Why Facebook almost kept me from the career of my dreams!

I began working for Beauty Review nearly three years ago.  I can't imagine doing another job - this First Lady is going to be around for more than two terms.  But it almost wasn't to be.  Thanks to Facebook.  (I'm gonna hold this grudge for a longgggggg time)

Do you remember when you didn't get a notification if a message went to your Facebook 'Others' folder?  If you didn't remember to check it you wouldn't know if there was a message sitting in there or not.  Well 3 years ago my baby knocked my laptop touch-pad and opened my Others folder.  And thank goodness he did.  

Wait, lets rewind a bit more.  I discovered BR and joined as a member when I was a stay-at-home mum to the then nine month old Milky Chops.  It was (and still is) the perfect site to get you through late night feedings.  It's a great place to meet other Kiwi women in a similar situation.  It's a fabulous resource to make you feel less like a dead mummy and more like a yummy mummy.  

I got stuck in online like I never had before. I joined in discussions, I commented on articles and I reviewed products.  I even found myself making suggestions of ideas for the site I had during those 3am feeds.  I felt pretty darn special when Merilyn the founder of BR made an off hand comment about how I needed to keep on feeding Milky Chops because my ideas were great.

Have you guessed who the message in my Others folder was from yet?  Yes, it was a royal telegram from the Queen of BR.  I can remember it as clear as day. 

'Hey I hope you don't mind me messaging you, it's just you seem really on to it and I wondered if you'd like to do some work for me'.

I sat there having a bit 'whoa' for a minute and then I saw the date.  The message was FIVE days old.  Now in the days of snail mail, 5 days without a response was nothing to be offended by.  In modern times 5 days is a major snub.  Damn you Facebook.  Damn you.  Seriously, the developer back then didn't think...hmm they may like to know if someone's messaged them?  Really?!

I hurriedly replied, my fingers frantically flying across the keyboard, yes.  Yes.  YES.

One Skype call later and we'd both decided somethings are just meant to be.  You see what Queenie didn't know was that I had a lot of experience working online - I'd set up a clothing wholesaler's online store the year before I had my son.  I'm a confident writer.  I have a tenacious work ethic.  And what I didn't know was that Queenie was going to become my ultimate boss-crush.  She has a wealth of corporate experience, she's ballsy, she's confident, she's open to ideas and never closes the door on one without considering it from all angles.  I learn something from her every week and genuinely have yet to have a 'God my boss is annoying' moment.

So the moral of this diatribe (against Facebook, just to clarify)  If you like something online, if you connect with something, don't be afraid to join in.  Don't hang back and lurk - comment, share and learn from online communities you relate to.  Enjoy being a part of something that is constantly growing and evolving from the involvement of other humans.  You might not get a job out of it, but you'll be fulfilled in other ways.

And always, always check your messages.