Today, Friday, March 3, is my last day at Gard. My Inbox is at zero (!), which has only ever happened once in the four-plus years I’ve been here. My client work has all been passed on to other folks. I filled out my last time sheet. And I successfully pranked Scott Gallagher one last time.
It’s time to be reflective before I cut out early on a wet and cold Friday afternoon. So, here are five things I learned from working at Gard:
- As a PR professional, there is no better way to learn many things very quickly than to work at an agency.
- You never know which clients you’re going to enjoy working with, but it usually comes down to the people and not the topic.
- People surprise you. Or at least they often surprise me. Maybe that means I’m not a good judge of character on first encounter, or maybe that means you really can’t judge a book by its cover. Either way, those surprises kept my days at Gard interesting and (usually) fulfilling.
- Teamwork is valuable. And at Gard, it is valued. I always appreciated that.
- It’s a gift to leave a job the way I’ve been able to leave this one. Everyone has been supportive but also sad (thank you) about my departure. I am also sad. But I am grateful for my time here, for all that I’ve learned, for the relationships, and to end on a high note.
- #PRetzels forever. This is not necessarily a lesson – unless loyalty, good humor and camaraderie are lessons. Maybe they are.
When I came here, I said I joined because I wanted to work with a team, I wanted to work on big projects with real impact, and I wanted to work at a place where female leadership was valued. This remains true for me, and Gard followed through on all of these promises.
Thank you all!