Our Blog: where do you stand?

How I Started Standing: Part One

By: Marijean Jaggers | 12/06/2007

It was the summer of 2005 and I was working as the director of marketing for a small consulting firm. In addition, I was authoring Shop Talk, a blog about shopping for STLToday. It became clear that there was change underfoot at my firm and days before I was told I was to be laid off, I engaged in an e-mail conversation with my friends at Standing Partnership. I call them "friends" even though we'd never met; never spoken.

At the time, there were three people I knew by name at Standing. They e-mailed me regularly with updates regarding their client, a local shopping mall. They posted comments on the Shop Talk blog. I knew I could contact them with questions and in fact, had let them know when I'd mentioned their client in a post.

So when it appeared I would need to find a new job, I thought about where I'd like to work. I knew, from past experience at not-so-great places, that I wanted to work at a "great place to work." I also decided I was ready to return to agency work, after many years on the corporate side. Standing's reputation preceded the firm and my interactions with team members confirmed it; they were professional, friendly and engaging. I secretly thought of the group as the "dream team" of PR professionals and wondered what it would be like to join them.

I e-mailed one of my key contacts from the firm and said, "You know how you're always pitching me for the blog? Well, today I'm pitching you." The tables were turned and I reached out to receive a warm response. An interview quickly followed and by Sept. 1, 2005, I joined the "dream team."

I'm living proof: networking works and relationships, even only online, are important. Never be afraid to seek your dream and if you believe you deserve to work at a place that knows how to treat employees well, then go find one. Life is too short to be undervalued or unhappy at work.

Posted in Culture, How I Started Standing