But Only the Beginning.
In December, 2019, I officially retired from my Communications Director position at Meridian Township. It has been three months and before I announce what I will be doing next, I wanted to share my decision on leaving.
This was a very hard decision, one that was not only hard on me, but hard on my workmates as well. This is why friends, colleagues, and family joined me during my Tribute Farewell Ceremony, to say goodbye. I could not have had an amazing 22-year career at Meridian Township without all of the fabulous people I worked with and especially my team at Meridian. They were my work family. We spent a lot of time together and I truly miss each of them.
Taking a leap of faith into the next phase of your career is certainly not one that a person makes half-heartedly, especially when you may be a person like me, who absolutely loves what you do; loves the people you work with and loves everything that goes along with it. I gave this decision a lot of thought and careful consideration. HOMTV Executive Producer Brandie Yates stated; “I never thought I’d see the day.”
Me neither actually. I hadn’t seen myself being at Meridian for 22 years either but then again, hadn’t seen myself emptying out my office either.
Ongoing legislative decisions at the federal and state level continue to reduce funding the PEG industry receives from the cable industry and will continue to do so into the future. As more people ‘cut the cord’, this also reduces funding. Knowing how much the Communications budget has been declining due to this, I knew something had to be done. I knew cuts would come by way of staff and I knew it was either going to be me or two other people. The last thing I wanted was for anyone in my department to be cut. So I worked with my team to restructure the department during my last five months; effectively dissolving my position into four other positions and creating four internal promotions.
Along with future endeavors I wished to pursue, my decision was a choice I wanted to make and looked forward to pursuing.
Being the Communications Director for Meridian Township was an absolute honor. Developing long lasting relationships both personally and professionally along the way was more rewarding than I could ever have dreamed.
My last day as Communications Director was December 31, 2019. I tried my best to reach out personally to people I worked with over the years and let them know of my departure from the township. As an ambassador of all things communications I felt the last thing I wanted was for anyone to find out through Facebook or some other way. But working in this industry for 22 years, the world doesn’t have enough coffee or coffee shops to meet with everyone individually. If I’ve missed you, I apologize. If you read this message and want to hit me up for coffee, I would be delighted.
While it was hard to do, I cannot go to where I want to go without walking away from what I was doing. To sum up my time at Meridian Township; Winnie the Pooh said it best in the following quotes;
“We dint realize we were making memories, we just knew we were having fun… “How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.”
“I always get to where I’m going by walking away from where I have been.”
To my Meridian team:
“Promise me you’ll always remember: You are braver than you believe and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.”
My entire family went to Disney World and celebrated. This is my mom with Winnie the Pooh. I love her smile and how amazing she is. I thank everyone for celebrating with me, supporting me and I cannot wait to announce the next chapter. Until then... thank you.