Embracing Change in 2024

It's a new year, and changes are already underway. I'm making a slight shift within my organisation ( Sand Technologies ) from the Global Brand team to the Community Experience team, after over 3 years of being with the former. The goalpost is virtually the same; I'll just be shooting from a different side of the field.

When I was asked last year what I thought about potentially making the shift, I said, "No. I don't think I need to move. These are my Brand Comms. people, and I believe that the Brand team is the place for me to grow ??." But ultimately, the choice wasn't up to me. Duty called, gaps needed to be filled, and it wasn't about me. So the transition became official.

Despite my love for working in small companies and my peculiar relationship with the mix of excitement and anxiety that comes with their shifting priorities, the planner in me still struggles with change. A lot!

However, this experience has taught me about letting go of the old and embracing the new. I'm reminded to trust in God's good plans for me, and then in my managers', and to trust my team.

Once I was able to change my perspective in this way, I felt lighter. I could confidently introduce myself as a part of the Community team. The night we gathered to have dinner in teams, I sat with my new team and had the time of my life! I enjoyed amazing discussions with badass women ( Naima McLean , Marine Dalais , Winnie Amwai , Bernadette Gibbons , and Kutchi Katatumba ) who are killing it as mothers and in their corporate roles; I witnessed the strong sense of family within the team (Seth Busolo, Nyanyo Wong, Abel Kayakih, Shubhda Gujadhur, Usman Lusene Kromah and Samir Khan) as they exchanged Secret Santa gifts among themselves, and it warmed my heart to see them pour their emotions out to one another, sharing in each other's victories and sorrows. In that moment, I felt at home, and found myself thinking, "I really like these people". This is not to dismiss my former team at all; it's just evidence that we truly have great people working all across SAND, and change doesn't have to feel scary. You're always in safe hands.

Interestingly, as I get up to speed with my new priorities, I'm realising that there isn't much that's changing at all. I'll be doing very similar work — designing community content for our blog that will need to be amplified across teams and channels, supporting cities to share local stories, and now, more than ever, working much closer with the Fellowship team to reach our placement and community engagement goals.

With the Global Brand team, I'll still connect with Tony Camme on how we should sound as a brand and effectively communicate with our audience; I'll continue collaborating with Jason Janse van Rensburg , Eric Mwangi and Nyambura Murigi on how we can align our content across our communication channels; Nhlanhla Justice Vilakazi and I will maintain our work on an exciting side project for ALX; and Thapelo Anthony Motsumi and Adlina Hamid-Yeow can be sure I'll be in their DMs bugging them about bugs on our website ??. I'll forever cherish the guidance and support of my leads — Caryn Thandi Petersen , Eileen M. and Kuda Mangwe . I will carry the learnings I've gleaned from working with them over the years with me as I move along in the org and, really, in my entire career journey.

So this is not goodbye at all. This is just hello from the other side ??.