I Was A Kozmo Girl

Are you where you planned to be in your career and life? 

If you’re anything like me, some of the major events in your life were planned but likely quite a few were accidental. That certainly was my case. I dreamed of becoming a psychologist but that isn’t where life took me. Instead, I took a different route (or the S Curves as my best friend called it), by way of a lime green sequined mini skirt, a 15+ year career in HR, and finally, to my current beloved role as a life and career coach for Gen X professional women.

  How? Well, let me tell you about it.  

 I graduated from college from Antioch University's BA Completion Program a couple of months before turning 30 with my five-year-old daughter in hand but struggled to find a job using my college degree. I was fiercely determined to not go back to work in restaurants where I'd worked since I was 15 years old and wanted to put that part of my life behind me. So, even though I needed money badly, I resisted going back to back to bartending because I was afraid if I did I might never have the courage to leave. 

Luckily for me, Heather, my best friend from high school, knew what was going on and that I was desperate since it was right before the holidays and I had a little kid. She had a delivery job as a bike messenger at Kozmo.com, one of the first internet delivery companies around, and offered to help me get a job for the Christmas season, and then I could go back to obsessing to find my "perfect job." 

I got the job and let me tell you, the job was not glamorous. Truth be told, I would be delivering DVDs and ice cream in my car to people’s homes...not something I was thrilled about because I worried that the customers could be the parents of my daughter’s private school friends where she attended with a scholarship. I was secretly horrified to be seen as a delivery driver but I needed to pay the bills. I don't know why I thought bartending was better than delivery driving, but I did nonetheless. Too bad I didn't know the evils about comparison like I do now-instead, I let those fears eat me up.

How does this relate to accidental careers, the S curves of life, and a lime green mini skirt, you ask?  Well, on my first day of work, the marketing team came out “into the pit” and asked all the female drivers if any of us wore a size 6. I'm a feminist and was quick to ask why because this was NOT a reasonable question to ask women. However, when they said that they needed some Kozmo elves to work at Winterfest at the Seattle Center for the entire month of December, I lept out of my seat! You might recall that I was not excited to see my daughter’s friend’s parents see me deliver their ice cream and DVDs at their front doors so I jumped at the chance to escape my imagined horrifying fate even if it meant admitting to wearing a size 6.

Long story short, I showed up to work the entire month of December in lime green spandex leggings, top, glitter skirt, tennies, and even a lime green Santa hat in downtown Seattle streets and the Seattle Center in order to escape delivery driving. I even had a cameo in Kiplinger's Magazine as the Kozmo Girl, shockingly, since I was the only person at the photoshoot with kid in tow-again-and older than most as well as tired and burnt out from trying to make things all work out as a single mom and low wage earner. As strange as this experience was, it was actually kind of fun and I got to be a kid again celebrating Christmas with other elves.

Fortunately for me, my flexibility, focus and persistence paid off because, by the end of the holiday season, the Kozmo.com office team offered me a chance to work with the talent management team. Of course, I said yes, and this crazy twist of fate became the happy accident that sent me along the path of my HR career...not what kept me there but was certainly the catalyst that set the next twenty years in motion.

At this point in my career, I'm thankful for the accidents but feel like I owe it to myself to take a different approach in my career. I'm proud of what I've accomplished over my career and loved the people and companies I've worked with but I've found that I want this next phase of my life to be more intentional and less accidental. In this next phase, I want to commit work and a life where I find the most joy, value, and meaning.

For me, that's coaching and I feel so lucky to be able to do this work. And you know what, I think being a coach is even more perfect for me than a career in psychology.

If this resonates with you and you’re finding yourself wanting to make some changes in your life or career, I’d love to talk with you. Send me a private message or book some time with me to see if we might be a good fit.

https://www.devonyboyle.com/work-with-me/