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When I accepted the job at Gather Social nearly two years ago, I wouldn’t have believed the position I’m in now. As I write this, it's my last day at Gather Social for four months as I fly out to Australia on Monday morning. I’m very grateful that Sam and the whole team at Gather are allowing me to have an extended period of time off work to travel the world.
Last Summer, I asked Sam how he felt about offering me a sabbatical to travel to Australia and South East Asia in 2023. I was surprised when his answer was yes. He travelled a lot in his twenties himself and knows just how important those years in his life were. He could relate to my dreams of living out of a backpack for a couple of months. So that was it, once we’d worked out a date that worked best for me and the rest of the team, I booked a flight! Fast forward 6 months and it’s my last day at Gather for a few months and I still can’t believe I’m flying in 3 days.
The opportunities at Gather Social are endless. Not only am I able to travel for four months and resume my job when I get back but in the short time I’ve been at the company I have had ample opportunity to learn and grow as a person. One year into my role, I was promoted to Social Media and Content Manager and was given the responsibility to further manage the Gather account and two new members of the team. At the time, I was incredibly nervous about this promotion but it challenged me and my skills to become a better manager and a more skilled creative. In hindsight, this change in my role was so good for me. It threw me into the deep end and was an opportunity for me to think of my feet, something we do here a lot at Gather Social.
It’s going to be strange being away from work for a whole four months! Things are bound to change while I’m gone but I’m sure the time will fly by. However, it is the perfect time for me to leave as both new members of the team are more than confident in their roles at Gather now and will be able to step up and cover some of my responsibilities.
After a trip of a lifetime, it’ll be really good to come back to my old job and I’m sure by that point I’ll be excited about a bit more routine. I can slot straight back into agency life, writing blogs for new and old clients, creating content for their Instagrams and filming TikToks for the Gather Social channel. It’ll be nice to catch up with the girls in the office too and tell them all about my trip.
I’m super grateful to our MD and Founder, Sam, for this amazing opportunity to travel and come back to Gather. While I’m nervous to travel to the other half of the world, the whole team at Gather have made the build-up so easy and smooth. They’ve been so supportive of my trip and decision to leave and I’m so appreciative of all their leaving presents and the giant ‘Good Luck’ card they gave me on my last day. I’m going to miss the whole team so much.
Wish me luck. See you in June!
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