2022 was wild for my career and my future. After years of marketing my skills and experiences on LinkedIn, I landed my first independent consulting contract while working in as a full-time marketer for a tech company focused on non-profit mental healthcare. I liked what I was doing for work and had good work benefits. I was excited about my future. Outside of work, I was playing water polo and was consistent with healthy habits. Life was good! I had just got back from a fun and productive work trip.
Then things took a turn when I pivoted and became a Chicago Kayak Tour guide/instructor after a stint in PR Management didn’t work out and I found myself struggling to pay my bills. But as I was coaching and playing water polo again and giving kayak lessons on the scenic Chicago River, I did realize how cool and unique my experience was as a full-time fitness and tourism professional, I felt like I was playing in Chicago and sharing what I loved with people that were motivated to have fun. It was a blast, but needed to find a new full-time job and I did shortly after that. As unique and satisfying and as kismet as it was to land a job as an Account Executive at an Accessibility non-profit, taking advantage of my TV and sales experience, selling Closed Captions seemed destined to be a big chunk of my career journey.
The thing is, I never wanted to get out of the healthcare space. My first dream job was to be a sports anchor, and I’m grateful I got to accomplish that goal. But that lifestyle wasn’t sustainable for me, and I feel similarly for my sales career. With both, I felt powerless, insecurity and anger towards my financial status and future.
As thousands of people were laid off by these *profitable” tech corporations, and I was struggling to find my groove in this new job, a seasoned DevOps manager at the 3rd largest healthcare insurance company in the nation, that I met while kayaking reached out to me on LinkedIn…
They were looking for a senior-level data analyst/ops manager in charge of supporting business operations for thousands of healthcare data professionals. They were happy that I had a wide variety of professional experiences to contribute to this role as I was a great fit for what they were looking for.
Since I graduated in 2008, I’ve been hustling for job stability and an opportunity to work a job in a field I am passionate about. I feel like I finally got what I’ve been looking for all these years. Getting this job opportunity feels like the universe gave me some good karma. I couldn’t be more excited and grateful to work for Health Care Services Corporation, a growing company which runs Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois and provides health insurance for over 17 million people.
Plus BCBS’s commitment to Value-based healthcare, which essentially is the “quality over quantity” for the healthcare system, is a mission I’ve been passionate about for a few years, and you should check it out.
And while, HCSC is a large company with over 20,000 employees, I’m confident I will be able to make a positive impact internally and externally with my work and I’m glad my new company doesn’t have leaders, shareholders, or investors calling for layoffs to preserve profits but instead are actively investing and working to make improvements to their infrastructure to achieve their company purpose — “To do everything in our power to stand with our members in sickness and in health”
Cheers to another career #pivot. Thanks to everyone for the support throughout the years, I appreciate all of you that comment and engage with my content. I can’t wait to see how this shakes out.