Are work anniversaries really a thing? LinkedIn seems to think so, if the volume of email announcing them is to be believed. But as I’m facing a work anniversary of my own, permit me a moment of self-reflection.
Two years ago, I got an email from a friend asking my help on a project and to come work for him at RP3 Agency. (I know it was May 29 because I still have that email; Gmail, natch.) Even though I had just started a new contract at an agency I had been trying to work at for a year, I knew I couldn’t refuse. The awkwardness of leaving a new job notwithstanding, it was never really in doubt; I called him the next day and told him I was on board. As the saying goes, he had me at “Hey Tracy.”
And it was easily one of the best decisions I have ever made in my professional life.
In that time, I’ve worked on some pretty awesome projects, large and small. We’ve had crazy deadlines, crazier clients, and absolutely insane days. But through it all, it has been a total blast. The late night Addy’s after parties have been pretty cool, too!
Also since starting at RP3, I’ve stepped up my profile on the WordCamp speaking circuit, gotten a gig writing blog posts for Treehouse, and even appeared on Shop Talk Show. Maybe these things aren’t directly related, but I certainly credit RP3 for the opportunity and confidence to achieve more in the web development community over the past two years than I had in my previous fifteen.
While for me, two years has often been the point at which I’m facing a change in my job situation (either through layoffs, or a big, cross-country shift in venue), I’m hoping that I’m still more towards the beginning of my RP3 tenure than the end. I really feel like as a team, we’re doing great things here, and the potential for the future is only bigger and better. This is certainly the best team I’ve ever worked with in a very, very long time, and the people I’m working with have not only become close friends, but a second family.
While the past two years has had its challenges in my personal life, and undoubtedly there will be more highs and lows in the future, I’ve been able to count on the friends I’ve made at RP3 to help me get through it all.
Someone I follow on Twitter recently posted on the choice between working for a great company or a great boss, “Pick a great company with a great boss. If the choice is polar, pick the great company IF there’s mobility.” I’m very fortunate to have both — and great coworkers all around — and that’s certainly an anniversary worth celebrating.