Changes they can be good for you!

Today is a bit of a rambler… I apologize if I bore you I just am feeling grateful and wanted to share. *grin*

So Last May I lost my job at WizKids games. I am not going to go into the how or why but I will say it was a very beneficial situation for me. LOL For those of you out there that do not know much about WK (not many but a few) here is a little background. I became involved in their games about 8 months into the companies existence. I fell in love with their fantasy based table top game. It was fun and new and it was helping me get out and meet new people. I had formerly played Magic the Gathering and really had come to enjoy the friendly atmosphere at my local venues. I began to disagree with some of the companies decisions and so I quit playing MtG and not long after picked up Mage Knight from WizKids. Now don’t bother going out and googling the game because the brilliant folks at WK killed it and it is buried (or should be).

So after going to conventions and getting to know some of the staff and also seeing the atrocious state of their Customer Service and Envoy (Volunteer) program I knew I could help (or at least try). I packed up and moved from Orlando, Florida to Seattle, Washington in hopes of landing a job with them. I knew it wouldn’t be all fun and games but I thought it would be a different atmosphere from the Title Insurance Company I was working with. I got the call that I had a job about a month before I had planned to move. Since I had already given notice at my job and my landlord it was increasingly easy for me to move the date forward and I moved out here with 12 days notice.

Upon arrival I started my job and really liked it. I was traveling about 12 weeks a year which I loved and I really enjoyed working with the volunteers, many of which I had become friends with over the years of being a volunteer for the company. Some of the people I would call my best friends today are people I met though volunteering or working with the company. Sadly though after 9 months of being at WK the management decided to totally shift the way the business worked and in essence, for a few months, dissolved my position. I foresaw this happening and snatched up a reception position as soon as it became available. When I was working in the envoy program I would say I was a bit overworked. The weeks I traveled I averaged about 70-80 hours of work, on the weeks I didn’t travel I worked a minimum of 55 to 60. I was on salary so the money coming in really did not cover the work I was putting out. When I transferred to the reception position and started working hourly at 40 hours a week and getting paid the same as I was being paid for 70… I began to realize how little the position agreed with me. Also in the process of traveling and pushing my body to extremes by not eating properly I became borderline diabetic. So when the position in the volunteer group became active again I realized I had to choose my job or my health. I chose my health. In the beginning of last year the company was put up for purchase and 34% of the office was laid off. After 2.5 years in a reception position that totally wasted my talents I finally surrendered and as I mentioned early I left. (Personal thank you to all involved.)

Upon leaving I was very conflicted. Should I attempt to get a job with another game company? Well seeing the industry decreasing with every breath I decided not to. After I took a few months off, to enjoy the summer in Seattle and just sleep, I looked for a new job. I found the one here at Allen Brackett Shedd (Real Estate Appraisers, mostly commercial and government properties) and I couldn’t be happier. I adore several of my coworkers and the ones I don’t I can tolerate without hassle. We are a company of 18 people of which I would say 10 have been with the company more then a decade. The company is about 30 years old and doesn’t show any signs of wear. Heck for Christmas last year I got the biggest bonus I have ever received, not to mention after meeting with me and seeing my experience level they hired me on for MORE money then I had asked for. *grin* The company really appreciates its employees and for me that is a very pleasant change. In the past I have had bosses that at times appreciated me but not really whole companies. I had my 6 month review not to long ago and it was fantastic. It really is nice to have people appreciate the hard work you do.

So I am rambling now and I will get to the point. Today I got news that WizKids laid off 9 more employees last week. Sometimes it takes things like that to remind you just how lucky you are. If any of you out there are people that were laid off, you have my congratulations and if you want it my sympathy. I personally think it is more of congratulations though. Good luck in your futures and I hope you find a new company to work with, one that I know will appreciate you more then WizKids could begin to. If you are reading this and you are still with WizKids you also have my sympathies. I hope things are going better then it sounds like they are going and good luck. I hope in a year you can look back and say that you are in a better place because of this… I know leaving WizKids is the best thing that has happened to me since I took the job nearly 4 years ago.

Oh and I lost 2 pounds last week even though a migraine took me out for 2 days! Woot!