10 lessons learned in 10 years since graduating
a decades-long reflection on growing up at work. plus, MDW sales!
Happy Sunday, lovers!
For my stateside readers (I’m truly aghast at how global we’ve gotten, so I have to stop assuming everyone has the same bank holidays!), I hope this Sunday-that-feels-like-a-Saturday is off to a lovely start for you. For those in Europe and beyond reading, well, lucky you! Because quite frankly, we all want to be where you are—hence, Euro summer is loading…
One of the *scary* things about this time of year is how badly I get the shoppies. You know? Like, you have a few vacations on the books and you just want so badly to have an entirely new wardrobe for every single one?? For instance, with Nantucket on the books, I want entirely navy and white outfits that lean far preppier than I normally would—as evidenced by the fact that this quarter zip, these striped knit pants, and these sailboat socks are current in my cart. For Montana, I need a pair of Luccheses and a hat from Kemo Sabe like I need a hole in my head. For Mallorca and Formentera, I’m craving bright pops of orange, necklaces adorned with shells and fish, silly resort bags, splurgey sarongs, and a whole host of other frivolous things that will live and die with summer.
SO, on that note…I’m resisting the urge to buy anything too trendy. I don’t want to contradict my aim to be better about investing in pieces I’ll have forever and my goal to further cultivate my personal style by sharing a bunch of bogus sales with you. But, there are some pretty good discounts to be had if we’re smart about what we’re shopping for! For instance, I’m in dire need of summer pants and that feels like an “adult” thing to buy…more so than the countless crochet coverups I’m coveting. With that, I’ve rounded up four sales that I really think pack a punch—just in case you, too, need to work through the early summer shoppies!
With up-to 50% off sale items right now, if you had your eye on something ‘designer,’ now would be the time to see if it’s a part of this discount. Here are some items sold on Net currently on my radar.
AGOLDE Low Slung Baggy jeans (40% off, now $144) paired with Adine cropped organic cotton-jersey T-shirt (40% off, now $54)
Hunza G Tina twist-front seersucker bikini in red (30% off, now $133) or Celine metallic seersucker one piece in brown (305 off, now $172)
Anine Bing Paxton Demin Shirt (40% off, now $180)
La DoubleJ Perry scalloped striped cotton midi dress (40% off, now $474) and Scala feather-trimmed floral-print cotton-jersey T-shirt (50% off, now $245)
Isabel Marant’s Oskan Moon Studded Suede Shoulder Bag in RED! (40% off, now $594)
Emporio Sirenuse Sibilla embellished embroidered cotton-mesh halterneck maxi dress (there is only one IT42 left, which is like a 6/8, but the detailing is so gorgeous I almost screamed…60% off, now $790)
Madewell is doing 25% off, plus an extra 40% off sale! Not everything is elible for the promotion, but I’ll round up some of what caught my eye that is at least 25% off.
The Maycie Asymmetic T-Strap Sandle in black (25% off, now $88.50)
Studded Western Belt in Ivory (25% off, now $66)
(Re)generative Cotton Essential High-Neck Tank in Lighthouse (25% off, now)
Pull-on Straight Pants in Stretch Satin in black or teapot blue (originally $98, now $34!)
I’m lowkey obsessed with Erin and Sara’s podcast, The World’s First Podcast with Erin & Sara Foster, and equally into the business they’ve built (while being producers of shows like Nobody Wants This). With code WEEKEND, they are doing 25% off on sale styles this weekend. Here’s what I’m eyeing!
The Nikki Mid-Rise Barrel Jean in black (was $218, now $123)
The Oliver Jean Jacket (was $268, now $149.25)
The Serena Top (was $198, now $111.75)
The Flirt Skirt in flamingo pink (was $178, now $100.50)
The Favorite Skirt in macchiato (was $198, now $111.75)
I wish I could be “less basic” and not include this sale, but are you kidding? I’m a J.Crew girlie till I die, and they are doing up to 50% off sale right now. I’m particularly in the market for pants right now, so that was my main area of focus when scrolling this sale since so many good ones are a part of it! Here’s what I found—you’ll notice I’m linking petite options for my fellow shorties, but they have classic and tall options, too!
