do what you love..

love what you do. Sure it's the moto of the "Life is Good" brand but it's words to live by if you think about it. And I've had the chance to to think about it A LOT lately.  You see dear readers, I ventured to the dark side recently. I knew it could go badly but I did it anyway. Figuring, what the heck? What do I have to lose really. So ....yes.  I applied for a full time job in corporate America. Now you may be asking yourself, "WTF? Didn't yogagirl quit her full time career type job to teach fitness for a living because she loves it so much?" And you would be correct. It's just sometimes I get a little freaked out about future stability and when I actually *do* see a full time job with benefits, sick time, vacation, and retirement options that even remotely includes the word "fitness" in the job description? I tend to jump at it. Like a wild dog. Towards meat hanging on a hook. Without really sitting back and thinking things through to the fullest extent.

The job in question entailed designing fitness and activity programs for corporate owned senior living rental communities across North America (including Canada).  However it was home office based (in Salem Oregon just 15 miles from my house) and didn't really involve any hands-on day to day fitness teaching or programming. Truth be told, much of the job description sounded more like a 'party planner' than a "fitness development coordinator". I sailed through the first interview and was actually pleasantly surprised with the company, despite the fact their office building was decorated like a high end nursing home circa 1985 (complete with baby pink walls and white marble floors. I would even guess you could find some of those cutsey Thomas Kinkaid lit-up cottage paintings hiding on walls somewhere). Plus the $$ was in a smokin' hot salary range of $40-50K per year.  However, I was ever so slightly concerned because the team I interviewed with consisted of all women and in fact during that entire tour and interview I only saw one male employee that day. Surely not an insurmountable problem, but one I was a little wary of. Have any of you ever worked with ALL women? It can be very UN-pretty.

The next afternoon I got a call back for a 2nd interview with the vice president and I was also invited to a "bean bag baseball" event between many of the local Oregon senior communities. A chance to see the company 'in action' and see the type of event I would be expected to coordinate.  It was Wednesdsay and the 2nd interview was to follow on Thursday afternoon. I arrived around lunch time and was introduced to the "team" again and then I was promptly introduced to the OTHER two candidates that were applying for the job. Can you say awkward? I knew you could. Now in the past sure there have been times I've left an interview and maybe seen a competitor in the elevator or waiting in the lobby for their interview but NEVER have I been introduced to them face to face. This took me by surprise and it took me back a bit. Was this just a coincidence because of the local event? Or was this a common practice with this company? To me? This seemed really strange and downright unprofessional.  Again .. just another little red flag for me. At that point, we were told to "mill around", chat with seniors, talk to employees and check out the activities. Okay. All fine and good but to be spied on and judged while doing that? Very disconcerting. Then when the VP emerged I was called over again and introduced to her in the presence of the other two candidates. Literally candidate #1 shook her hand, then me, then candidate #3. I exchanged pleasantries and told her I was looking forward to our meeting the next day and left it at that. I felt it a little ridiculous to stand there and compete with the other 2 candidates for "who's who in the stupid small talk olympics". But thinking back? Maybe that was taken badly. I seriously don't know. I stayed for approximately 2 hours. I spoke to quite a few people and learned a lot about the company. I also learned you can play baseball without ever throwing a ball or batting at it, but that's another story entirely.

The 2nd interview started out well. You know that feeling you have when you've captured someone's attention and they are hanging on your every word? Like what you are saying is really groovy and they dig you? And you RULE? Yeah. It was like that. Then somewhere around the middle of the interview it got weird. I honestly don't know what I did or said but it went cold. Like someboy had just turned a switch off. Perhaps it was when the line of questioning turned and I was asked "so seeing our event yesterday how would you plan the same type of thing differently? What would you do to make it better?"  Uh. Nice loaded question. Criticize and come off like a jerk, or say everything was perfect and look like an idiot that wouldn't know how to handle the job.  It pretty much continued on from there. They asked, "Describe an event you coordinated in the past, how you met deadlines, how you performed in a team and how the project turned out".  Granted,  I had answers for everything they asked but I left feeling very odd.  Like somehow I was missing their "mark" entirely.  I even called Mr. Yogagirl on the way home and told him that I felt SO weird about it, that even if I was offered the job?? I didn't think I wanted it. One question that stuck out in my mind? Came after I expounded on the fact that I love teaching fitness classes. Love personal interaction with people on a daily basis. Love being an educator and motivator. It was followed up with this: "And how exactly do you think you would touch and interact with all of our 35000+ residents across North America on a daily basis?"  Well......from a desk at the home office? I seriously didn't have a quick or whitty answer. Thinking back? I have a sneaking suspicion that was the point I was supposed to regurgitate the company's mission statement word for word back to them but I didn't. And in retrospect,  it makes sense that I couldn't answer. I can't do what I LOVE to do from a desk or a telephone. And I didn't get the job either. In fact? Nobody got the job. They ditched all the 2nd interview candidates and reposted the job.

Which? Trust me. It's totally okay. Because honestly? I truly do what I love and I DO love what I do. Sure the $$ would have been great but if $$ was what life was about? We never would have packed up and left Texas to come home to Oregon. And I never would have left the security of my old job in the lab in the first place. Today...I love my job. I love the flexibilty it affords me in my day. I love teaching fitness, I love helping people live longer and better lives. And I'm good at what I do.  I guess in a way I needed to go through this pointless job interview process to reaffirm that. But......

Next time I'm tempted to the dark side? I'll just put on my "There's no place like Ohm" Life is Good T-shirt and call it a day.