I was meant to be with the Apartment folks! As you may know, I worked with the Apartment Association while we lived in Memphis and loved it. I learned so much about running an association and the multifamily industry during that time. When we moved back, we moved less than four miles from the Atlanta Apartment Association, but unfortunately, it is an AMAZING place to work so NO one ever quits! Now in late March, it became evident I was going to have to quit my job with another association for the sake of me (IE: my family). Also at that time, AAA was finalizing plans to add a new position to their staff, something that hadn’t been done in nearly 15 years. Meanwhile, I was diving in to round FOUR of interviewing with a nonprofit for a fundraising position.
My dear friend and mentor Russ, who is VP of AAA, sent me the job description just for kicks knowing that I was completely overqualified. However, he had fielded multiple phone calls from me in tears over the past few months as I wonder what in the hell I’d gotten myself in to with the CRAZY ASSOCIATION. Not only was the AAA position going to back me way up in my career, it was also part time. But I asked for an opportunity to interview anyway sure that something had to work out. I interviewed and received the best offer they could make given the nature of the work and it include a full and part time option.
I almost didn’t take it and was going to opt for the fundraising position, but David gently reminded me I’ve wanted to work for AAA for the past five years, and I did make sure that the house we purchased was close enough to the AAA office so I could come home for lunch if I ever worked there. And so as you know now, I’ve been with AAA for a few weeks and love it. They are easily one of the top trade associations in the country yet no one there is stressed out. I have a boss who encourages me to grow, supports and guides me when I make mistakes, and most importantly would come in the middle of the night if our family ever needed anything. The best thing is I get to give DM breakfast every morning and when she finally grows enough hair to get her hair “fixed” in the morning, David won’t have to attach what is sure to be a curly mess alone!
DM will still get to grow up knowing it is okay for a woman to have a career, and it is even okay to take a step back in that career to balance being a mom with work. And I can say I think I finally truly understand that while I know my mother could have had more than one "powerful" positions in her career, she opted for a little less.
