This week in the Life Of Dana!

What I’ve been learning…

…At work:

This week things started to really seem to pick up in pace, which means I spent more time actually getting stuff done, and less time taking careful notes on every single thing I did (which is probably a good thing).

One of the biggest areas of learning this week has been in regards to the beloved behemoth known as HubSpot. HubSpot is a software used by businesses to manage sales, marketing, and customer service related processes.

We are currently in the process of transferring all of our business development processes into HubSpot (from good ol’ Google Sheets where they were previously living). This is an incredibly exciting step because it streamlines and increases efficiency in many areas of this process. However, HubSpot has many features, and the opportunity for learning is practically limitless.

That being said, this week I learned about how to set up a deal pipeline, what the process is for moving deals along that pipeline, what the various stages really mean, and how to successfully transfer a massive amount of information from a Google Sheet into HubSpot without breaking the internet. 

…in New York:

I moved! Again! So I’m getting to learn the layout of my third neighborhood (so far). 

The highlight of this move happened a couple days ago: I was walking to get coffee with a new friend from church and I noticed that the street was starting to look familiar. Lo and behold — I had walked right up to my first subway stop (a mere two blocks away from my first Airbnb) without even realizing it. 

That moment was quite an exciting one. The feeling of walking up to a street that is familiar (when you’re surrounded by never-ending unfamiliar from every angle) was a welcome experience. 

I also learned that my church is a block away from Times Square. Who knew???

…in life in general:

I learned that Trader Joe’s sells hedgehog shaped cookies. 

You know I bought them even though they turned out to be individual snack packs (most likely designed for children)

And you also know that I will proudly bring them into work with me this week. 

I also decided to tell my cashier that I had to buy these cookies because I love hedgehogs so much that the one piece of tableware I brought with me to New York was a mug with a hedgehog on it. And he said I have a nice personality, which I think was a nice way of saying “psychotic.”

Anyway, the cookies aren’t that great, but yes I’ll definitely be purchasing again, thanks for asking.

What I’ve been creating:

…at work:

This week it was more of a series of smaller projects (as opposed to one massive undertaking). I spent time learning about HubSpot (like I mentioned), as well as cleaning up some of the lists of contacts that we had imported. 

The biggest long-term project is the content marketing strategy. My supervisor and I got to sit down for our first content meeting and actually talk things through and start to get actionable stuff on the table — that was super exciting. This coming week we’ll begin to really start putting these thoughts into action! Make sure to follow us on Instagram and LinkedIn to watch the magic happen. 

…in regular life:

New friendships in this area! One of my goals for this experience is to develop some really solid female friendships while I’m here. I don’t want to approach this time with the mentality of “Why even bother investing into people if I’m just going to leave eventually,” because that is stupid.

I also created somewhat of a meal plan and an updated budget. One of the pieces that I was most excited for about this move was developing a budget and sticking to it. Now that things have normalized a bit (and there are no more moves on the horizon) I’m able to buy groceries and plan ahead longer than two days. 

Praxis Weekly Workshop—Happy Labor Day!

We had no Praxis Monday this week because it was Labor Day. Instead of going to work or tuning in to a workshop, I spent the day out and about in the big city.

I had the brilliant idea of spending Saturday (a beautiful, mid-70s, fall-ish day) at home, inside, packing.

Monday was my day to explore, which was great! Except it started downpouring halfway through my walk from the apartment I was checking out (it was a no-go), and I somehow got stranded under the awning of the ONLY gift shop in NEW YORK CITY that didn’t sell umbrellas. So that was exciting.

Once the rain situation got sorted out, though, I had a wonderful walk. I walked through Chinatown, Little Italy, past my office (on a holiday, haha), and all the way down Broadway until I got to the World Trade Center and 9/11 Memorial. That was incredibly sobering, but a beautiful tribute. 

I kept walking (south?) until I got to the Museum of Jewish Heritage. And then I got to the edge of the land and happened to see the Statue of Liberty just staring at me from across the water. And it kind of all hit me — I’m literally living in New York City. Who even saw that coming??

And then I went home and drank some Egyptian Licorice Mint tea in my hedgehog mug and laughed until I cried at my own horrible jokes. It was a good day.

And that was this week at a startup, in New York City, and in the Life of Dana! Thanks for reading and we’ll see you all next week!