The more things change, the more they stay the same…

• You are not at all surprised to learn that not long after I last wrote all about how fabulously happy I was at Rue21 (and I was, I really was!), I left that solid, stable, drama-free corporate paradise to return to Suck Bang Blow, the east coast’s premier biker burnout bar. I’ve now been back with SBB since February and let me say, my bones are not pleased with my professional decision-making.

• I was asked roughly fifteen-thousand and thirty-four times in the first couple of months, “So, are you glad you’re back?” and every single time my answer was the same, “I’m cautiously optimistic.” I love SBB, truly, and I was honestly happy with Rue21 – this decision was a win-win for me, really! But I had my reasons for leaving last year and I had my reservations in January when the ownership reached out to me to see if they could steal me back.

• So, am I still “cautiously optimistic”? No, not so much. In fact, now I can honestly say I’m confident that I made the right decision. Yes, my back hurts all the time, and yes, Spring Rally 2018 (link NSFW!) nearly steamrolled me right back into the hospital (I am now seeing a chiropractor weekly and budgeting for monthly deep tissue massages – thanks, chronic spinal disease!), but life at SBB is good. I love my work, my team, my bosses, my customers. Having survived my first Harley Week back in the industry, I can absolutely say – I wouldn’t trade this for all the non-drama and corporate rulings in the world. I now have half a dozen Rallies under my best with #7 coming in a week when I head north yet again to work the SmokeOut Rally in Rockingham, NC.

• While my generational cohort seems to spend more of their day instagramming their infant’s weekly age, height, and weight, I have to admit I’m pretty content with my days being made up of big ‘scary’ biker dudes, rock music, sunshine, and cheap beer. If a biker bar in a beach bum town can be a part of the life I always wanted, I don’t see how that’s any different than a suburban home, a corner office, or offspring. It’s the happiness that matters; the feeling you have in the morning when you wake up.

I am appreciated and respected in my work life.
I have a good balance with my personal life.
I am close with my parents.
I’ve fallen in love.
I’ve learned sometimes you have to go back to move forward.
It still amazes me how life can change so wildly in just a few short months.