New Year, New Goals

As I was closing out one of my last posts of 2017 I mentioned that work has brought some challenges and uncertainty, that I would get into it another time. Well, the time to share is now. The short of it is that I’m not working. The Starcom Riyadh regrettably office lost its’ primary client. The GM had to make some tough decisions to reorganize staff in Riyadh and Jeddah offices and, for now, they can’t afford to keep me on.

Yes, I’m bummed. I really enjoyed working with this group of people and learning so much the last five months. It was truly a unique experience and I’m so grateful I was able to do it. I’m not worried though. Things ALWAYS have a way of working out. I’ve contacted some people who are looking out for me. Who knows? We may win a new client any day now and I may get called back into the office. In the meantime, I'm continuing to get comfortable in "unknown" and doing what's my control. The silver lining is that I’m home with The Gents. There is nothing negative about any of this!

Our nanny went back to the Philippines for the month to be with her father as he just had eye surgery. We have someone who comes during the day, but definitely not a live-in. I will admit, I’ve gotten a little spoiled having a live-in nanny. I’ve had someone to get up with C&R in the morning while i get ready, I can come and go as I need for work or class, I workout with J in the evenings, we can go out for dinner or hang out with friends sans children, etc. It’s idyllic. Most parents should be so fortunate. Being here, during the week, to get up with C&R and put them to bed is a dynamic I haven’t had since we were in Virginia…and they were much younger then! I’m exhausted. On the upside, I’m getting to connect with them more during the day than I’ve been able to in quite some time. It’s awesome.

So what am I going to do with all of this free time on my hands, now that I'm not going into the office? I’m still going to treat it like I’m going to work, rather now I’m just walking upstairs to my home office. I’ve got some things planned for this time and I’m adding a couple new goals to the mix…

I’m continuing my Arabic studies. I’ve gotten through the beginners and alphabet courses, so now on to intermediary which already started this month.

I started practicing yoga at home. I’ve been taking a class at the Embassy once a week since September. Have I mentioned I can do a head stand now?! It’s amazing what one hour of yoga a week can do and my goal is do two to three hours on my own. This is in addition to my regular HIIT workouts. I have to do these on my own during the day, for the month, because I’m on C&R duty in the evenings.

What I’m going to be adding is mindfulness meditation. I try to practice being mindful in general, all day every day, bit mindfulness meditation is entirely different. It's something I tried starting years ago but just didn’t make it stick. I’m terrible at it. My mind is constantly racing. I can barely pray without distracting myself. This is going to be a challenge for me! A dear friend started a little practice though so she’s my inspiration to get going again.

Since we’ve opted not to put the Gents in school yet and they’re turning two in a month (!) it’s time to start thinking about what more we can be providing for them at home, to get a little more of structure and curriculum that they would be getting at a nursery or Montessori school. I guess I’m going to be one of those homeschooling parents. I know nothing about education so this should be interesting.

And last, but not least, I’m putting a lot of thought into MSTB – what this blog is and what I’m doing with it. Originally it was just a way to stay connected with family and friends, to keep people in the know of our life in Riyadh. It quickly became more than just that because it evolved into my personal therapeutic tool. One of my cheerleader friends gave me a really complementary pep talk recently, informing me of my creativity, gift of writing, and how MSTB can inspire other women and mothers. REALLY?! I have no idea what any of that could be, but I’m going to push myself to hone in on that and pray something good comes from the process! Wish me luck.

So that’s about it. Cheers to getting 2018 started. If I’ve learned anything it’s that I can only grow when I’m pushing myself outside of my comfort zone. I hope you’re all as excited and pushing yourselves to do something new and scary, too! xo

Inspiration When Least Expected

A couple weeks ago one of the guys on my team approached me about attending a tech conference here in Riyadh. I’m not the biggest fan of conferences because it often ends up being a bunch of publishers and individuals just trying to sell themselves. Plus, it’s forced interaction when I’d usually rather be introverted. But since I’m a visitor here I didn’t want to seem ungrateful so I graciously accepted the invite. And I’m so glad I did. There were some good panels and speakers that I did learn from, but the discussions and one-on-one chats I had are the most memorable. The extraordinary women I met made it two of the most interesting days I’ve spent in Riyadh. 

I arrived at the conference on my own. The guys were stuck in client meetings and would arrive later. I wasn’t really sure what to expect. How conservative or progressive this would be? Would I have to use my Arabic? After I found the right area of the hotel (all of the signs were in Arabic, naturally), got checked in, and walked the floor, I decided I’d duck into one of the rooms to listen to a panel.  It was then when I saw a distinct cultural difference that I wouldn’t have experienced back home - the conference rooms had partitions, separating the men from the women. I know, it seems bizarre to you!

The first session I attended was in Arab-ish (Arabic and English). Fortunately Princess Reema bint Bandar Al-Saud spoke mostly in English so I could somewhat pick up on what they’re talking about – discussing the dominance of males in business in KSA. You may remember Princess Reema from one of my early posts. She’s a huge womens' advocate in KSA. Her presence was serendipitous and set the tone for my experience at this conference.

