Part Three of Four: Noreen Five Years Later
Noreen had just left the jungles in Belize with her husband, landing in Toronto with only $120.00 in her pocket. She needed money and needed it fast. A software company was looking for a writer editor who knew HTML. Noreen had no clue about HTML but she did know about writing and editing.
The day of the interview, Noreen was ready. Her brother, an engineer, would talk about HTML at family get-togethers because that was his line of work, so she knew enough about it to flub her way through the interview.
The interview went so well that they hired Noreen on the spot. She was shocked! She bought a Learn HTML in a Week For Idiots book and surprised herself at how well she did in the job. She stayed in that position for a year and then moved on to do a bit of high tech PR. But something was missing. She longed to get back into writing and journalism.
One day, Noreen was looking through the Globe newspaper and there was a job for Flare Magazine looking for a health editor. Noreen knew she didn't want to do PR, and certainly not high tech PR. Really, she was doing what she had to do to feed herself.
She thought, ok, I am going to use that nursing card. She had been waiting for the right moment to slap that down on the table. That was a key advantage she had over all the other applicants for the job. Nursing really was the ace up her sleeve for that particular moment.
All these years, she thought that in her past she had taken a misstep but, she really hadn't, because it had helped her get the job at Flare.
After three amazing years, Noreen moved over to Elle Canada and she has been there since the second issue.
It took hard work and perseverance, but she finally climbed her way up to becoming the Editor-in-Chief of the magazine.
Noreen attributed some of the reasons she got her new position at the magazine were that she was very good at setting priorities, knowing when to panic and not to panic. She was always able to adjust to changes. She credited this strength to when she was working in the emergency department at Vancouver General in the Emergency Psychiatry Unit. There was no way to plan your day in the emergency department. The day unfolds as it unfolds, so it's very good training for life.
There were those key moments when she had to rise to the occasion and get something done immediately. You know other things aren't as important and you don't need to panic about that. So Noreen brought that calm, pragmatic sensibility to her work at Elle Canada.
In fact, everyone at work was always surprised that she was so calm and they would reason, well, if Noreen isn't panicking, then no one has to panic.
It was the last day and deadline for a new issue of the magazine. Elle's art director was away and Noreen had hired a woman to fill in for her.
"Jennifer, have you seen the temp art director?" Noreen asked in the calm manner that she was known to have.
"No, I remember her leaving on lunch, but that was about two hours ago," Jennifer said.
"Oh, my goodness, where is she?" Noreen's voice was just slightly raised.
Jennifer, the junior editor, knew to panic at this point because Noreen had never before acted this worried. Thankfully, they were able to pull it all together.
The next day, Noreen sat in her office flipping through the glossy pages of one of the Elle Canada magazines on her desk. It was beautiful, playful, creative, and inspirational. She breathed in a long, happy sigh. She loved what she did, even though it could be stressful at times. She knew that it wasn't always like that. Reflecting back to when she was a nurse, every day she was surrounded by very tragic circumstances. She remembered being immersed in these circumstances twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. Now she got to be immersed in this, creating a readable party. That is what she feels Elle Canada magazine is and appreciates the sweetness of the difference!
The day of the interview, Noreen was ready. Her brother, an engineer, would talk about HTML at family get-togethers because that was his line of work, so she knew enough about it to flub her way through the interview.
The interview went so well that they hired Noreen on the spot. She was shocked! She bought a Learn HTML in a Week For Idiots book and surprised herself at how well she did in the job. She stayed in that position for a year and then moved on to do a bit of high tech PR. But something was missing. She longed to get back into writing and journalism.
One day, Noreen was looking through the Globe newspaper and there was a job for Flare Magazine looking for a health editor. Noreen knew she didn't want to do PR, and certainly not high tech PR. Really, she was doing what she had to do to feed herself.
She thought, ok, I am going to use that nursing card. She had been waiting for the right moment to slap that down on the table. That was a key advantage she had over all the other applicants for the job. Nursing really was the ace up her sleeve for that particular moment.
All these years, she thought that in her past she had taken a misstep but, she really hadn't, because it had helped her get the job at Flare.
After three amazing years, Noreen moved over to Elle Canada and she has been there since the second issue.
It took hard work and perseverance, but she finally climbed her way up to becoming the Editor-in-Chief of the magazine.
Noreen attributed some of the reasons she got her new position at the magazine were that she was very good at setting priorities, knowing when to panic and not to panic. She was always able to adjust to changes. She credited this strength to when she was working in the emergency department at Vancouver General in the Emergency Psychiatry Unit. There was no way to plan your day in the emergency department. The day unfolds as it unfolds, so it's very good training for life.
There were those key moments when she had to rise to the occasion and get something done immediately. You know other things aren't as important and you don't need to panic about that. So Noreen brought that calm, pragmatic sensibility to her work at Elle Canada.
In fact, everyone at work was always surprised that she was so calm and they would reason, well, if Noreen isn't panicking, then no one has to panic.
It was the last day and deadline for a new issue of the magazine. Elle's art director was away and Noreen had hired a woman to fill in for her.
"Jennifer, have you seen the temp art director?" Noreen asked in the calm manner that she was known to have.
"No, I remember her leaving on lunch, but that was about two hours ago," Jennifer said.
"Oh, my goodness, where is she?" Noreen's voice was just slightly raised.
Jennifer, the junior editor, knew to panic at this point because Noreen had never before acted this worried. Thankfully, they were able to pull it all together.
The next day, Noreen sat in her office flipping through the glossy pages of one of the Elle Canada magazines on her desk. It was beautiful, playful, creative, and inspirational. She breathed in a long, happy sigh. She loved what she did, even though it could be stressful at times. She knew that it wasn't always like that. Reflecting back to when she was a nurse, every day she was surrounded by very tragic circumstances. She remembered being immersed in these circumstances twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. Now she got to be immersed in this, creating a readable party. That is what she feels Elle Canada magazine is and appreciates the sweetness of the difference!
xoxo Entrepreneur Girl
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