Yes, that's right, we're moving to Portland
Aug 20, 2014 As some (most?) of you that follow me on social media may know, I have left my 7.5 year position at Squarespace.
I’ll let that sink in for a minute.
I know! I’m freaking out too. Well, not really anymore, I’ve actually had a lot of time to come to terms with it and am actually very very happy. And freaking out a little. Ok, maybe more than a little.
A little over 3 years ago I moved my family up here to NJ so we could be closer to work. Our apartment is tiny, but the area where we live is beautiful (if not super expensive) and the schools are lovely. For the first time in a long time we hated the physical space where we lived, but our girls were able to enroll in activities (swimming, gymnastics, Girl Scouts, karate, and on and on) and everything was great.
Until it wasn’t.
I had to deal with hellish commutes (whether by car or by train) and loads and loads of time away from my girls on a daily basis. At one point it was not uncommon for me to leave the house before they woke up, and to come home after they had gone to sleep. Everything is expensive. Groceries, activities, riding the train, etc. I briefly entertained the idea of moving into Brooklyn to make the commute shorter, but I couldn’t justify 2x the rent for less space and having to go to a laundromat or taking a taxi to the grocery store.
Eventually I reached a breaking point.
I hadn’t picked up a book that wasn’t work-related, or touched a knitting needle or sewing machine, or even done any of the projects around the house that I had really wanted to get done. Let’s put it this way: only about 3 months ago did I hang curtains in the living room. I was losing the person that I thought I was, or the person that I want to be.
I just couldn’t live like that anymore.
In my travels I’ve been to Portland now twice, and we have lots of friends that live in that general area. Not to mention my family, Bryan’s family, and most of our history is in SoCal, which makes Portland an easy choice (close enough to travel without major expense) and it definitely seems like our kind of people. (Coffee! Tattoos! Cross stitch with bad words on it!)
I’m mentally trying to recover and separate who I am, my life, my self-worth, from the work I used to do for Squarespace. It’s been in some ways an easy transition, but in some ways it’s been very very difficult. What has continued to propel me forward is my love of my family and figuring out who *I* am and what I have to offer.
Customer Service is most certainly my career passion, and I hope to continue that work when we move. I want to learn, grow, and be challenged. I want to go somewhere where I can have proper work/life balance and continue to spread my customer service philosophy. I want to go somewhere where I can meet, learn from, and be inspired by new people.
With this transition for not just me, but our whole family, I see lots of bare feet, hands in potting soil, more time for home projects, making bath paints and building a dress-up wardrobe. It is possible to have an appropriate work/life balance, and it is possible to have a happy home life and a happy work life. I didn’t choose to come to NYC because I wanted to - but I am choosing Portland, and therein lies the difference.
So, forward we go, flying a little bit by the seat of our pants but with light hearts and high hopes. We’re ready to jump in with both feet.
xo
Reader Comments (3)
Big move Christa, but it sounds like all the right reasons. What a huge job you've done at Squarespace to get them to the scale and quality they have reached.
You'll be leaving an impact there that will last a long time I'm sure. Can't wait to hear what you end up doing next.
Such an important thing to do. Hope I get to see you on the left coast soon!
I WANT TO CRY. OK so I was looking for the address to send you the (*probably not appropriate for work...) early XMAS gift of handmade unicorn earrings which I had my friend Robyn make... she's a super talented performer and puppeteer... Anyhoo, I go over there looking for the NY address and happened on the careers section and then freaked out when I saw that post... What???? ... And THEN I looked around (because I can't find your other email) and here I found you... and I don't think I have any e-mail anymore but a square one so, please if you can get in touch when you can? I started to write a long teary letter (because I'm old enough to *not care* about social propriety... bah). But then for your sake, because I was crying over this, I decided to delete my diatribe and just ask you to please email me when you can? I want to know how you are. Also: You have major talent, and super power courage and ANY one, literally ANY company would be blessed to have you on their team. I know you will be sorely missed and I miss you already and I'm not even there! --- I left my regular mail here in the optional field... please get in touch because I have no way to otherwise. And I really still want to send you the unicorn earrings... Love to you Square sister. You know we'll always be "round" :) <3