I’m Leo A. Davis, I’m 30 and I’m in the corporate communications field.
Last night, I had the chance to have a good dinner with my two girls at the Four Seasons. I’ve been training them to push their boundaries as they start doing business and getting their own businesses. One is already considering opening a yoga studio.
You see me in the context of a corporate vice president. That doesn’t mean that I’m the main mind behind the marketing department. Quite the contrary. I work with a social media team, public relations staff, and my office within the marketing group. It’s where the strategy, the ideas come from and where the project starts.
I came from an arena of information, getting opinions and making decisions. Now, you learn that whatever decision you make, there are hundreds of thousands and sometimes millions of things that you have to consider. Sometimes they pop into your brain and you have to make the right decision and sometimes they don’t. The number of thoughts you’ve got in your head expands. Even for the average professional, the idea of “I’m not on the Fortune 500 lists or I’m not getting the best contracts” would be far-fetched. I’m constantly going through emails and plans and assessing the potential impact of different things.
But I’m also humbled by it. You hear these stats about the world; everyone thinks there’s a life and death situation at every given moment. That reality means you have to be prepared to face things you might be blind to, which can be challenging for someone who’s used to being comfortable.
It also means that change is constant. One of the things that I try to think about is my parents, who took a lot of risks to become what they are. They never took a job that paid more than $20,000. And in the early ’90s, there was no computer, even though they did everything from changing oil to writing software.
There’s no area of my life that feels “normal” any more. I consider my work unique and different. There are a lot of opportunities around it for a person who works in a manner that is satisfying.
Technology has become fundamental to so many parts of the job, and I can’t help but be inspired by it. I come to work each day and it’s a frenzy of activity. I feel like I’m plugged into a machine, pumping out information, building my network, and keeping people informed about what’s going on. It’s constant chatter, networking and the crazy game of keeping up.
I’m not sure it will ever get boring.
Leo A. Davis is an office manager for Hill+Knowlton Strategies’ Omaha, Neb. office. He was previously a student in a leadership program at Portland State University.