Oh, hey Tuesday! | Why yes, I do have another full-time job!

It’s a common misconception that my full time and only job is, in fact, wedding photography. While I am feeling all the blushy and flattery feelings when I hear this, it is not the case. Instead, I daylight as… well, still a boss lady, but a different kind of boss lady. I assist in running the business of two of the best and most sought after pediatricians in Decatur, IL - I am the office manager of B&B Pediatrics.

I can honestly say that when I was younger, and even into my teenage and adult years, I never saw myself ending up in healthcare. I wanted to be a journalist, a lawyer, an author, a photographer, a wedding planner. But I am a firm believer in sometimes what we have planned for ourselves is not what God has in store for us - and His plans are usually (okay almost always) rooted in more good and positivity than we could uncover.

It all started about seven years ago (wait what?!). Yes, really. In October of 2012, I had a baby and took him for his first appointment with his pediatrician. I absolutely loved her and it was like instant connection (or exhaustion - but both really). She cared so much for my son, but also showed care and concern for me which I had never heard of before with a pediatrician-parent relationship. Over time we would chat and out conversations would evolve into a tiny friendship. Fast forward to August 2017 when she asks me for my resume, to September 2017 when I started interviewing for her and her partner’s office manager, to October 2017 when I was offered the job. It was honestly a total whirlwind, and sometimes even now almost two years later I am still in disbelief. But I could not be more grateful.

When I started on my first day in November 2017, I was scared AF. Yep, scared. I have worked in customer service-y roles mostly my whole life. I had also at that point been 2 years deep in building and running my own business. So SURELY running someone elses business on a much, much LARGER scale with GRANDER liability would be a piece of cake, right? Right?! I tell you what, that God has a sense of humor, but He also knows what He’s doing - and what can I say, I love a good laugh.

Being the office manager at B&B Pediatrics has been a rollercoaster - a really, really fun, exhilarating, unpredictable rollercoaster. I have had so many opportunities to do things I never really thought I would do for anyone but myself - like rebranding and using my small amount of graphic design and marketing skills. I feel like I have submerged myself into this field in order to try and understand it (which is impossible), to try and make processes work better (again, hard to do when the rules are always changing), while all at the same time trying to just help the Doctors do what we are there to do - take care of those kids!!

I won’t go into all the things I do because honestly no one wants to read a job description. Just know that I have a lot of fun trying to scare my staff and make them laugh & smile. I get really angry and say a bunch of inappropriate words. I make a lot of really hard decisions which impact the livelihood of my Doctors, and also impact the care of our patients. I try a lot of new things, and I fail sometimes. I also clean poopy toilets and take out the trash. :)

At the end of the day, my day job is imperfectly perfect - which fits my mold just right. I am so freaking lucky to have a job where grace is given, where I am allowed to fail, where I am openly appreciated on a frequent basis, where I can continue to work on MY business, where I have finally been able to be more of an active part of my son’s life, where I can play with kiddos who are scared to be at the Doctor and make them smile, and also where I can get mad stares from kids when I obviously did NOT pick the right sticker when I shopped last. :) It’s just the whole package, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

Until next time,

Amber