On January 1st, 2012 I have officially worked for my company greeNEWit for three years. What started out as a commission based position with some volunteering hours has grown into a full time salaried position as manager. And I am still having fun.  greeNEWit and me, we are a match made in heaven and I could never imagine working for any other company. Today I want to tell you how we met and became such a great team.

About 3.25 years ago I started my job hunt in the US. After 6 months in the US my green card hadn’t arrived yet, but I was getting antsy and wanted a job lined up by the time I would finally be allowed to work. While I probably would have become a photo journalist in Germany I did not see too many opportunities in that field in the US and therefore shifted my focus to my minor that I had in university: ecology. The rest of the job market already started to go down hill, but green jobs were booming, so I jumped right on the green wave. After a few spontaneous applications sent to random green companies I realized that volunteering was a better way to go. So I started hanging out at the Green Building Institute.

On the side I also went to the Green Fest in DC, a big exhibition with green vendors and service providers. This is where I handed out my generic “business” card to many prospective employers and also Matej from greeNEWit. He said that they were looking to hire an energy auditor, but then never got back to me. Fast forward a few weeks later when I was volunteering at a networking event at the Green Building Institute. That’s where I met the two other greeNEWit guys Jason and Josh. Looking back I got a pretty accurate impression of both those guys. Both very enthusiastic about their mission, Jason the sales guy selling the world to me, and Josh the financial person being more elusive (probably still calculating back and forth if they could really afford to hire their first employee and if so, whether it should be a small girl recently immigrated from Germany).

Company Bike Ride

The rest is history. What was supposed to be my first job interview ever turned into a really great conversation at Panera’s. You know the feeling you have at a first date and you go home knowing that’s it? How you can’t stop smiling and are so nervous to hear back from the guy if he wants to see you again. Yep, I kinda fell in love with greeNEWit that day and we are still inseparable.While things have been a little up and down success-wise over the past years, we never ever ran out of fun at work. When jobs were low, my “bosses” found me a side job at a partnering company. When things went well, they made sure that I still got the personal time and pay I needed to lead a balanced life.

Holiday Party 2011

Now we got a new big contract that is bringing in some good moneys, got me a nice raise, and a manager position that is still somewhat flexible to accommodate family life. At least every other week the whole company gets together for spontaneous or planned happy hours, Frisbee sessions, bike rides, birthday lunches, or other parties. I feel extremely lucky to have a job that I like and where every single coworker/boss is a really good friend that supports me and understands me on a personal level as well as on a professional level. Thank you guys for everything you have done for me and for making me look forward to work every morning!

Peace and love,

Nicola

Have you ever wished that a day had more than 24 hours? Or that your house would magically clean itself? Yes?  Then congratulations, you are perfectly human! Lucky you, cause if you were superhuman I would be seriously jealous right now. I think I would most definitely pass on other superpowers like flying, extra strength, or being unbreakable, if I could only get more stuff done in less time. Either way, what I’m trying to say is that getting life done requires some serious strategy and tricks up your rolled-up sleeves. Here is a collection of some easy strategies that I have developed over the past years that help me juggle life as a full-time working, part-time creative, neat-freakish, active person, and loving mother. (more…)

So I got a new toy this week and I’ve been playing with it. Its a new DSLR camera (Canon T2i) that has really nice low-light performance and really nice video quality. As you might tell from my last time-lapse video, I’ve been getting into the video editing scene. It’s been an area of digital art that I have never really played with because I never had the gear. My point and shoot camera shoots videos but the footage always comes out flat and the colors are not very faithful. Also there’s not a great zoom lens on that camera so after months of research and saving, I finally went out and picked up my very first DSLR. Don’t get me wrong, my Point and shoot will still stay within reach because of it’s portability and stellar still shots, but for video and zoom scenarios, thats where this new camera will shine. (more…)

My friend Magdalena regularly sends me a good magazine from Germany. It is called Neon and reports about topics that are of interest for people between 20 and 30. While there is one shallower section about fashion and lifestyle, it is more geared toward the educated crowd with a university degree and has sections on society, world, practical tips for every day life, love, work, friends, culture, etc. – overall a nice mix of interesting topics and I always enjoy reading it.

In the last issue there was an article about “Do you have the right job?”. It asked whether you are satisfied with what you are doing, if you should change your employer, and which are the factors that determine happiness with a job. (more…)