🌻I have no idea what your job is
But you could tell me right now if you wanted
Hi friends. What’s new? Happy Friday. Hope you’re getting/taking President’s Day off on Monday. I’m not, I think I’m going to use it to catch up on work. Which is a nice segue into today’s note!
I saw a post on Instagram the other day that said something like: Forget Take Your Child to Work Day, I want Take Your Friends to Work Day! Another one a while back was like: Isn’t it crazy how you can know every minute detail of your bestie’s life and have NO idea what her job is?
I think about this all the time. Like I can easily imagine my teacher friends and my doctor friends going about their days, but that’s probably just because I’ve spent time in classrooms and doctor’s offices myself. (Plus “I deal with people and do more paperwork than you think” is pretty self-explanatory.) But somebody in “business management,” what even is that?? Don’t even get me started on my friends who have probably changed career paths Lord-knows how long ago and it’s just never come up. Some people don’t talk about their work, ever.
I mean, it’s fine and great to not talk about work. For most people, it’s nowhere near the most important thing in your life (which is great)! But for most working people, it’s likely the thing that you spend the most time on, and possibly the thing that causes you the most stress. Your co-workers are likely the people you interact with the most often. Whether you like to talk about it or not, your job can be pretty impactful on your life.
Also… I’m just nosycurious.
I know I’m not alone in my curiosity, though. A handful of times in the past few weeks alone, someone’s asked me to explain my job. It’s surprisingly hard! Most people seem to have an easy time saying what their organization does but not explaining their actual day-to-day role. You work at a hospital? Great, I know all about hospitals. And your job is… associate operational relations manager? Uhh… cool?
For me, it’s the opposite. My day-to-day is easy to explain — the hard part is identifying a common thread that resembles a job title (#selfemployed). Yes, sometimes I write stuff, but yesterday I reorganized a website. Last month I made a magazine. Tomorrow I’ll write a bunch of social media posts. Sometimes it’s marketing, sometimes it’s not. Sometimes it’s sciencey, sometimes it’s not. Sometimes I’m flying solo, sometimes I’m working with my marketing firm.
But here’s the thing: Hearing about other people’s jobs can be a fun get-to-know-you exercise, but I also know that a good number of friends are looking to grow their businesses this year. Some want new customers or clients. Some friends are hiring. Some friends are looking for jobs. Some friends are contractors (it’s me, hi, I’m a contractor). Some friends are looking for contractors (call me?).
Can we be doing more to make these connections happen??
Take, for instance, my two friends who run a bookstore in Escanaba, Michigan. I assure you that I tell 100% of people who mention they’re headed anywhere near that part of the country (south-central Upper Peninsula) to stop by the store. (Actually, I try to get people to go prank the owners, but to my knowledge, no one has taken me up on it.) Has anyone actually gone to Escanaba on my recommendation? I have no idea. Am I going to keep trying? Absolutely yes.
I wonder how much time we waste thinking of “networking” as “convincing relevant strangers we’re valuable” instead of looking to the people that already think we’re valuable, and making sure we come to mind when relevant.
Should you work with your friends?
Ah, but there’s always a catch. Are we playing with fire if we start mixing business and personal life? It’s pretty low stakes for me to recommend a book seller — that’s a lot different between recommending a friend for a job. A friend I’ve never actually worked with.
Do you think your friends are good at their jobs? How would you even know?
One of my besties here in KC is a realtor, and I’d totally recommend him for anyone house hunting in the area. But admittedly: He wasn’t my realtor. He’s successful, but I have no idea what being a “good” realtor even means. I just know he’s a good human.
Personally, my worst business moments haven’t been mistakes that were made, they’ve all been people problems: things like egos, insecurities, and bad communication. I’d MUCH prefer to work with a charming human who is a less-than-perfect worker over a total jerk who runs a tight ship. If I ran the world, more job applications would require a character reference! And maybe a personality test.
Plus, I’m in business with my friends now, and I’ve never regretted it. I’m very pro friends-in-business.
But seriously, what’s your job?
OK I mean it: I really would like to hear what you do all day, if you care to tell me. That goes for you, too, stay-at-home parents and retirees, I’m curious what you’re up to, too. Everybody spends their days doing something. And everybody’s probably looking for help in some area, too.
Ready? I’ll go first!
I do freelance marketing and communications, both on my own (Funkyard LLC!) and with my content marketing agency, Lunaris Creative. For some clients, it’s a lot of writing articles. For others, it’s consulting on communications strategies, updating websites, running social media channels, so much editing, launching email newsletters, putting together promo videos, drafting press releases, helping websites appear higher in search results, managing blogs, fact checking articles, rebranding, graphic design, putting together communications trainings… and all sorts of odds and ends.
Our specialty is scientific and science-adjacent companies and organizations, since we have science and science journalism backgrounds, but we’re flexible — we’ve never turned away a prospective client for not being scientific enough.
Lunaris isn’t hiring at the moment, and I’m not on the job hunt. But I’m always looking for new work, and Lunaris is always looking for new clients! So do let me know if you think of anybody who might need anything related to what I listed above. Next time you come across a website or blog that really stinks, send it to me, I’ll pitch them our services (ha … I’m kind of serious) — especially you crazy kids in the sciences!!
Here’s my website: https://www.itsdrfunk.com
OK OK that’s more than plenty, your turn! It’s officially Take Your Anna to Work Day.
What do you actually do. And do you need anything right now? Customers, clients, new hires, a new job? A new hobby to distract you from your job? Prayers (throwback to last week)?!
Fam I have no idea if this is a dumb idea but at least you’ll give me some entertainment over the next few days as you potentially reply. Have a great weekend!!
✌️
Hahaha! Thanks for the continued stream of recommendations for our store. To the best of my knowledge, no one has ever come in and pranked us at your behest. But we get a lot of weirdos, and they could have easily blended in
Insightful, creative, and funny, as always, Anna!
In case you really want to know... I spent 35 years as a professor of ecology (research, teaching) at UW-Madison. (Hey, I didn't know you were a student of Lars!) Six years as a research dean. Retired in 2023, and now have a new (part-time) job as a Distinguished Fellow with The Lumen Center in Madison, WI. TLC is a new center for the study of Christianity and culture. I'm the science-faith guy!