Looking back on where I was 10 years ago, and where I am now, I barely recognize the woman I reflect upon. It’s amazing how making connections and expanding my view on my career and my life choices impacted my world, and that of my children.
My background and education are in social work, after I had children I took time off to dedicate myself to raising them, a decision I do not regret. I am a New York transplant, from Ohio, and had no family to help with my 3 young children so I gladly sacrificed my career to be a full-time child rearer. Unfortunately, my marriage was terribly unhealthy and by the time I’d come to the realization that I needed to leave him, I had been unemployed for 8 years, had no desire to go back to social work, and needed to be able to provide for the children with no additional support.
I was essentially trapped in my marriage. With no job, no local family support, no savings of my own, and one toxic relationship, I felt overwhelmed and afraid.
I have always understood the power of personal connections. I volunteered and made efforts to be visible within my community. One of these volunteering opportunities resulted in crossing paths with the woman who single-handedly changed my life. She became not only one of my best friends but also my business mentor. Our lives had some similarities, she had a social work background and pivoted her own career to technology. She mentored, advised, and made connections for me until I secured my first role in the tech/media space. I was hired as a digital trafficker, and on my first day of work, I had no idea what that meant.
Little did I know on that day, the career path that was ahead of me, and the opportunities and growth that I would achieve as I discovered my passion for media, technology, and digital marketing. To this day, I’m fascinated by the correlation between media, marketing and social work. Marketing has perfectly aligned my love of numbers, analytics, and technology with the desire to understand human behavior and make a positive impact on the world. You don’t often hear how the perfect display ad has changed the world in a profound way, but there is an answer.
Working with HR and hiring teams is a unique experience, after coming from the world of ecommerce, and I could not feel more on my feet than I do here and now. Empowering job seekers to find and connect with incredible brands, in roles that align with their skillset, it’s a career that fulfills me. I’ve reached a place where I feel content, stable, valued, and love giving my all to my team, our company and our mission.
When I was in the thick of my hardship, going through my divorce, and starting a new career, a friend gave me a plaque that read, “Not to spoil the ending, but everything is going to be ok”, and this was right, she was right. It’s not always easy, but it will all be ok, and sometimes it will be even better than ok.
Kelly Ward
VP of Media, Recruitics
