Retirement 3 Years Later
Posted on: July 24, 2024, at 11:16:41am

I just noticed that my retirement announcement was made a little more than 3 years ago and a lot has happened since. The dream job I started didn't last very long, unfortunately. I had an author who had accused me of stealing her book, and claimed that Amazon told her I still had it in my possession despite me returning it. She was so upset over the $10 she had to pay out of pocket for a book I absolutely hated. When I returned it, I had only read 2% so it was within the return guidelines but she told everyone I read the whole thing and then returned it. Well, now that you have some context, it'll make this easier to understand. She had emailed my boss and had her friend (who only knew her side) message my boss' business page over the whole situation. I was then told to separate myself from the company but wasn't let go. A few months later, my boss was training someone with more experience in social media management than I did, and said we'd meet in a few months to talk about me coming back. That business call never happened. I'm convinced to this day that that situation played a HUGE part in that. I don't fault my ex-boss though. She only did what she had to do for the good of her company. The great news stems out of that hard blow. I was hired by an author to initially review her books. So, I took the opportunity and ran with it. I was seeing a growing number of PA (personal assistant) profiles around Facebook and decided to try my hand at that. It would give me a chance to work with actual authors and make connections. Sadly, that person who caused issues before was trying to ruin my new career path. She even succeeded in turning a friend against me, a friend that saw me prove my innocence and she believed the person anyway. Do you know how embarrassing it is to have to explain to authors you PA for that there's this person that's trying to ruin you over you returning a book? It's humiliating. Most of the authors that took me on, parted with me because the situation was weighing on my mental health and I wasn't putting out as much work as I had hoped to (we have maintained friendships for the most part though). Then, the woman I was being paid to review for asked me to be her PA and I accepted REAL fast. Three years later, my PA business is expanding. I am now up to six authors that I PA for, and hope to take on even more. I am now working on my debut novel. I have become friends with a lot of authors, some that are even famous and well-known. This job has been the best thing to happen to me in these past few years. Seeing how far I've come, I can see it was worth the blood, sweat, and tears it took to get me where I am today! I can honestly say that I am NOW working my real dream job, and I wouldn't trade it for the world!

1. 1: MarcusHawkins
   Posted at 11:18pm on July 24th, 2024

   Oh hey it's certainly been a while! Sorry to hear about your experience, but I'm so glad you have a happy ending to it all! Hope you continue to enjoy your new job!
2. 2: Elite Ninja
   Posted at 12:56am on July 25th, 2024

   Oh wow that is just awful of that author and I'm sorry to hear about all the unnecessary pain they had put you through. Super glad you managed to get back up on your feet and pushed through to an even better opportunity! Hope you continue to succeed! It only serves them right that you end up in a better place after what they had put you through. Happy for you ^^