The new job

ok, ok.

i will finally take the time to make a post about what it's all about since people seem to be highly intrigued.

so i got a job offer from one of my robert allen clients. The company is called "Costandi Designs" (google it if you want but they have a pretty lack-lustre website. maybe that will be my first task haha).

The position the offered me is as a designer/decorator. plus they are looking into making some of their own small runs of fabrics, in which case i would be designing/co-ordinating that.

now, you may be asking yourself "but craft money- you have don't have any interior design experience or education"

and to that my response is: I KNOW.

I said to them:

"listen, you realize I have a background in sales/textile design, not interior design, right?"

but they didn't care.
They said they really like me and have been discussing it for awhile and that they would train me. They said that there is so much they will learn from me too and they think it is the perfect fit. (similar to what robert allen said when they hired me.)

The way their business works is that they have a retail showroom with fabrics, home decor, furniture, etc, and they also offer design services, as well as having an in-house work room (seamstress) and upholstery shop. (its actually down the road...they bought this HUGE old building that they will be converting into the business within 2 years.) They have some staff now, but initially they will be training me for home consultations. (AWESOME!) They are offering me salary plus commission, benefits, vacation pay, and a company car to use for consultations. The shitty thing is that it is about a 45 min drive to get there, but i will be doing some stuff locally that they can't take on right now, and i don't have to work on snow days. I also have to work every other saturday but i really don't mind.

I am unbelievably excited to be designing something every single day and to actually get paid for it. i can't believe someone is basically paying me to get an education in interior design (something which isn't offered anywhere in the maritimes- most people have to go away to get that education and then come back for work). I am also really excited to actually use the gorgeous fabrics I have been selling all year in creative applications which i normally wouldn't have been able to experience.

I got a ton of books from the library and am cramming hard so I at least have a certain level of comfort with some of the terminology and processes I will be learning as I go.

The really exciting thing about this job is that i will actually have some sort of fulfillment from it. i will get to make a difference in people's lives, because creating a space is to create a mood and mood is everything when it comes to quality of living.

as far as resigning went, i was incredibly nervous because not only is quitting nerve-racking enough, but this was my first formal resignation from a "career" job. I had 3 bosses I had to tell (ugh) but luckily it wasn't face to face since they're all in central Canada. The first one was the president of the company, and it was fine. the second my eastern canada boss, who tried to talk me out of it, and the last was the national sales manager who was disappointed, but said she saw it coming one way or another.

anyways 2008 was an incredible year for me. i didn't think things could get much better but apparently 2009 might prove me wrong. i start january 2nd. wish me luck.

xo