On Change, Growth and Hope

I never could have imagined in just two years time, the world would have changed so much. As a remote worker, I was the minority in March 2019, but now, everyone has had to adapt to the lifestyle. I haven’t seen my co-workers in person since January 9, 2020.

Indeed, two years ago, I was just dealing with the whiplash of personal change from an intensely challenging (but deeply educating experience, then the hangover of feeling like I may have made the worst mistake of my career, to finding hope and opportunity in the abyss thanks to some old friends who made Intuit a great way out.

And, then, the pandemic hit, and one year ago, I celebrated my one year Intuit anniversary with a mix of fear and trepidation as New York City was in the throes of the worst of the pandemic, and pride at the amazing work the teams I am a part of have done.

Now at two years in, I am especially grateful for the hope that lies ahead. In just a years time, I was able to get the first shot of a vaccine that hopefully will be the last step in starting to change this world back closer to something we all know. And I continue to be extremely lucky to work with a great cross-discipline team that challenges me every day. My role has expanded in the best ways — from a Community focus for the QuickBooks team, to being responsible for all experiences for our customers across all of Intuit.

In my mind, the greatest about all of this, is that this role has let me flex my favorite muscles by mixing my four career threads:

• Community and social media strategy (About.com, AOL, Samsung, Intuit)
• Product and platform development (Viacom, Samsung and Intuit)
• Digital customer experience delivery (Samsung and Intuit)
• Content optimization and audience development (About.com and AOL)

How many people can say they have the chance to take the best of their past and bring it to their future as part of their roles everyday and impact the more than 85 million people that visit our knowledge base and community platforms every year?

So, in closing, I’d just like to take another second to thank ALL of the people in my life who have helped me not just survive the last two years, but to grow, thrive, and adapt. All of my amazing coworkers past and present (you know who you are), and of course, my amazing wife Jacque who has never stopped believing in me, and building a partnership that can survive anything.

So cheers to two years and many more, and the huge opportunities that lie ahead for me, my family, our customers, and our world.

Originally published at https://www.tagsmith.org on March 25, 2021.