Petite Stratus pant in textured satin in frosty olive (53% off, now $69.50)
Petite relaxed utility pant in cotton blend in black and dusty fatigue (30% off, now $96.50)
Airy gauze beach pant in red (56% off, now $39.50)
New Soleil pant in striped linen (30% off, now $82.50)
Crewneck vest in linen (42% off, now $56.50)
Before we dive into my 10 lessons learned in the 10 years since I graduated, to access the complete version of this and future posts, upgrade today! Paid subscribers of The Sunday Series unlock an exclusive section of paywalled content in each send, access to the full archives (including Your Local’s Guide to West Village, Your Ultimate Paris Guide, 100 Hotels I’m Dying to Check Into, My Holy Grail Rules for an Overnight Flight, 31 Ideas for Your Next Birthday Trip, A Playbook for How to Make Friends As An Adult, and 16 Prompts for a Personal Quarterly Review), the commenting feature on each post, exclusive giveaways, and more. Plus, your support directly helps ensure this newsletter can continue to grow! Subscriptions are $8/month or less than $7/month if paid annually—also known as less than one fancy Starb*cks order. But don’t let me be the one to tell you why you should upgrade! I’ll leave that to a fellow reader…
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This week, ten years ago, I started my first job. I was 21, living at home, and making $30,000 a year as a travel agent with sales quotas I had no idea how to meet—and absolutely no clue that, despite feeling clueless, I was exactly where I needed to be. The photo below is of me coming home from my first ever day in the working world…in response to me sharing that my ‘eyes hurt’ from looking at the computer for so long, I’ll never forget my mom telling me that I had many more decades of long days ahead.
Freshly graduated with my shiny degree in International Studies and three semesters spent abroad behind me, I found myself in a suburban shopping complex outside of Buffalo, New York at a retail Liberty Travel storefront. In the first week there, I was schooled on how we wore uniforms in the name of “egalitarianism” and, in a strange turn of events, asked to change my name because there was already one Kayla on the team, and under *no circumstance* would I be taking leads that came in for her over the phone…because yes, I would be answering the phones!!!!
In the ten years since, I’ve only worked at two companies—but I’ve grown through many roles at both organziations and in the process, met countless versions of myself, each shaped by the work and world I was building around my job. Without ever taking a single marketing class, nine of those ten years have been spent working in marketing—today, I’m ’s Director of Content. I’ve pitched, posted, edited, and traveled the world. I’ve built things I’m proud of, stumbled through things I’m not, and sat at tables I never imagined I’d belong at.
In the context of a fifty-year career, a decade is just a blip—but it holds a lot of learnings along the way (I’m still re-learning many of them in real time). Today, I’m sharing ten lessons that have stayed with me through the promotions, pivots, red-eyes, and countless rewrites of the content that keeps my world spinning.
The desire to be taken seriously will fade, only to be replaced with, “Why do I take myself so seriously?” In the formative years of my career, I remember how incensed I’d be when asked my age. It seemed like I was constantly asked, “How old are you?” which to me sounded a lot like “What the hell are you doing here?” But what I didn’t realize when I met those questions with such defiance was that one day, they’d stop asking. One day, I would no longer be the youngest person in the room. Now, while I don’t “miss” being asked my age, I recognize those years of dying to be taken seriously turned into taking myself a little too seriously. These days, my main goal is to ground myself in the reminder that my professional identity is not my entire identity.
You’ll cringe at the old versions of yourself. That’s how you know you’ve grown. Sometimes I look back at things I posted or beliefs I held, and I physically cringe. It freaks me out, because I know that in ten years, I could be cringing at this very post!!!! But I’m putting it out there anyway. Every year, I recognize that the way I see the world changes a bit. My writing gets a touch more sophisticated. The things that sent me to another planet bother me less and less. I get more cynical (and try to catch myself when I do). I get more jaded (and again, try and check myself). It’s all a part of the process.
When you hit the number/get the title you thought meant success, it’ll still feel like you’re chasing something.
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