For those that don’t know, last week I was laid off due to COVID-19 affecting the economy and unfortunately my company. On Monday, 30% of the company was laid off over a zoom call. And due to getting locked out of my computer right after, I haven’t had the opportunity to thank Thumbtack and my team. I’ve been wanting to write this all week but I haven’t know how to even begin to say thank you to a team and time in my life I loved with my whole heart.
My time at Thumbtack started in the fall of 2018, when little ol’ Kait was starting her last internship before graduating at a place that did something or other with connecting people to small businesses. Having only interned at agencies, I was nervous about going in-house, about working in the same typeface and color palette at all times and about working at a place that had over 20 people. Little did I know how much that internship would push me and help me grow. How I would join a team that wanted nothing but to help me explore my passions and support me in whatever way they could. How I would be joining a team that crushed it no matter what was asked of them. Before Thumbtack I didn’t know what I wanted out of my future in design or if the design world was even for me. But within 2 months of working at Thumbtack I knew I wanted nothing more than to work there after grad with that incredible team and I was lucky enough to be given a job offer to come back.
When I came back full-time the creative team had shifted and changed with new faces and a new structure of working. But it had the same fire, the same desire to tell a meaningful story and really impact our community and local businesses. My teammates were (and still are) wicked smart and complete bad asses at what they do. We really were building a world class team and I was so dang excited to be a part of it. Through the past 8 months I have learned so much about myself. About how everything I do, I do for people. About how connections and community are the most important thing in the world to me. Through crits and working with collaborative designers I was able to push myself and my designs in ways I never had before and learned to make decisions quickly and thoughtfully. I learned my strengths and my weaknesses and had a team there willing to help push me and help me succeed. I learned that there is nothing better than making your teammates smile or laugh and that bringing people together fills me with enough energy to run a million miles.
And those people. My golly those people. My friends. My family. I am going to miss them with all of my being. I am going to miss talking about essential oils and Claudia the orange and having deep talks about life and design and dreams and dogs. I am going to miss jamming to songs and sitting side by side and collaborating and eating lunch together and laughing with my full body and getting noise complaints. I feel so lucky that I got to be a part of that incredible team for as long as I did and because of those humans I am moving forward more confident in my design skills and who I am as a designer and human.
Thumbtack was more than a job for me, it was a family and my community. Truthfully, I wasn’t ready to move on, I felt like there was more for me to learn from my team and the company. More for me to help push and more to help push me. But life throws you unexpected curves and this is one of them. And it hurts and I am still in disbelief, but I am keeping my head up and reminding myself that there is more for me out there. More adventures, more mountains, more design challenges and more connections.
Monday was a tough day but as soon as I heard the news I posted on Linkedin and Instagram asking for help and the outpouring of love made my heart feel like it was going to explode. Whether it was a text or a call or a message or a funny video or kind words, I felt so surrounded in a bubble of love and support. And I can’t even begin to thank every person that reached out. It reminded me that connections are so so important and treating each person you meet with kindness and love can do nothing but good things.
As I enter this new space of the stillness, I feel surprisingly okay in the unknown. I know that this time will give me space to think about what I really want to do with my future. To be creative and create for the sake of creating. To reconnect with old co-workers and friends. To journal and reflect and think about who I want to be. I am excited to really focus on myself and my dreams in this time and am ready for whatever the future may hold. I know I can take it on because of the incredible people I have in my life and because of my time at Thumbtack with that incredible, bad ass team.
(Side note: A lot of other people at my company got laid off, so if you know anyone hiring producers, product designers, photographers, video editors, or brand managers, please let me know as these people are the best of the best and I would love to connect you.)
Here are some of my absolute favorite moments that make me belly laugh and cry at the same time from all my time at Thumbtack:
Cheers to the next chapter <3
keleniak
#heckya