Everything I’ve Learned Since Starting My New Job

If I had to share my two most-asked career-related questions, they’d most certainly be:

How did you get into freelancing and what are your tips?
How did you find transitioning to freelance, and then back to full-time?

They’re valid questions, and two that I am always happy to answer. My career has always been something I’m both proud and conscious of, and I think a large part of my blog has been rooted in writing about life for women in work. From my earliest intern diaries days to self-publishing an eBook about freelancing, my career experiences only continue to grow. (Ah, capitalism…)

There are many reasons that I decided to pause self-employment, but I’ll get into those at a later time. I’ve been ‘back’ in full-time positions since 2022 and it’s been a mostly positive era for me. And, of course, last year I actually made the decision to leave my dream job for a new one – the role I’m currently in. Here’s everything that I’ve learned since starting my new job.

A work-life balance is possible

Readers with a great memory might remember that, in my last role, I’d leave home at 7.20am and return from my office days at 8.30/9pm, due to incredibly long work days. (I finished at 6.30pm.) As such, my work-life balance was nearly non-existent and that was one of the reasons I ultimately sought a new role. Surrounded by brilliant-minded, hard-working people, I’d push down the thoughts that I simply wasn’t living around work. We were just so lucky to be working our dream jobs after all, right?

In my new job, I work normal 9-5 hours and I couldn’t be grateful. In hindsight, the fashion industry is a different beast and wasn’t ideal for me in my thirties, as much as I loved working in fashion full-time broadly throughout my twenties! These days, I enjoy a fully flexible and hybrid working week and I have a 15-minute driving commute, and my life looks and feels so different. I’m not experiencing a monthly burnout, I can keep to a regular workout routine, and I have time for activities that aren’t a) reading three books a week on trains, or b) eating breakfast and dinner on trains. I can hardly believe that I can enjoy mornings and evenings again. And, if I’m honest, all the hours in between! I even look forward to my in-office days so my team and I can catch up, be silly together and take lunch all as a big squad.

You don’t have to work in flight-or-fight mode

For over a year, I worked in a chaotic environment where everybody operated in a toxic flight-or-fight mode. There were no fixed plans, a marketing calendar that changed from one minute to the other, and no accountability from, well, anybody. Meetings would be cancelled a minute after they were due to start, I’d watch on as colleagues dreaded the next day… Naturally, that affected the way I worked. Of course there is some sense in working to tight and ridiculous deadlines, but I was beginning to lose my sense of (working) self.

Now, I’m thriving in an engaged and supportive workplace where I pretty much always feel that I can work to the best of ability and take breaks whenever I need to. Leaving fashion has been such a breath of fresh air!

Learning is ongoing

One of my biggest fears is stagnation. In hindsight, I think that’s a big reason behind the fact that I am always trying my hand at new things, threw myself into a freelance career stint, and why I’m not one to shy away from heading off to a new role when I see fit. In my new job, I feel guided and supported to learn and develop in my role, but also encouraged and empowered to be able to flourish within the company. I feel as though I’ve found a company that values me as both an employee and a human. Who would’ve thought?

Breaks are important

What I love the most about my current workplace is how much emphasis they put on the elusive work-life balance. From coffee breaks to strolls around campus, we’re all pretty on it when it comes to taking a proper break from the screens and work. Our team even run regular monthly stepathon challenges to encourage us all to move more throughout the day. Physical and mental wellbeing supports everything else, when it comes to us!