A New (Unexpected) Beginning

The start of many new chapters

I am no longer working at The Dogist.

Just saying that sentence out loud is hard for me to wrap my head around.

I started working at The Dogist seven years ago to the day – April 1st, 2016. It was always funny to me that I started working on April 1st, because 23-year-old me truly could not believe I had gotten my dream job. Was it a prank? Would I wake up to find out it was all one big joke?

It was my first job out of college. I went straight from the classroom to the streets of New York, chasing dogs and falling truly, madly, deeply in love with the work I was doing.

The Dogist was never just a job to me. It was part of my identity, and something I cared so deeply for. The Dogist’s success was my success – I cared for it as if it were my own. I was so close to the center, being the very first employee in what would eventually be a team of smart, successful women. It felt like I was doing something that truly mattered.

Occasionally the people in my life questioned my loyalty to my job. It is unusual to commit so blindly to ANYTHING in your early 20’s – a relationship, an apartment, and especially a job. But that’s my personality – loyal to a fault, and more stubborn than I’d like to admit. This was something I believed in, so I wanted to make it something great.

It all came to a screeching halt last Monday evening. After seven years, it was over. For me, but also for Kate and Jacquie.

It’s a heartbreak not dissimilar from a relationship ending. The loss of identity, the loss of friendship, the loss of trust. For a full day I didn’t tell anyone other than my boyfriend – I didn’t know how to explain what had happened when I didn’t even know myself.

I’ve been sitting in it for a week and my feelings are constantly shifting. From sadness to fear, from fear to acceptance, from acceptance to rage. But one thing I have always felt, even in the immediate minutes following, was hope.

I have no idea what the future holds for me. I’m a week away from moving into a new apartment and a month away from turning 30, and for the first time in a decade, I have no idea what I’m doing. I am completely and utterly lost, and for whatever reason, that almost feels exciting.

I want to thank you all for all of your love and support these past seven years. I can say without question that the absolute best thing to come out of my job at The Dogist was Simon and a community of people who loved him. This group of people have kept me afloat during some of the hardest times in my life, and I assume this will be no different.

This page will be a way to keep in touch as I navigate the next chapter of my life. I want to share my writing, my ideas, my favorite NYC places, my go-to dog products, etc. I’m not sure exactly what it will look like, but I’m so excited to figure it out together.

Thank you, thank you, thank you. I love you all very much.

To a new and unexpected beginning.