Risks in my life have never been the way to go and nor have they ever been. I once did take a risk however and in the end it was worth it. I was thinking back to three years ago today and today is the anniversary of my graduation. There were events that led up to that that started with one risk that I felt was worth it at the end. I am pretty open about my past and one of the risks I took was transferring Target stores in 2014. At the beginning of the summer in 2014, I met with a friend of mine asking if I had ever thought of transferring stores. The store was closer to my house and it would save me more gas. I also thought about the long term ramifications as if I had left the store I would be not as sentimental about leaving. For example, if I had stayed my full seven years at the same Target store I would have felt the burden of leaving behind all my friends. I worked that summer with the thought in my head that it was time to transfer. I worked closely with my managers to make sure I had a smooth transition.
As the date got closer, I really started doubting the decision because now I would leave everyone behind. The friends that I did make there finally became apparent to me afterward. In retail, you make these acquaintances that you may think are your friends but then after you leave you start to see who your real friends are. I left that old Target store with my head held high but I also started getting emotional towards the end of my first night. I thanked everyone for the time they had spent with me and for their mentorship as well. I walked out knowing that I had made something good there and I started crying like a baby as I walked out. I sat in my car for close to 5 minutes thinking about the memories I had made there. I told myself right then and there that everything had been worth it. The hardships, the fun parts, the struggles, and everything in between. I remember driving to Smoke Eaters that night ready to eat something because I said to myself that would be my small meal that I would eat to celebrate this new phase in my life. No longer would I be commuting and struggling to get to work in San Jose and I would be closer to home. I sat at home and wondered about what the future would bring and thankfully I was off for the next 4 days. I started at my new store that Thursday and I realized right away how different everything was compared to my old Target store.
Everybody seemed older and there was a mix of younger as well. I started talking to a few team members and started getting my feet wet little by little. I saw this also as a new opportunity to learn with some new team members. I remember being approached if I ever wanted to enter an executive role as well and then I started seeing how everything was constructed and I realized that it was not worth it. The way that Target works is they like to recruit from within and see team members as being ready for that role as well. An executive is in charge of owning their area and making sure their team leaders have their planners up as well as making sure their aisles are full as well. I quickly learned at my new store that staying organized is one of the bigger problems at retail. You also learn to deal with people whether they are old or young. You see the good, bad, and the ugly. That was something that was worth it because you got to serve a completely new audience and a complete new kind of guest as well. No longer, were they the high strung client from Saratoga but now they were the working middle class from Sunnyvale. I had grown up in Sunnyvale so I knew a little about what the people were like there. As the months went by, I started to realize that my time to enter into the real world was rapidly approaching. I was close to being 27 years old and some of my friends at this age already had pretty stable jobs. I was going back and forth wondering what I was going to do next. I was working at Target one day and they implemented this new strategy where they wanted everything full at certain times of the day. One day, it was my turn and by all means it did not look the best. I got berated by one of our executives and it just so happens that is when I said this place may not be for me anymore. I started thinking what can come along or what can I do to change this new environment of mine. I did my best to keep my head up but everything just kept getting worst whether it was hours or the way we were all being treated. One day, I got a call from one of friends telling me about a position opening at Stanford and if you have read some of my previous posts, I ended up leaving Target soon thereafter.
In hindsight, this risk I took because my friend had told me about has led me to today. I would not be the same person I am today because I learned that going into new environments can be intimidating but that is what life if all about. Adapting and overcoming those obstacles and seeing what comes out of it. I can say for how my life is that I am grateful for what has happened because the ultimate lesson I learned from my transfer to another Target store was I learned those that stick by you pull through for you in the end. It doesn’t matter whether things are the best in the world or if they are the worst in the world, they will give the skin off their back in order for you to succeed. I saw the good in what happened and now I can look back and say my risk paid off. Yes, I did miss my co-workers but then I saw they are only that: co-workers. I made the analogy the other day with a good friend of mine “when in war, you only talk about war and then everything just ends”. I made my destiny with those changes and now I am looking forward to whatever life brings next.
Just Another Day... 