Share Our Lives: Introductions & Jobs I’ve Had.

Hi friends! I’m joining Joanne at Slices of Life for the first Share Our Lives link up of 2024. 

Here is the first linkup with the women of “Share Our Lives”! The topic for this month is an introduction / and jobs we’ve had. So here we go! 

My name is Mandy, the blogger behind MandyJoyLoves!

Wife to Kevin.

Mom to Hadley and Huxley.

Stepmom to Brady and Natalie.

My parents.

Adam’s sister.

Two years of being a SAHM. This photo was my last day of working in the corporate world.

I love watching Hadley enjoy all of her sports and activities! It can seem crazy busy at times, but I know for a fact that I will miss every single second of these days, so I literally enjoy every time I take her to practices, all of those early / late games, etc. 

Softball.

Volleyball.

Swimming.

The next part of this topic is jobs! Here is a compiled list of the jobs I’ve had in my life. 

Grade school years:
My first job was babysitting for kids on my street growing up. I remember babysitting a ton! Most of the kids were super good, and it was a fun job. I had maybe one or two families that had bad kids as you would say. I really think every young adult needs to experience babysitting, it taught me a lot of patience for sure!

High school years:
Once I started driving, I worked at a Country Club during the summer at the snack bar. It was a fun job, met some people, and the hours were great. Another job I had during my high school years was at an amusement park called Kings Island! I worked at the Skyline booth; it was a fun summer job. Another job I had, was a cashier at Michaels Arts & Crafts store. Retail wasn’t always the most fun job, but I loved arts and crafts back then, and still do. 

College years:
I went to college right out of high school and majored in Business Administration. While I was in college, I worked as a Student Assistant for an engineer. It was a great job for a student, I worked in between classes and helped the engineer and his department get organized, manage his expenses, etc. I still use the engineer as a reference if I need to! He was very nice. I lived in the dorms with a friend from high school.

After college:
I did not graduate college; I went for about two years and was more excited about the social scene than the studying scene. So, I had to learn the hard way and get a big girl job to support myself. and I moved back home with my parents. I worked at a small manufacturing company as the front desk chick. It was a super easy job, but nothing I wanted to do for a permanent career.

After the manufacturing company, I had my first corporate world job. I worked for an insurance company downtown Cincinnati. It was a small department with my manager, his account representative and I was the assistant. We insured small and large companies with health insurance. I am forever grateful for this job, because I did a ton of growing up at this company. My manager was like my first mentor and guided me along the way in the professional corporate world. Occasionally, I’ll see my old manager from time to time mainly at a Reds baseball game!

Somewhere in between these jobs, I moved out into my favorite one bedroom apartment. It had an attached garage, and it was a four family building.

After the insurance company, I worked for a manufacturing design company. If you have ever heard of or shopped for Abercrombie and Fitch, this company made the wooden shutters inside and outside of the store in the malls. I was the administrative assistant for the company, I paid the bills, payroll, health benefits, shipping and receiving, and lots more. It was a great job, and I loved the people I worked with. This job came to an end when they had to downsize, and they did a lot of layoffs. I was super devastated when the layoffs happened. It was totally unexpected, and I wasn’t prepared for it. I was at the time, living in my most favorite one-bedroom apartment that had an attached garage. I was unemployed for about three months before I found my next job. I remember this time in my life so vividly, I called a few of my bill companies and asked for forbearance due to being laid off. It was a rough time. It was a job to get a job! 

My next job was at the Kroger company. I worked for Kroger for a total of eight years. I had four positions during that timeframe. I was an administrative assistant for a team of buyers, and then I was a department secretary for the corporate human resources department, and then the workforce analytics and strategic planning department. While I worked for the workforce analytics department, I got married and had a baby, all while going to college part time in the evenings. I managed to graduate with my bachelor’s degree during this timeframe! I was and am still so proud of myself! And then the last department at Kroger, was the Organizational Performance department. After eight years of working for this company, I decided to move on to a different role at a different employer. 

My next job was a human resources coordinator for the county. I was most excited about this job, because I had finally gotten a job because of my degree, had my own office, and was super excited! I was at this position for about five years, and then I got pregnant with my second child Huxley. After my maternity leave, and the pandemic, things changed at my employer, and I decided to be a stay-at-home mom.   

Whenever I think about the jobs I’ve had in my life, I always remember that each job I got, I landed the job on my own merit. I didn’t have anyone put in a good word for me, I didn’t know anyone at the places, I got the jobs because of my experience, background, and personality, at least that is what I believe. And I love that! I know for some things, it’s all about who you know and all of that hoopla. But I can proudly say, each and every one of my jobs I was hired without anyone helping me! And I’m forever proud of myself for that! 

I digress.

My next and current job is one of the hardest that I’ve ever done in my life. And that is being a stay-at-home mom. Nothing can prepare you for not going into an office anymore and staying home with a child twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. It is hard. Very hard. Some days I miss going into the office. And other days I don’t miss going into the office. I love that I get to be with my son all day every day, and I get to be the one that raises him!  

It was fun to look back on the previous jobs I’ve had!