In a few weeks, I’ll hit three years at Dove Technology. Three years in a job I wasn’t even sure I’d keep—one I never expected to have in the first place.

Back in early 2019, I was working from home when the call came. Budget cuts. Restructuring. The usual corporate shuffle, except this time, I was one of the pieces being moved off the board. Seven years at Busy Bees Nurseries, gone in a moment. First thing I did was call my fiancée—then girlfriend—because who else do you call when your stomach drops out from under you? I wasn’t in a position to lose my job, not even close. Rent, bills, life—it all kept moving, and I had to keep up.

The Dove Technology job came fast. Warehouse work. Hard labor. Long hours on my feet, handling roofing adhesive and whatever else needed moving. The first day was brutal. My body wasn’t built for this kind of work, and I went home sore, exhausted, and wondering how long I could actually keep it up. A year later, I had my answer: I was drained. Unmotivated. I knew where my strengths were, and they weren’t in shifting heavy boxes.

So, I made a decision. I went straight to the CEO and told him I’d be looking for a new job. If I was going to put in the hours, they needed to count for something. A week later, I was pulled aside with a different offer. They weren’t sure what I could bring to the table, but they were willing to let me work with the sales director and start taking over some of his responsibilities. It wasn’t exactly a design role at first, but it was a door. And that was enough.

Since then, I’ve taken on design, in-house printing, product labels, marketing materials—anything that needs to be created, I make it happen. Every day is a learning experience, and if I don’t know something, I find out. YouTube, Skillshare, trial and error. Whatever it takes.

The biggest frustration? Communication. It’s better than it was, but there’s always a gap between what people think they need and what actually works. The thing that keeps me excited? Creating. Whether it’s new designs for our customers or figuring out how to strengthen our presence on LinkedIn, I love the process of making something from nothing.

Right now, I’m expanding beyond design. I’ve been working more with IT infrastructure and security, taking a 10-week college course alongside a colleague who manages IT. It’s a new challenge, a different way of thinking—but that’s how I’ve always worked. Adapt, learn, improve. By 2025, I want to be sharper, more efficient, and more organized. And if there’s one thing I’ve learned in the past few years, it’s this: if you want a better role, sometimes you have to carve it out yourself.