The above picture is the present I got from my new boss that I totally was not expecting! I have only been working there for two weeks so the fact that she got me anything was unexpected.

It’s a hard holiday season jumping from coach to floor to car to whatever I can take until I can get an apartment that will accept my credit score is a lot! But right at that moment I felt like I belonged to something. Like it was all coming together.

If you are a recent graduate you may be working at your first career building job and doing what feels a lot like Andie in the first few weeks at Runway magazine. I know I am. Sitting at that table with all those women showed me just how much I still have to grow and for that I am excited. There is a place for me to mature and be able to properly check my progress.

I love the fact that my employer is my dream job and that from there I am able to learn and grow in one place without having to jump all around from company to company to figure out where I want my career path to lead.

And with that I am going to make my best effort to no longer use the word “job” and start using the word “career” there is a big difference and I think that we should start treating them as such.

A “job” pays your bills is a day to day and gets you buy. A “career” builds and grows, it fills a purpose in your life and even when you are tired you love being there because of what it gives you. In a career I believe that as your bank account grows you grow as a person as well, you learn and expand.

There is no one occupation that is a “job” vs being a “career” YOU are what determines the difference. For example “Sale Associate” for me it was a job. It was a petty cat-fight of mundane and lack of a challenge “how did those fit you” type of labor. However for those who want to be store manager or a buyer working as a Sales Associate could see that as a great way to learn product knowledge and selling techniques to relate the customers and improve sell through for their company’s product and then move to manager and then buyer one day – they can grow and expand as their company does and they are forever learning!

So presently this Christmas what are you dong Travelers? Are you working just to get by? Do you have a “job”? That’s okay! We need jobs! Or do are you in your “career” even if in the beginning stages. No matter what it is know that it is YOU who makes the difference between the two. And if you are in the very beginning of your career it’s okay to feel a little insecure about what you are doing and it’s okay to get it wrong, that means you are growing. New mistakes = learning.

I will do another post on this later but for now take that and travel with it!

Happy Travels!

"One Step Forward, Just Glance Back. No Fear, Just DIVA!"