Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end…

10 years ago I was a senior in high school and asked my mom if I could have a car. She was stern and told me simply “If you want a car, you’re going to have to get a job”. So I listened, started applying everywhere and eventually got a call – from CVS Pharmacy in the next town over. 10 years later, I am leaving that job. Yes, on top of running my photography business I’ve held a full-time job at CVS. This week, I say goodbye to that job. That job has truly changed my life is so many ways. Why haven’t my brides known about this? Well, because regardless of having this job… my business and my couples were always my #1 priority and I ALWAYS put them first, no matter what. And thanks to having truly the BEST boss and best friend a girl could ask for, I’ve been able to run this business along with having that job. It hasn’t been easy. In fact, it’s been really hard this past year and a half especially. It’s hard to manage both at the same time. And finally with tears in our eyes and butterflies in my stomach, my husband and I both decided the time has come to say goodbye to this little job of mine.

There is A LOT I will not miss about it. Mostly, the mean and rude customers I’ve had to deal with for the past decade. The people that look down at you for being behind a register. I will not miss inventories and prepping for visits until eleven at night. I will NOT miss those god awful CVS shirts, the ones I have rebelled to wear countless times. I will NOT miss doing cosmetic resets! Bleh! But this job has taught me to appreciate retail, how HARD it is to go to work on Christmas Day, Thanksgiving, Easter and every other holiday while the rest of the world enjoys it. How hard to is to stock shelves and keep up with busy weekends. I can’t lie… of course there are things I will miss. I haven’t had this job for 10 years for nothing, I actually liked a lot about it. I loved doing planograms and anyone that has worked with me KNOWS how much I have. That has never changed. I will miss changing our seasonal aisle every few months, especially Christmas. I will miss getting in new cosmetic prepaks and ripping them open to grab the new makeup before our customers do.

But what I will miss is the people I work with. Working here for 10 years, I’ve worked with so many wonderful and fun co-workers. The ones that made working 3-10 so worth it. Even working overnights, it was a lot easier to do it when you had people you enjoyed working with and for the most part, I’ve been so lucky to work with some awesome people. I’ve also been lucky enough to, for the most part, have great managers. Managers that taught me so much about what it is to WORK, to hustle, to prove yourself and to let me prove myself to them. This job has given me some incredible friendships in the past 10 years, friendships that seem to stand the test of time.  Friendships that bloomed over doing truck together, laughing in the aisles, closing work together so we could go hang out afterwards, going bowling and drinking after work. Friendships I will forever cherish and people I will forever be grateful for.

The number one thing I can’t regret about this job is it found me my husband. He was my assistant manager, I was just a photo tech… and we clicked instantly. We worked for this company together for maybe 7 or 8 years before he left. Countless times we worked together, because that’s how we are. A great team. So CVS will always be so special to me for that reason alone 🙂

I’m so excited to see this new chapter in my life begin but of course I’m nervous and scared as well. I hope everything works out for the best, that I have nothing but continued success and wonderful couples to work with. But I will miss this wonderful job. The teamwork, the support system I had. I’ll miss celebrating everyones birthdays in the break room, I’ll miss our favorite sushi spot we enjoyed for lunch. I’ll miss requesting my vacations and days off. I’ll miss taking peoples passport photos. I’ll miss setting seasonal. I’ll miss getting yelled at for not asking people if they needed help! I’ll miss working with some awesome coworkers, some that annoyed the crap out of me sometimes but mostly just made my days so much more fun.

So to everyone at 4644, (2746 and everywhere I’ve worked in between)… THANK YOU FOR YOUR UNDYING SUPPORT THESE PAST FEW YEARS! You knew where my heart was, always supported me, always made me laugh and I’ve enjoyed my days there! I hope nothing but great things happen to all of you! I will forever be thankful that if I had to work in this hell of a work environment, I’m glad I got to do it with the best team!