This is a story of an unexpected career switch
Ever since I was little my days consisted of drawing / painting / dancing / acting / writing, basically “creating” in one word. I remember designing a class newspaper in elementary school every month, no one asked me to, I just thought we needed one. I was designing protest posters, thinking it could end war and hanging them in the local grocery stores, a bit naive, yes. The point being, becoming a graphic designer was a logical step. One I didn’t even need to think about twice.
After graduating I worked for several production companies, creative agencies and marketing companies, mostly as a freelancer. Being self employed has its perks, flexibility and being your own boss to name a few. But along with this also: working on the weekend and all my holidays (workations sound more glamorous than they actually are).
I started noticing that some of the skills I developed as a freelancer were skills that weren’t necessarily related to graphic design. I was managing my own time, administration, communication and I was leading a team of freelancers too. On top of that I started missing having coworkers. (the strangers sipping coffee next to me in a café weren’t the same as actual colleagues, and I couldn’t vent to them about Mark making the 10.000th design change and Rosa sending me the company logo as a powerpoint file (yikes))
It was time for a change! What/where and how I wasn’t sure yet. Trough a friend I got to learn about Bynder and how they were looking for a new office manager in the Barcelona office. I never really thought about becoming an office manager but going through the job description I figured it could be something I could enjoy and hopefully be good at too.
Every job interview I had made more and more excited about getting the job and getting started too.
I immediately noticed how positively people spoke of Bynder. When I learned more about how Bynder works I was pleasantly surprised about how open the communication is. It almost sounded too good to be true. I mean, how much can people actually like their job or office? Well I came to find that it wasn’t just an empty sales pitch. I came to learn that people actually like to work here and that there’s a reason why people tend to stay many years in their jobs.
I wouldn’t be writing this blogpost I it weren’t for me getting the job. Hurray!
As I stepped into Bynder's Barcelona office for the first time, I felt a twinge of nervousness. After years of working as a graphic designer, I had accepted the position of office manager, eager for a new challenge.
My first few days were a blur of meetings and introductions, trying to remember faces and names and a thousand things to learn. It was challenging to be the go-to person for questions while not knowing the answers myself yet. But even though there were occasional hiccups along the way, I was learning more and more every day (and still am!). Thanks to Sabrina and the team who made it easier to adapt to a completely new role. As I settled into my new role, I came to realize that the office floor is a mini society with many faces and voices, I find it very interesting to be surrounded by new personalities and to see the little things you would otherwise miss, as for many years I spoke to clients from a safe distance behind computer screens.
I loved going to the bootcamp as it’s so useful to get to know the product and all the teams. From that week onwards I became a real representative of Bynder, talking with more clarity about what Bynder is and always speaking which much excitement when I tell friends and family about it.
Looking back on those first weeks at Bynder, I think I learned to be more patient with myself as people have been patient with me too. One of the things I appreciate most is that there is freedom to make the job your own. There’s support if you need it, but it’s you who designs the outcome.
Throughout the years, creating things from scratch has been the main theme and I would love to take that with me in my new role. To create a warm and a comfortable workspace and to add colour wherever I can. Maybe graphic design and office management aren’t so different after all.
Esther
