Things are back to (relative) normal now that the world travelers have returned home again.
Although it was exciting to experience the self-sufficiency and responsibility while it lasted, we were all very happy to have Boss 1 and Boss 2 finally return to us.
So, this week, at work:
What I’ve been creating:
1. Hubspot reports
One of the key parts of our process involves providing a report to our clients at the end of the week, detailing the numbers and conversion rates from the previous week.
Previously, this has all been done manually using a Google Sheet. Now that we’ve moved into Hubspot for all our tracking and managing purposes, we also want to use it for reporting.
Creating the reports to display all the necessary information turned out to be somewhat of a struggle for my non-geometry-minded brain, but we got there eventually. I’m incredibly grateful to have a boss who’s willing to treat this experience as a learning opportunity and to take the time to help me learn and grow in new areas.
2. A Program Agenda
This week also ushered in the new month (hello, October!), which means that the event we’re hosting is now much, much closer than it ever was before.
As people continue to RSVP, speakers are locked into place, and the companies in Spain gear up for their one day deep dive into the US market, I’ve been working on the program agenda that will guide them (seamlessly, hopefully) throughout the big day.
As this slide presentation will be emailed to all the companies and speakers prior to the event, it’s of utmost importance that all the information is clear and relevant to the day. It’s a great exercise in balancing the importance of visual and verbal communication.
3. An Accelerator
My boss not only runs his own company, but is also heavily involved with a multitude of other organizations and initiatives. One of these is Startup Boost NYC, which is an no-fee accelerator for pre-seed startups looking to prep for their first round of fundraising.
I knew this was coming up for awhile now, but, prior to Tuesday morning, had no actual role in preparing for the program because they’d all been given out before I arrived at Hapday.
However, I suddenly became involved when I received a Slack message on Tuesday morning asking if I’d be willing to run social media for the program due to a last-minute change. Tuesday night rolled around and all of a sudden I had access to a brand new Twitter account and I was a real part of the team!
Being able to be involved with additional initiatives and programs such as Startup Boost is one of my favorite perks of this job. In what other apprenticeship situation would I be exposed to the behind-the-scenes of running an accelerator?! I’m floored every day at the opportunities that I’m being presented with. I can’t wait to see how these companies grow and develop over the next couple of weeks!
What I’ve been learning:
1. Every day I’m learning more about how Hubspot works, how to use it effectively, and what the difference is between properties, filters, and activity.
2. What to include in an investor pitch. Listening to the Startup Boost companies pitch themselves for the first time, and then listening to the mentors give feedback, was amazing. So much wisdom in the room.
3. Some people are right-brained, some people are left-brained, and some people are a little caught in the middle. Just because something doesn’t come to you naturally, or make sense instantly, doesn’t mean you can’t do it. You can do it. And telling yourself you suck doesn’t help that process. So stop it.
This week in New York City!
My mom and sister came to visit! This means an incredibly busy, fruitful, fabulous, heart-filling, spirit-lifting, fun, food-filled weekend.
We did lots of things: ate Middle Eastern poutine and drank Turkish coffee, climbed some rocks instead of walking the long way around and getting our shoes a little soggy in the process, ate some Tibetan dumplings and a spicy mango on a stick, looked at apartments, spent almost five hours at the 9/11 museum, drank lots of wine, ate lots of free sample pickles, watched some breath-taking but question-raising dance routines, saw that Times Square is really just a bunch of ads after all, got reprimanded for not drinking tea properly even though we were with an authentic Russian, raised suspicions on a ferry, and ate some delicious cheesecake. Just to name a few.
Lesson #1: I guess eating food is the main form of bonding in my family.
Lesson #2: If you’re going to be in New York for longer than two days, and you plan on making lots of trips to actually see stuff, you might as well just get the weekly unlimited Metro card
Lesson #3: “Zaytoon” means “olive” in Arabic.
This week in Praxis!
Tim Chermak, self-taught marketing aficionado, told us a little bit about the story of how he got into marketing in the first place.
It’s always inspirational to hear of someone using tools and resources outside of organized education in a way that builds a career/business/life that seems unlikely (if not impossible).
Tim’s talk was a good reminder of the power of passionately investing yourself into learning about a topic that you’re interested in so that you can become an expert in your field — with or without any formal education.
Also, he’s from the same small town in Minnesota that I’m from, so it was fun having that in common.
I failed my daily blogging thing again pretty quickly. I’m going to give it another shot this week, but this time with a clearly articulated goal in mind:
I will blog daily for the next 30 days, starting tomorrow.
Clearly defined goals are key, right? That’s obviously my issue, and not just a blatant disregard for personal consistency.
Anyway, either way—thanks for reading and have a wonderful week.