My first promotion

--> When I was 12 my dream was to be Kimberly Williams from "Father of the Bride." A recent graduate, thriving architect, beautiful married woman, all before the age of 26. A few years later I would discover being a successful architect in your mid-twenties is about as common as Alsup's Burritos in the Midwest.

But I wasn't too far off from that dream, I'm not a thriving architect but I'm currently managing a post production team at 26! I'll pat myself on the back for this one, after 2 years I got my first promotion. My new role is to help develop a new department and manage a handful of employees under me. Management sure must have a lot of trust in me...

(Don't tell them, but I have no idea what I am doing...)

I can't remember the last time I have hit a learning curve this steep. I find myself googling things like "how to be a successful manager," "when you think you're in over your head," "organizing chaos," "building a new department..." And what I have found is there is limited information on how to organize, develop, and manage something before it is created. There is no 1,2,3 or someone to tell me what is right.

So far I have survived the first few months and have learned:
Number 1: you better hope you have smart, understanding bosses to help you through this process Number 2: you better hope you have a strong team that works well together to help you through this process

I was pleasantly blessed with both.

This has been an amazing experience so far, pushing me further than I would have thought I could go at this point in my career. I shifted to something I didn't know I wanted to do, into something that wasn't even created yet. Watching a department develop and to be a part of that is a truly awesome experience. Your progress is continuously tracked pushing you and challenging your mind hourly. Sure there are times where I'm certain my brain is going to explode through my skull, but what I am learning right now is priceless and will strengthen me for anything that falls onto my path in the future. Our department should be in full motion come May, wish me luck!

Hailey Schultz