On the road again...

...don't know where we're goin', don't know where we've been...

Okay, we do know where we're going, I just love singing that song. We're headed to Rochester, MN. So for all of you who don't know MN geography...or you New Yorkers who don't know American geography*, Rochester is 80 miles southeast of Minneapolis and home to Mayo Clinic, my new employer.

Yup, another new job. I know I just changed last year...in fact my last day at this job will be on my 1 year anniversary.  A couple of months ago the development officer I know at Mayo Clinic called me to see if I'd be interested in a position there. I said yes right away. At my last job I met with other national fundraising organizations once a year to brainstorm and get ideas. Mayo Clinic was one of them. Thanks to those meetings I know the team I'll be working with, and I understand their program pretty well. I feel like I know what I'm getting into this time around! After 2 long interviews, essay assignments, and a background check I got the offer. We had a lot to consider but we feel this is the right move, especially since Chris's job will let him telecommute and Rochester has a lot to offer a young family.

For my high school/college friends and possibly even some family members who don't know what I do, I'm in direct response fundraising. You know when you get those mail pieces with labels in them, or that telefundraising call or email solicitations? That's me. I help manage the strategy, production and data analytics for all those things. You'd be surprised how many people are involved in getting that one piece in your mail box and making sure it was a successful fundraising mailing. It actually is really fun for me, but I often find discussing it with people not in the business, I get dazed glassy stares pretty quickly. So I've been in various parts of this industry since I graduated college and have worked with some really great people who have helped me along right from the beginning when I got the data entry job. Of course, I only planned to do the data entry until I realized my goal of  breaking into the publishing world and moved to NYC to live in a birdcage-size apartment.

Funny where life takes you, isn't it? I can tell you I had a lot of "nevers" when I graduated college. Never live in a small town or suburb, never have a car, never have kids (that's the worst one to think about). It's a very good thing I've changed my mind on all those "nevers." And despite some people's attitudes about Rochester, it does have 100,000 people---35,000 are Mayo employees, many recruited from around the nation and world--so it really isn't a small town. I mean it isn't like I'm going back to Sierra Vista.

So on to the next adventure! Anyone want to rent a cute bungalow in Minneapolis?

*This is not a stereotype. I had 3 coworkers in NY ask me where Minnesota was when we were moving here.