A Graceful Landing

I have never been a conventional female. I consider myself to be a free-spirited wanderer, who values independence and liberal thought. I enjoy heated debates and tend to frown on social convention and its rigors. Thus, it was my natural inclination to live a life “different” from the rest of the world.

For the last 5 years, I have traveled and lived an unconventional lifestyle as a Flight Attendant a.k.a "Stewardess.” As a flight attendant, each day was a different adventure. There were days I would wake up at 3pm to start my day, and then stumble into my hotel room in the opposite coast, just as dawn broke. One winter day, I woke up to the sound of the Pacific Ocean waves hitting the beaches of Zihuatanejo, Mexico and fell asleep that evening as snow fell in the quaint city of Calgary in Canada. Many times, I would wake up in the middle of the night and forget where I was! For the most part, my life was a whirlwind. I was on vacation for half the year... traveling 1-2 months around Southeast Asia, taking long weekend trips around the East Coast, bouncing up and down the West Coast.

Finally after 5 or so years of living this nomadic, carefree life, the novelty had worn off and I felt a burgeoning desire to stay at home and have a stable life. I was exhausted from this erratic, jet-lagged, crazy lifestyle and I was ready to stop living on the road. As luck would have it, a great job opportunity fell into my lap.

The serendipitous moment arrived when my sister mentioned a job opening at a social networking website company where she worked: hi5, Networks Inc. I consider myself a social networking power user, fueled by having many close friends scattered throughout the world.

Although still unsure of my desire to join the “Corporate World,” I decided to give it a chance and, thanks to my good luck, they gave me an opportunity to join their team. hi5 is currently ranked as a top 20 website and is the #1 social network in 26 countries across the world. As the Executive Assistant at hi5, I have the privilege of working with incredibly smart, talented individuals. My coworkers inspire and motivate me to give 200% to my job and produce the best work that I can. I believe in the hi5 team, our product, and the future of this company.

Nowadays, I walk around with Joie de Vivre. Each day is an exciting opportunity for me to learn, to enhance my personal growth, and to get my creative juices flowing. Living in the "real" world and getting a "real" job has done wonders for me. I’m actually excited to wake up in the morning and I’m eager to go to work! Time flies when you're having fun, and my hi5 coworkers make our offices in SOMA a really fun place to be at!

Although I have many fond memories from my previous career, I do not look back longingly, on the roller coaster life I once had. Instead, I am eager to move forward and see what the lovely future, with my new career, has in store for me. After flying freely as a bird (or an airplane?) for many years, I am happy to have landed gracefully in the most beautiful city in the world: San Francisco. After a long journey around the world, I have finally landed... I have come home.