The skew towards addressing the men was so noticeable that a female Marketing Manager at IBM, heading up Watson customer engagement in the ME, made a point to say that she was going to stand on the women’s side of the room so that we could actually see her. The gentleman who spoke before her never crossed the partition. In his defense, he's French and was probably concerned about getting in trouble. I liked her sass though and I made a point of asking a question during Q&A so she had some female support. We ended up chatting after her session, which led to an introduction with Lara who is the only woman running a media agency in KSA. Amazing! We bonded over being mamas and our Chicago connections. As I knew no other women there, she was kind enough to join me for lunch. Yes, even lunch was segregated. I know, these are hard concepts for you all grasp.

Over the two days I would meet Tuba who is a self-made business woman and entrepreneur who went through two tumultuous marriages, fought for her children and her career before finding true love with her current husband. She now fights for women’s rights and is changing legislation in KSA. I also met Julia who heads up the center for middle eastern studies at Cal Berkeley. Reem who is Egyptian and emigrated to the US when she was five but returned to Egypt to pursue her journalism career and just in time to cover the revolution back in 2011. She’s now the managing editor of a business news site. And I actually met two Saudi women working for Aramco, engineers by education, but now focused on Aramco’s business incubator and scouting out new technology to invest in. There was an un-communicated solidarity among the women. They have worked hard to become educated, to break into their respective fields, and compete with men who are often less educated and less experienced.

Even though I didn’t really want to attend, I’m grateful I went to this conference. I’m grateful I pushed myself out of my comfort zone to engage with these accomplished and inspiring women that I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to meet otherwise. It’s situations like this that will make one think “What have I been doing with my life? Am I making the most of my talents? What can I be doing differently? Wait, I can do this!” I needed this inspirational kick-in-the-bum. The last month has brought some career challenges and stressful uncertainty, which I will share another time. As 2017 comes to a close I’ve been giving a lot of thought to things – family, work, my well-being, this blog – and change is most certainly coming. What exactly I’m not entirely sure, but you know I’ll be sharing it with you as I figure it out. The unknown is scary, but if I've learned anything from all of my challenges - and now these women - is that I can take it on. Here's to everyone finding some inspiration to kick-off the new year! Cheers!! xo

The Path That Led Here

In my career I’ve been fortunate enough to work with a number of global brands that have given me the opportunity to learn about advertising and marketing in other parts of the world and exposure to places I might never visit. In May 2013, I worked on a new business pitch for Chanel that took me to Paris. It was crazy and stressful, but I always look back on it fondly. I made connections with senior leadership in our company that I never would have otherwise and was able to be part of the pitch presentation team. What a career confidence building experience! Unfortunately we didn’t win the business, but had we won I would have moved to Paris to work on the global team. Amazing, right?

Funny thing is at that point in my life I had no desire to live abroad again. I had already lived in London and came back to really fall in love with Chicago. I was able to get home to Michigan to see family frequently, I had a great group of friends/support system, a nice disposable income to do what I pleased, and I enjoyed the work I was doing. The only thing missing in my life was someone to share it with.

Admittedly, I was kind of relieved when we didn’t win. I wouldn’t have to grapple with a decision and feel like I was sacrificing myself for the company or feel guilty that I was giving up a once in a lifetime opportunity. In my mind, I wouldn’t have the time or the opportunity to meet anyone if I was bouncing around the globe and working ridiculous hours on a new piece of business. I wanted to stay put in Chicago and see who might come my way.

Soon after the loss my boss came to me with a potential opportunity to move to Buenos Aries. I didn’t tell him no, as I knew it was a long shot since my Spanish isn’t good enough to be leading a client team in-country. And when he came to me again a week later with an another opportunity to move to Dubai I just flat out told him, as much as I appreciated I being considered, to please stop mentioning my name for these positions. He was surprised, knowing my love of working on global accounts. He thought this would make up for us not winning Chanel. Only once before this conversation had I ever opened up to a superior, but I felt I owed it to him to be honest about what I wanted in my career and personal life. He completely understood. To this day he is still one of my favorite bosses.

And then few days later that June I ran the life changing Ragnar Relay where I met J. Weeks after we started dating in July he got his offer with the State Department and then moved to Virginia in September. Surely his career would require that he work at a US Embassy somewhere else in the world and I knew I would make that journey with him. Naturally, the universe was pulling me out the US, again. Knowing he was just starting this new career, I let him take the lead on where. My only stipulation was, and still is, that there be a Starcom or Publicis office at any potential post location so I can continue working. We'll see what options we have for our next post. :) 

I do believe we all have a path, but we can alter the path with our action or inaction. I also believe with faith, open-mindedness, getting outside of our comfort-zone, and positivity that greater opportunities will present themselves on our path. So many events happened in my life before I met J that prepared me for where I currently am and for that path I'm grateful. 

And so begins my gratitude journal...