Big Changes and a Brand New Job

I have been looking for a job in counseling/therapy since we moved to Minnesota and haven't had much luck. I was genuinely excited to take the Business Manager position for Chanel in Minneapolis, but definitely wanted to keep my options open in pursuing my career in the mental health field. I have thought about grad school a lot more lately too.. struggling with the outstanding costs and sacrifice of time I would be making, not to mention.. it's school. It would be sweet to go back. Well - bittersweet, anyway.

My resume has been all over a handful of general and mental health job-search sites plus my manual search for jobs had been pretty tiresome and dead-ended. I decided to put as much of me into Chanel as possible, as a manager and freelance makeup artist, since I love Chanel more than just about anything. I repeat - I love Chanel. I hate retail. This was my 3rd time working for Macy's and the management, structure and communication skills have been different every time. I am not writing this to speak badly of Macy's, I think it just comes down to my disregard for all retail in the world. Of course, I took the job at the perfect time - end of summer, ready to roll full-forced into Thanksgiving and Christmas. Schedules grew worse and my patience grew thin. It was fun while it lasted though. I made some great friends and met some fantastic people during my short time there.

It all happened really fast. A few weeks ago, I received an alert for The Minnesota Autism Center looking for therapists to work with children who have autism (ASD - Autism Spectrum Disorders). I looked at the qualifications and thought I'd at least email my resume, even though my exposure to autism was mostly limited to children with Asperger's. I was shocked to receive an response from an actual human being within a half hour of my email. I was given an interview for the next afternoon (yee!) and I just so happened to have a short shift, allowing me to make it to the interview. I kept my hopes low, so I wouldn't be down on myself if I didn't get it. The interview went well and I found myself praying I'd get the job. Cell bill reimbursement, great pay, great hours, great experience and most of all.. paid tuition for grad school. It seemed too good to be true. Less than 2 hours after the interview, I received a call with an offer. Ah!!! I had to keep my mouth shut until I was able to give my notice to my Chanel Account Executive and Cosmetics Manager.. I was pretty shocked how fast it all happened - I still am. Within 24 hours, my life had gone from no job leads to an offer. My last 2 weeks flew by. 2 weeks full of long hours, giftwrapping, Shanghai Wok & LeeAnn Chin (not that I don't mind, haha) and crappy, overplayed Christmas music. I definitely won't miss Macy's, but I'll miss the people.

I had a nice long weekend to relax before I started my new job. It's been really great so far! There are a handful of MAC Centers around MN and the first MAC School (where I work) launched this past fall. I am a behavior therapist for 5th grade, working one-on-one with two children on a daily basis (one in the morning, one in the afternoon) providing ABA Therapy and assisting within the school setting. The structure and ABA Therapy is actually pretty incredible. I'm pretty new to it all, but I really like it. I feel like I've learned so much already, on top of absolutely falling in love with each of those kids. Each child in our little class is so entertaining in their own way and so smart! One of the kiddos I work with has me laughing all day with his sweet personality and mannerisms.. so cute! It's pretty exciting to be back in the mental health field again, not to mention the joy of being to freelance for Chanel on the side. It's so nice to have a regular weekday schedule where I don't have to drive to Minneapolis, the parking is free and I finish before 4pm. I forgot what it felt like to have weekends and a normal social life! More than anything, it's incredibly rewarding to be able to work with children again.

If you wanna know a little more about MAC - The Minnesota Autism Center.. Check out a couple videos below.

xo