Hey, friends.
Great news. It would seem that I'm forming a solid summertime habit of finding an outdoor patio, ordering a glass of wine, and spending happy hour writing this email. Ah, the sweet joy that is life-in-balance.
And speaking of this annual change in weather, we've made it halfway through the year. So I figure, now's a good time to catch you up (in listicle form) about what's going on in my day-to-day universe as of late.
(1) My German visa is up in a couple of weeks, so I've self-grounded myself in Berlin for the summer while I do all the renewal paperwork.
And it's actually kind of a relief to know I'll be here for the next several weeks. I find that true contentment comes from getting to go grocery shopping twice in a row.
(2) I've taken on a big new client for the summer! I'm buried deep inside the UX team of a big e-commerce brand, which is a super fun project for me. I also get to go into a real office--which may not seem like a big deal, but it is. I can actually go months at a time without seeing my clients face-to-face (#laptoplyfe), so this is a nice change of pace for me.
Also, if you aren't quite sure what UX is, it's a great career path for creative thinkers. It mostly has to do with making websites make sense. Career Foundry (online) and Startup Institute (in-person) both offer excellent educational programs for becoming a UX designer.
(3) My very favorite event of the season is coming up next week. It's called Tech Open Air and it's like, the joy and street food of a music festival jumbled up with the intense conversational tendencies of entrepreneurs and engineers and artists and academics.
And, score, I'm hosting a fun #entrylevelboss workshop as part of the conference. But it's not what you think. In fact, I'm stop-flip-reversing my usual rant, and spending my morning yelling at potential employers instead.
Oh, yes, that's right. I'm doing my best to train all you fools up, meaning it's only right that I also go chase down the hiring managers lucky enough to interview you and drop a little knowledge there, too.
(4) We are starting a new interview series for #entrylevelboss! It's called:
HEY! HOW'D YOU GET THAT JOB?
As always, I'm cutting out the noise and tracking down some real answers for you. "Perseverance" is not good enough career advice. I want to know who you emailed, who called you, how you stood out.
You'll be able to find Hey! How'd you get that job? interviews in the regular weekly emails (like this one) very soon.
(5) I continue to have big goals for bringing #entrylevelboss education to the masses. I'll be announcing enrollment for The #entrylevelboss Academy at the end of this month. I'm writing a book. The podcast is continuing--and we want your questions, so send them in!
(6) Oh yeah, and of course: music things, too. I've been writing some songs. I intend to bring them to life sometime before the end of this year. And, as always, I'll tell you all about it along the way.
And that's it as far as current highlights go. Sending you all some major high-fives and inner-peace vibes for the rest of this week. Stay golden.
Big love,
Alexa
PS: We got a really good question for this week's podcast episode, which just came out yesterday. Listen to Episode 12: Regarding Career Confidence and tell me what you think.