Announcement & Thank You

Dear Today's Working Woman Fans and Friends,

I would like to take this opportunity to say a big thank you for all of your support since I started this journey into the unknown world of writing. When I lost my foothold on a full-time position and transitioned into part-time, I felt a complete loss of my identity and self-worth. It was a very dark time in my life and my self-esteem was at an all time low. I honestly didn't think I had anything else left to offer anyone.

Then, I found an outlet thru writing. I picked up a small gig with Examiner.com and started to put my years of observations to paper. One article led to another and then another. I didn't make a lot of money in the beginning, and to be honest, I still don't, but it was never really about the money to me. What I wanted was to step out from the shadows, from behind the people that I had been a support system to all these years and be heard. I wanted others to hear my voice and not someone else's voice written in my style. I wanted to share my thoughts on a variety of topics. After being "behind the scenes" for most of my life, I was finally ready to have others listen to me and pay attention to what I had to say.

It took awhile to get things going, over a year in fact, and I knew that at some point I was going to need to get back to working a full-time job, in addition to keeping up with the writing. I've written about this part of the journey before, so I am not going into too many details now, but suffice it to say, I took a job that was well outside my comfort zone. While the money was much better, I spent the first three months being very angry for what I had lost: half my life gone, the years of sacrifices I made, the empty promises, the broken dreams, the failed attempts at motherhood and forgotten friendships. I'm surprised my boss even hired me after I completed the temp-to-hire period considering how many mistakes I made.

But she did. She must have seen something there...some spark of hope that I would be what she wanted for that position. Whatever it was that she saw I certainly did not, but I am forever thankful to her for giving me a chance to prove that I really had something to offer. The sixteen months have been a roller coaster ride for me. My duties and responsibilities have changed multiple times because they figured out what I am really good at and what I enjoy - writing and research.

So here's my big news:

It was announced today that I received a promotion to Recruiter for my company.

Yeah!!!!!! 

I've actually known about this for a few days, but I could not say anything until today. It was an opportunity that was presented to me awhile ago and thru coaching and mentoring from my boss, I really feel that this is a great path for me to be on as I've done just about everything else administratively. This position will allow me to continue doing what I enjoy as well as develop my growing skill of being able to read people and figuring out if they will be a good fit. I think this comes from my years of being on the outside and just observing others. I've taught myself to see things in others that most people would miss and this is a very handy tool in the recruiting world. I am very excited about this opportunity and to see where I can take it.

In the meantime, my writing career continues to move forward. I am now writing travel and outdoor articles for my local San Francisco affiliate - CBS 5. My work can be see here. Only two articles have been posted so far, but I have several more in the hopper that will be online soon. I continue to write for the examiner.com, see my articles here. I can't believe I have written over 70 columns since I started that gig. I'm still writing, but infrequently over at Yahoo! Voices.

For my new fans and subscribers, this site is my main blog, but I also have two other blogs that I write at: my food blog (desperately need to update that one because I have tons of stuff to share) and my other site over at Blogher.com. BTW...I am now a member of the Blogher Visionaries Panel - totally excited about that! It's similar to what I used to do over at Coastal Living Magazine and their Viewfinders group. Both of these sites personally asked me to participate, so I feel pretty special and my self esteem is definitely on the rise. And I am Editorial Director for Proverbs & Wisdom's "In The Light" magazine as well as a contributing writer for their website. And there are a few other opportunities lying in the shadows, but I am not ready to discuss them now.

So yeah, it looks like I am really busy, but the truth is, not really. I pick and choose what I work on and contribute when I can to all the above and to the writing groups in which I participate. I find time to play and hang out with my husband and feel pretty fulfilled. I have wonderful writing friends who I have met online thru Facebook and I have some really close friends from college. For those forgotten friends/co-workers from past jobs...well...I am sad that I no longer communicate with many of them, but I will be forever grateful for the time spent with them. Those relationships helped lead me to where I am today and for that I am truely thankful.

Tonight, I am a pretty lucky girl. Thankful to all of those people who have helped to shape my career and taught me some very tough, but valuable lessons. I still have a lot more words inside of me and look forward to putting them down on paper. I hope that you will continue to follow me and bring others along for the journey.

With deepest thanks,

P.S. Look for another post from me soon that will give details on the "how would you like to win something free" post I made on Facebook about a week ago.

***I have written this piece for a group on Facebook that I have joined, BFF Blogging For Fun. This week's challenge is #188 Thank You. Interested in more...click on the picture below to take you there.

Liked anything you see here? Then contact me, Susan Dusterhoft at todaysworkingwoman@hotmail.com. I am always looking for more books/products to review. I can also provide assistance with blog writing!