My Flexible Work Schedule Was Accidentally Accommodating

This is my old headshot. Do I look like a productive employee? [Image description: A head shot of Brianne in a black top in front of a brick wall.]

My first job was accommodating by accident. I didn’t know that I needed accommodations, and my boss didn’t know he was offering them.

Let me back up a little. My name is Brianne, and I spent about 20 years of my life managing an unidentified chronic illness. I had low and inconsistent energy levels as a kid, I was completely knocked out by mono in high school, and I was physically incapable of pulling all nighters during college and grad school. All of this sounds pretty manageable, right? It was. In fact, it was so manageable that I didn’t even realize I was sick.

After grad school I got a job as the first employee at a digital marketing startup. I brought my own laptop to work at a coworking space each day and constantly switched between customer service, basic web development, and design.

At that point in my life, I woke up in pain if I didn’t get at least eight hours of sleep. The lymph nodes in my neck would swell and throb, and it was incredibly uncomfortable to sit with my head unsupported.

The thing about most chairs is that they don’t support your head. And the thing about most jobs is that you are expected to arrive at a certain time no matter how much you slept the night before.