So Much happening!
Photo op!
Hello friends!
I am writing to you on a Windstar bus coming back from a company trip to Bentonville, AR for Associates Week at, you guessed it, Walmart! I was selected from my home store in Washington, MO to represent the store along with 3,000 other associates from around the globe 19 countries in all. Wow, ya’ll. It was a very busy week that included so much smiling, clapping, Wal~Mart Cheers, and so many free drinks! Ya’ll I could float home on the amount of drinks vendors insisted we absolutely needed. The kindness, the welcomeness, and the immersion into Wal-Mart culture was truly an experience I will remember. The challenge was to bring that culture back home, that energy, and the ethos behind the founding of the company. I’m not a loud person, but I will give it my best shot. :)
I have a family history in Wal-Mart. My aunt started when they were still doing accounting onsite, doing the books everyday. My mom celebrated the community’s birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, weddings, holidays, and special occasions with the required cake, cupcakes, or cookie cake. She wished everyone well for 32 years slinging icing with her team in the bakery before retiring. She is still infamous today with her work ethic, tenacity, craft, and customer first approach to every order for a beautiful, delicious cake.
My job with WalMart is as an Optician. Optical Technician is what it’s short for. I fit people for glasses, interpret prescriptions, assist the doctor in paperwork, pretesting, and triage. My job is to help people feel better about their primary method of seeing the world through education, kindness, and prices that won’t feel like I’m selling them a new car. For some, I introduce them to their first set of glasses and teach new contact wearers how to put them in and take them out. I never thought I would fall into optical until my future boss came to me one day and asked if I would be open to learning a craft. Here I am 7 years later still learning and working miracles.
But, Jo, this is an art page. Right!? I am doing both like a crazy person. I’ve been putting art off, but also keeping it with me my whole life. I came into Optical with a tremendous amount of social anxiety. Like, I had to go breathe after doing a 7 minute pretest or ordering someone’s glasses. I am fortunate enough to have a team that has built my security over the years, gave me a support system, had my back, and grew my confidence so I could overcome most of that anxiety. I feel comfortable stepping into an entrepreneurial role and re-exploring the possibility of where my art can take me. Creativity is at the heart of everything I do. I need it to live and breathe. I need it to protect my mental health. It is part of me as my fingers and toes.
I’m a recovering perfectionist ya’ll. I hear it is a product of reaching my 40s. The further into them you get, the less give a damn you have about things like letting other’s filtered perceptions of you concern yourself. I have my code of conduct and it works just fine, thank you. I have worked hard for my operating protocol and it is a finely tuned thing.
I’m off track ya’ll, I get to talking. I am excited for life. A year ago I was not. I was in a bad place. It took a lot of pulling for myself to get out of it. I expanded my worldview, the way I think about myself and what I want from this life, and listening to Mel Robbins because she has a way of speaking that I can hear because she sounds so real and genuine. I relate to her in an easy way. She doesn’t sound like she is speaking off a script or out of a text book. I know I want to help people. Specifically women, because we need each other. We need each other. Women need connection. We need community. We may have a harder time with that because of how things are, but we can form groups again. We can talk to each other and connect with one another in meaningful ways. We don’t have to carry it all. Start dropping stuff. It doesn’t all have to be you.
