The new job

I talked to my mom and stepfather mid-week and this is what I told them about my new job: Holy. Shit.

I remember when I first moved to Paris and was really surprised at the late hours everyone kept. You were ultra conspicuous if you left the office before 7. And then when we pitched the Louis Vuitton relaunch and actually had crazy deadlines for the project (which, by the way, that web site is finally supposed to launch on October 16—finally, some of that work will see the light of day), sure, I worked weekends and long days.

But then, for the most part, my return to Ogilvy/New York was pretty cush. No crazy hours. No mountains of deadlines. A few busy spells, but I was pretty spoiled; not a lot of work (which worked perfectly with my June 1 manuscript deadline).

I knew that when I started Lipman on Monday, it was going to kick off a new phase in which I’d be buried in work. But I had no idea. This week was total culture shock.

The agency is on fire. There are tons of new business pitches and wins, which means, tons of writing to do. The projects, people and environment are fantastic. There are perks that make me really happy. But getting thrown a gazillion different projects and working 10-hour days is something you have to adjust to (or at least I do).

The most surprising part, though, is this new culture of being available 24/7. Skype IM, email, mobile… where have I been? Everyone else is so comfortable being totally available to anyone, at any hour. I am having a hard time embracing that. But I know I must.

It was a fast and furious, up and down week. But I am psyched. In fact, haven’t been this excited about or inspired by work in a long time. Well, since the days of spying on Marc Jacobs and writing about Louis Vuitton’s 1854 origins. This could be good.