I'm on the pursuit of happiness

On April 5, I made the tough decision to quit my job. I truly LOVED the people I partnered with and the contribution I made to the organization. As Program Manager of Learning and Development, my mission was to serve the people. I designed the sales enablement strategy for International Expansion's global GTM employees (800+ employees across 30+ countries). Sadly, while I adored the work I was doing, I recognized that I was not the best version of myself while I was at Amazon. I had lost my happiness.

What a terrifying realization that was. Throughout the decision making process, my dear Dad asked, "Are you sure you know what you're doing?" (As a matter of fact, sir, I am building the plane as I fly it ??) Once I made my decision, I started to worry: there are over 1 million employees at Amazon - does this mean there is something wrong with me? Am I broken?? Am I failure??? After much soul searching, I know the answer to all these questions is a resounding and emphatic NO. Not everything works for everybody, and that was a jagged little pill to swallow.

While my mind was busy telling me that nobody likes a quitter, and that I was weak for not sticking out my commitment to the job, my heart firmly reminded me that my most important commitment was to myself.

The past 5 weeks, I've intentionally committed to rediscovering personal joy by doing the things I love most:

1. UpLift 's BetterUp conference in San Francisco served up some great reminders:

? Action-based, measurable DEI programs remain essential to workplace evolution. Strategic practices, goals and metrics must be transparent to the organization to create long-term change.(Quinetta Roberson and Dalana Brand )

? The best (work) environments are ones where you're working hard on something that matters and being encouraged to thrive, all while having fun. (Mindy Kaling and Adam Grant )

? True behaviour change is identity change. Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become. ( James Clear )

? Absence makes the heart grow fonder. Seeing Vicki Lyons , Pat Wadors , Veronica Murillo and Meghan Wersel in person again made my heart so warm. See you next time Ernesto Garza and Lance Monaco !)

2. The Workhuman *live conference in Austin allowed me to network with incredibly passionate HR and learning professionals:

? Hamza Khan challenged us to revatilize our modern workplaces. Transparency, openness, understanding, compassion, and humility should be your foundation, because what is good for the people is good for the mission. (Hamza is such a captivating speaker - and a Torontonian to boot!)

? Eric M. Bailey shared that while very high standards are great for motivation, they can be terrible for long-term self-esteem. Find joy in your ability to fail and celebrate that you still have more to learn.

? Tamarah Duperval-Brownlee, MD, MPH, MBA, FAAFP enforced that the health of the business is directly and intrically tied to the health of its people. Aligning recognition with well-being strategies supports the whole human.

? Networking with Neeta Jain , Jenn Lofgren CPHR, MCC, ICD.D , and Shawn Gibson P.Eng, PCC and Jevon Wooden, MBA, ACC?? has been humbling, encouraging, and validating. And Elizabeth Pyjov, JD MTS 's compassion meditations created moments of gratitude, self-awareness, and joy.

3. Prioritizing my health is my new my non-negotiable. Regular physical activity is positively impacting my mental state, and I've also started a daily meditation practice. Calm has been central to this shift. Jay Shetty 's Daily Calm sessions have helped me embrace contemplative curiosity, Tamara Levitt 's mindful walking tracks are deeply calming, and their sleep stories work every single time. I also celebrated my funemployment with a solo beach vacation. Solitude opens my mind to possibilities and provides space for me to tap into my creativity (I wrote the majority of this post poolside). Sitting by and with yourself is something I think everyone should do often.

CHOOSING to learn, relax, and create a space for growth is helping me reawaken my best self, which will in turn allow me to do my best work.

Thank you, Amazon, for providing me with the opportunity to engage so meaningfully with employees all over the world. To my former Amazonian peers, I will keep cheering you on by sending you love, laughs, and stupid memes ?? While I'm no longer an Amazonian, I will continue to embrace Amazon's leadership principles (LPs) wherever I go, mainly:

? Customer obsession: "Leaders start with the customer and work backwards. They work vigorously to earn and keep customer trust." My customers were my fellow employees, and their trust and and needs anchored the business decisions I made. Employee voice motivated my work, and I found benefit of using 1:1s, 1:many, and org-wide surveys to understand our opportunities for innovation and conduct thorough needs analyses.

? Invent and simplify: "Leaders expect and require innovation and invention from their teams and always find ways to simplify." Often, there are projects, tiger teams, councils, and committees working to accomplish the same goals. Overlap can create mess and leave people questioning their contributions. I love to assess, dismantle, and create simplicity to support business alignment. I'm not afraid to try something new, and if it doesn't work, take those learnings to rebuild.

? Learn and be curious: "Leaders are never done learning and always seek to improve themselves. They are curious about new possibilities and act to explore them." Not having an ads or marketing background required me to learn, and learn fast. I think that in my first 90 days, I used the phrase, "Quick question for you... What does X mean?" more times than I can count. It's humbling to not have all the answers, but very exciting when you start to grasp something new.

? My personal favourite LP was Strive to be Earth’s Best Employer: "Leaders work every day to create a safer, more productive, higher performing, more diverse, and more just work environment. They lead with empathy, have fun at work, and make it easy for others to have fun." In my work, psychological safety is sacred. When people feel safe, seen, and heard, they are free to be their authentic selves, which allows them to make their best contributions and achieve business goals. It all starts with recognizing and celebrating their humanity. You can't be the best employer of you're not acting in service of the individuals you rely on to achieve your business goals.

Now, for my calls to action: if you're an employee who feels stuck or scared to make a change (especially in this market because it's b-a-n-a-n-a-s out there, y'all!), I'm happy to share resources that have helped me. If your organization wants someone who cares deeply about people and employee culture, I'm available to accelerate your work. I am a:

? Program manager of multi-year learning roadmaps aligned to ROI acceleration. My bias for action helps me take risks, iterate on learnings, and assess results against business outcomes;

? Diversity, equity, and inclusion champion, able to simplify expansive topics into understandable concepts paired with actionable steps to drive meaningful change;

? Facilitator, trainer and coach who comfortably engages global internal employees and external customers of all seniorities. Specializations include sales and business skills, optimal product usage, social media presence, and DEI topics both in person and virtually;

? Believer that company culture shapes employee experience and I'm not afraid to challenge the status quo. Innovation can be found when we create new things, but should also stem from a more simplified and direct experience; and,

? Someone who uses pop culture, music, and Housewives references to create a sense of cameraderie, psychological safety and levity. If you'd like to learn more about me, I'm open to widening my network and meeting new people!

I'll leave you with this final thought:

"'I quit' is the most powerful phrase in the English language. It means a massive change is about to happen." I'm ready for change, and excited to see what the future holds for my career!