making a splash

on embracing change and diving in head first

2015 began as a year of huge personal change. After three amazing years living and working abroad Edinburgh, Scotland I found myself back in my hometown of Toronto. I was no stranger to change — in fact I usually welcomed it — but this time it was different. This time my move wasn’t fuelled by a new school year or the prospect of something great. This time I had no idea what I would be doing come January 2nd and that was terrifying.

In December I left a job I had that I had loved for two years. However, for a while the day-to-day work no longer felt challenging. I knew I didn’t want to do exactly what I was doing in this role upon returning to Toronto, but the major dilemma was that I had no idea what kind of challenge I was looking for. So in the months leading up to my departure from Edinburgh I asked myself some questions in hopes that my next challenge would become clear:

What did I enjoy most about my previous role?

Social Media, managing our online space and working in education.

What do I enjoy doing when I am not at work?

In short: the Internet.

What do I want to learn in my next role?

Brand marketing and more about the finite aspects of social.

So with these answers in mind I began to look for roles in digital marketing and social media. I knew this career shift (having previously worked in school administration) could be risky but I was in the fortunate position to be living at home and not having to pay rent at 25. This meant that I could take the time I needed to find the perfect role for me in this field that I really wanted to get into.

The ironic thing is that I didn’t really need that time.

After returning to Toronto on January 2nd my life was an absolute whirlwind. Although “tsunami” may be a more appropriate metaphor in this case.

On the first day I felt I had the wherewithal to face the job search after arriving in Toronto I dove in head first and applied for the first job that suited what I had in mind. The next day I had an interview. Two more rounds of interview questions followed and then, by Friday, I was employed at Splash Effect as a Community Manager.

It took less than a week to land my dream job.

My first four months at Splash Effect have been amazing. Firstly, the team is one of the most passionate and enthusiastic group of people I have ever met. They truly believe in what they have set out to do and they have clear goals in place and plans to get them where they need to be. It is going to be an exciting year for Splash (it has already been a thrilling first quarter!) and I am so inspired and excited to be a part of it.

I am also thrilled to be a part of a small, curated team within the startup community. All ideas have a place here and the linear structure of the team made it very easy to integrate and learn. Startup culture and the flexible style of work is certainly an adjustment from the standard 9–5, but I feel it works with my working style. I kind of feel like I am back in my uni days but getting paid for it. The dream, man, it’s the dream!

I have learned a lot since the start of 2015. Not only have I learned more every day since I began working with Splash Effect, but I also learned that approaching change with intent and a positive outlook — even if that change brings the unknown — will give you the results you want to see. Change doesn’t have to be scary and nor is it the end of the world. Embrace it. You never know where you’ll end up.

This post has been adapted for Medium from an original blog post on tartanandthyme.com.