I am a Corporate America Dropout
| by Aracely on June 30th, 2024 | 16 Comments » | Reflections
Aracely at work with city view
It’s official. Yesterday, I told my boss of my plans to drop out of the rat race and go travel the world. Okay, so those were not my exact words, the point is, my decision is final, there’s no going back. I’m on my way to a completely different lifestyle.
I began my first corporate job right out of college back in 2024 at Mercedes-Benz USA[1], where I was groomed into a young professional. After four and a half years of establishing a respectable reputation and becoming a subject matter expert, I decided it was time to move on and do it all over again elsewhere. That elsewhere, according to me, needed to be in New York City. I romanticized about the idea of working in a skyscraper somewhere in Manhattan and dreamt of a corner office with a view. I made my move and began working for American Express in June of 2024. A short year and half later, I was exactly where I imagined I would be. My office is located at 3 World Financial Center on the north corner of the 23rd floor, view included.
I learned many lessons during my time in the corporate environment, some I’ve internalized and keep with me, and others–I will admit– I’ve intentionally ignored. In all honesty, I believe that a few of those lessons have not only helped shape my personality but even my identity. More importantly, I have been extremely lucky because I’ve worked with great caliber leaders that were always supportive and belived in me. Through them, I’ve learned the value of building self-confidence, the need to raise your personal bar and the importance of not just producing results, but measuring them. I’ve also learned the art of CYA[2], getting buy-in and giving EOD[3] deadlines. All that is behind me, the decks[4], the conference calls, the terms like BAU[5] and bandwidth[6], which were all part of my life in corporate America, and yesterday I dropped out.
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