How to energize your work experience
My first performance review at Amazon stuck with me because it was in that otherwise uninspired, meeting that something clicked.
After mostly positive comments, my manager tried to give me some recommendations about how to improve, he just couldn’t quite find the right words. He seemed to think something was missing – I asked if it would help if I were quicker to respond to questions or more communicative about the progress of my project. He knew that that wasn’t the issue but didn’t really know how to articulate what he had sensed. I knew. It was that I didn’t care. I also knew that was a huge problem. All the successful women I know understand that it will take a huge amount of work to do great things with their career.
But in order to put in all the work that is required, that energy you bring to work needs to give you energy in return. It needs to become a virtuous cycle. If you are building yourself up for work each day and depleted by the end, you may be on the path to ruin.
That’s where I was at in that performance review – wondering how long I could bring energy to a job that gave me little in return. Fast forward a few years and I find myself on the other extreme. As the founder and CEO of Everly, I absolutely love what I am doing. Yes, the work is harder and scarier and more demanding but it gives me energy. While I have had many late work nights in my career, it wasn’t until I started working on Everly that I resented the fact that my body required sleep (because I would rather stay up working) rather than resented the fact that I was up working.
I am the Founder and CEO of Everly, an online wedding planning service offering couples the most efficient and least expensive way to plan their wedding. Prior to founding Everly, I spent years in the tech industry learning to build products customers love. I have a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Loyola Marymount University and an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. Outside of work I am active in the Seattle startup community and volunteer with the Junior League of Seattle and the YMCA.
Juliet Horton is the Founder and CEO of Everly, an online wedding planning service offering couples the most efficient and least expensive way to plan their wedding. Prior to founding Everly, she spent years in the tech industry learning to build products customers love. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Loyola Marymount University and an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. Outside of work, she is active in the Seattle startup community and volunteer with the Junior League of Seattle and the YMCA.
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