VP of Media: IttyBiz.com
September 21st, 2009How I got an awesome job: the first.
In February, I read this article, Things, Chains, and Changing the Fucking World and fell madly in respect for Naomi Dunford of IttyBiz.com. I’ve been reading her blog ever since. (And following her on Twitter.)
A few weeks ago, she wrote a post about feeling powerless when her electricity got shut off (due to negligent former tenants), and the gut-wrenching experience of having to explain to her 3 year old son why there was no power and that why no repairman wanted to come fix them on a long weekend.
This story really moved me. I know from her blog that Naomi recently relocated to Toronto. I was looking for work and had plenty of time on my hands. I wrote an email, explained who I was, that I had plenty of experience working with kids, that I’m new to Toronto, and looking for meaningful things to do. “Can I help?” I sent this to Naomi’s assistant. Two weeks passed and I didn’t hear back.
Then I saw Naomi’s Twitter post “Just got fired from 2nd potential daycare w/o even meeting us. Can somebody please come to my house and be a nanny? Or intern?”
I replied, “Seriously? I applied for that position 2 weeks ago. I’ll hop on the TTC and be there this afternoon.” “Nanny and Intern.”
Of course, she thought I was kidding. “Please tell me you’re joking. Because if you’re not, that means somehow I missed that email, which is a tragedy.”
I direct messaged her for the appropriate address, and resent my email. It turns out the assistant I sent it to no longer works for her, and my email was lost in limbo.
That afternoon we spoke on the phone for an hour, and then that evening we met at a Starbucks and talked further. Later that week, I met the little man of her life, and now he and I hang out every afternoon. (Did I mention he is gluten-free, lactose intolerant, and irresistibly adorable? We’ve got ALL KINDS of things in common.)
A large part of Naomi’s business involves digital audio: she delivers teleconferences and creates audio books. Lucky me, there was a vacancy on her team for an audio wizard. Fortune smiles on us both. I’ve been hired to do things I love: play with/mentor the little guy and make her audio sound magical. She netted herself a nanny/audio-engineer/jingle-writer. That’s quite a mess to put on my office door, so we’ve settled on the title VP of Media.
I still feel like I don’t completely get Twitter. The way people buzz about it, I feel like there must be something I’m missing. But after this story, I can attest that it does provide for new ways to connect and communicate. In my situation, it got me an interview and a job with a blogger I have tremendous respect for.
If you don’t believe me, here is Naomi’s version of our awesome story.
Posted in Unbelievable Until It Happened | Comments (3)
September 26th, 2009 at 4:07 am
I seem to have missed this post, so my apologies, but Joel, this is fantastic! Wow, what an opportunity.
This inspires me to send out emails to people for jobs unrelated to audio, and hope for the best. I kid, but only kinda.
September 26th, 2009 at 8:17 am
Thanks a lot, Jordan!
I watched a lecture once about “the power of the query letter.” It was given by a high school teacher who would basically send query letters anywhere her kids wanted to go intern. She had an excellent on-going reputation with SNL. Every year, she would send a handful of kids to New York City (from Kingston, ON) to PA on set for a couple of weeks. That’s crazy. And she said all it took to open that door was to write a polite query letter.
Nice gravatar, btw.
September 30th, 2009 at 6:17 pm
Hi Joel,
What an amazing story! Congratulations!
I’m so happy for you!