The End of an Era

Well, it is the end of an era... almost a decade actually. My final day as an employee of FranklinCovey Products (and formerly FranklinCovey) was yesterday. I have been eagerly anticipating that day for several months now. I was tired (pregnancy), and run down (busy season), and was so excited to train my replacement (who I think will do great) and turn in my laptop. I hadn't even considered that it might be kind of hard to let go at the last moment.

I started working for FranklinCovey right out of high school in June 2001. Since then, I've more or less been continuously employed with the company save it be for a few months since then. I started out working as a part time Sales Associate (or was it Product Consultant back then?), as I worked my way through college.

After I finished by BS in Economics at the U of U, and the week before I married Tyson (June 2004), I moved to full-time status in the same position. By then I was looking to move up into store management (since I was no longer in school full-time), or find a corporate type job.

I ended up taking a position as an Internal Auditor in charge of auditing the retail stores in November 2004. In this position, I grew a lot professionally, learned to travel the country on my own (no small feat when you're technically not old enough to get a rental car, and won't be for 4 more years!), and further ingrained myself in the company.

A couple years later, my boss (from Internal Audit) moved on to be Director of Supply Chain, and within a few months recruited me down to take a position in his new department. I had enjoyed my time working for him in Audit, and saw a glimmer of light for working at home in this other position, so I took the offer.

This job, Supply Chain Manager (now Retail Replenishment Coordinator), is the one I have been in since then (2006). In this position, I learned a whole new side to the retail industry, still dealt with the dear retail stores, offered up suggestions and solutions, found lots of problems, and learned that it is possible to be ready to tear your hair out without uttering a swear word.

The past year of my employment was on a part time basis from home. I would work before Miles woke up in the morning, during his nap(s), and sometimes after he went to bed at night. This job has been a wonderful answer to prayers multiple times, and has also eased me into full-time motherhood. (I really struggled at first).

But now, Miles is older; he sleeps less, and I want to sleep more since I'm pregnant with our second child. The job became an obstacle to being the kind of Mom I want to be, rather than an outlet for professional fulfillment, and some extra income. I had promised myself when I started working from home that if that happened, I would quit. So I did. I gave my notice... oh when was that... the end of October? And now here we are in February and I'm done.

Anyway, since I had been working from home and had very limited interaction with my boss and co-workers, I figured my last day would be a piece of cake. But, when the time came for me to leave, I got all sentimental. It's not like I won't hear from these people ever again (Thank you Facebook), but it just hit. Barring any surprises, I may never set foot in that office building again. At least not as an employee.

To sum it up, I had my moment of sadness and sentiment as I left for the last time and read an email from one of the retail stores saying thanks and that I would be missed. Then I got home, and was free! :) No more work. No nagging emails. Nothing. I'm free to be a mom, wife, housewife, and perhaps even pursue some of my interests again. (Until the baby comes...)