- Before being made redundant, Hadi Mendez worked as an equality officer at a major technology company.
- She said this was one of the most difficult times in her professional career.
- Mendez said she has been happy with the flexibility she has had since starting her own business and part-time job.
“You should definitely work there. I spend half my salary there anyway.”
This is a conversation between me and my friend Janet. These are my famous last words before applying for a retail job at a clothing store after 25 years as an office worker.
That was in the fall of 2023. About nine months earlier, I had been made redundant from my job as an Equality Officer at a large technology company and was working remotely while serving as an advisor to seven Employee Resource Groups (ERGs). To the Equality Office and Program Manager. Almost immediately, I leveraged my speaker skills and years of experience with ERG to launch the Boldly Speaker business.
The first year of business was strong from both a customer acquisition and revenue perspective, but with the holiday season, we knew things were slowing down.
Please enter my great idea. Please accept the “bridge job”. This is a job that will give you the time and money you need as you build your business and work toward your next big opportunity. If you have an income, you'll be able to keep more of your savings intact. You'll also be able to buy a coffee and treat yourself to gluten-free and vegan sweets without feeling guilty.
I ended up working at the Athleta store in New York and am so glad I decided to join that team. What impresses me most is the confidence and joy I found during a time filled with so much doubt and uncertainty.
Imagine what it was like to land a Brand Associate role at one of my favorite stores
I thought this would be a good time to share how much I love the Gap Inc. brand. About 90% of my clothes are from Athleta and Gap. I wear their clothes to business meetings, weekend hangouts, and long walks. I am quite literally a walking advertisement for this brand.
I landed a seasonal brand associate role and felt like a kid in a candy store. I help customers find clothing, sweep and mop floors, fold clothes, clean mirrors and windows, ship items from the store, make phone calls to customers, etc. I've done everything up to and including.
I wanted to buy everything within my first few weeks on the job. While I enjoyed the experience of visiting my favorite brands several days a week, I learned a lot about the clothes, the customers, and the role everyone plays.
My transition had some interesting aspects. I like to get to places early, but I quickly learned that he doesn't need to be more than 5 minutes early for the start of his shift. Also, while he always made sure to take a lunch break when he was an office worker, he is now legally required to take a 15-minute break during his actual shift (or longer if the shift is long). (Sometimes I take a break.) I've learned to look forward to these breaks as an opportunity to reset and get back on the floor even stronger.
The big difference from a corporation is that there are daily goals for the store. We focus on different sales goals and objectives every day.
What started as a “seasonal job” has now become a part-time job for me.
As with any job in technology or financial services, my favorite part of working at a clothing store is interacting with customers.
I love hearing about what they are looking for, where they will wear the items they purchase, and how they want to feel. What I love even more is the look on their faces when they find something that not only feels good, but also looks great.
To my surprise, I discovered that I was actually good at this brand associate job. When I was young, I worked in my father's shoe store, and I remember being a bad salesperson because I always wanted to be behind the cash register. But somehow, my customers enjoy working with me, so I inherited some of that great customer service “mojo” from his father.
Part of me wants to go back to corporate life and a stable, predictable routine.
It's very difficult to find a full-time job in this market, but starting a business from scratch comes with its own set of challenges. This was definitely a turning point for me.
To be honest, this was one of the most difficult times in my professional career. Since my tech layoff, I have experienced a range of emotions: shock, anger, fear, anxiety, worry, and even deep sadness.
What I miss most about corporate life is working as a team on major projects and customer deliverables. I pride myself on adding a lot of value in these types of scenarios. We're always finding ways to leverage our critical thinking superpowers to exceed and exceed our customers' expectations.
Another part of me really loves the flexibility and independence I experience as an entrepreneur.
I have to say that my flexibility as an entrepreneur is unparalleled. I can leave whenever I want, be creative, explore new projects, and am very aligned with my purpose and what I believe. Admittedly, I'm a little spoiled with my current situation and I know it will take a great company and role to bring me back.
Everything in life has a season. And I think this is the season to enjoy entrepreneurship, including its ups and downs. I don't plan on leaving her job at Athleta any time soon. The longer I work there, the more I realize that I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be for now.
