new doors opening...

i've been working at a small business owned by a husband and wife for the past 10 months or so. well, a couple weeks ago my boss told me that they were going through some transitional phases and wanted to close their studio office space so they could "go mobile" to the coast and to clients' homes. for me, this meant no more regular office hours. they were offering me an opportunity to freelance for them when projects come in and represent their cabinet line, which means going from business to business and trying to get them to add the cabinet line to their products.

it was the only option i had. after months and months of sending in applications to all kinds of businesses in the design field with no results, i had come to the conclusion that that was were God had wanted me to be. with a poor economy and a couple of interviews ending with "we'd love to have you but we just don't have enough work right now", i just kept it up with the only door that had opened. the pay wasn't good. i wasn't getting many hours. i did a lot of small menial tasks that didn't pertain to my degree.

so, this week i set out to sell cabinets to area businesses. door to door sales isn't really my thing. the first place i went, i presented the line to the woman who simply ran the office. i explained everything even though she told me that the owners were the guys i should talk to. after a few minutes of chatting with her, she started telling me how busy they were and how they were actually looking for help. my eyes probably lit up. i told her that i was actually a designer looking for work and that i would come back by later and drop off my resume. i hadn't even found this company when i did all my previous job searching.

i continued with my sales pitches...some seemed interested, others weren't. i was in the Ross area when i finished all my stops and decided to spend some of my birthday money from my parents on an easter dress. its cute :).

anyway, as i was heading home for my resume, i got a call on my phone from a local number. it was one of the owners from the first business i stopped at asking me if i was in the area and if i could drop by. i of course jumped at the chance and went over there. an impromptu interview ended with the two men being very interested in hiring me on. they talked about using all my interior design skills and working it in to help their clients and just seemed really excited about it. they asked me toward the end of our meeting how much i was interested in working with them and of course, in the position i am in, i said high.

well, the next morning i had an official interview scheduled with a company i had interviewed with last august. they went through some changes and switched from a high end build/rennovation company to a kitchen and bath studio...right up my alley. the interview lasted 2.5 hours and we talked for a long time about past jobs and how this franchise operates. they'd want me to be the go-to person, the face i guess, to their clients. i'd work closely with everyone, go shopping for tile with them, pull up their estimats...everything. and unlike the other job, i wouldn't have to go around and try to get jobs to come in. the marketing would be taken care of for me. they're looking to hire full time and i'd have benefits and be a part of an official company rather than continuing this freelance/self-employed crap. there is still a bit of a process to hire with them because they are a bigger company, so an offer won't be here until another week or so.

the next morning i got an email from the smaller company wanting to hear back from me about when i'd be able to start. of course, with the other interview fresh in my mind, i am not sure if i should begin work with that business yet. i told them that i probably won't be able to do both jobs because they'd both require more than 20 hours a week most likely. well, 5 minutes after i replied via email, i got a phone call from him telling me that he was really disappointed and he wanted to see if i could come in and meet with him again so he could "entice" me to come work for them. well, i'm not committed yet, so i figured why not give it a shot.

i met with them again for about an hour as they tried to compare apples to apples, saying they could meet all the things the other place had. i wouldn't tell them who it was, since i don't think its in my best interest that they know. he said that he'd have a proposal for me at the beginning of this week. they really really want me to work for them...one guy said he thinks i have a good presence and he feels comfortable around me, which isn't very common. an interesting compliment.

so, here i am a few days later, still trying to figure out what i should do. its funny how God works. i spend months looking for other work and just as my only opportunity closes, two more open up within two days. i'm really excited about working for kitchen and bath studios and actually working closely with clients, since i haven't been. both seem like great places and i think i'll test run both of them and just pick the projects i work on since i'd technically be freelancing for both. i'm hoping for good things to come! better pay, better work, and benefits! yay!