SHIFT 10th Anniversary series: Best Day Ever

Happy 10th anniversary, SHIFT Communications! This April, in honor of SHIFT’s journey from small start-up to well-respected bi-coastal integrated communications agency, we will be featuring weekly posts from SHIFT staff members describing the experience and challenges along the way. Today we feature Karly Bolton, an Account Executive in our San Francisco office.

I can be a little over the top. Personally, I like to consider it an endearing dramatic flair – though the jury’s still out on how widely this endearment is shared – that I simply don’t allow for much moderation in my opinions or feelings. I never “kind of like” something – I’m obsessed with it. The opposite is also true. This lifestyle of extremes has caused me to eat the same meal for weeks (until my obsession turns to hatred), spiral into shrieking laughter at the perfect joke, and cry during the Today Show. My catchphrase? “This is the best day ever.”

Suffice it to say, a knack for obsessions is an interesting trait to bring into the “real world.” Sterile cubicles, boring people and hum-drum days just don’t do it for me, so it was quite a stroke of luck when I stumbled into SHIFT fresh out of college. Here, I’m proud to say, we do some amazing, kick-ass work for our awesome roster of clients. However, I also quickly witnessed (let’s be real – initiated) my fair share of Nerf gun fights, laughter outbursts, and in-depth debates about the latest episode of Real Housewives. To sum it up: I was obsessed.

As a young professional in a city that’s chock-full of people in their 20s, I noticed soon after joining SHIFT that hating your job was pretty trendy. After all, the transition from college (where wearing sweatpants in public and eating fro-yo before lunch was commonplace) to the working world (where you sit down and use your brain all day) can be weird and angsty. Regardless, this trend of workplace whining continued to bubble up, and it was worrisome. For a person who doesn’t handle moderate emotions well, hating my job could really get dramatic.

So, did I end up at happy hours complaining about my job over $5 beers? Uhm – no, do you know where I work? At SHIFT, just like at most agencies, no two days are the same – and while some days are challenging, I’ve never had one pass without a moment of humor. And on the great days, my obsession runs especially deep. In the eighteen months that I’ve spent as a SHIFTer, I’ve been able to celebrate SHIFT’s recognition as the 2012 Digital/Social Agency of the Year, the SHIFT ESOP, and countless team wins along the way. The best part is that every day, I get to work with a group of crazy smart people whose personalities and passions are just as weird as my own.

Luckily, thanks to SHIFT, I didn’t succumb to the trend of falling in the job-hating trap, and thus spared everyone in my life quite a meltdown. However, they do have to listen to how obsessed I am with SHIFT, which is a facet of my personality where my fellow SHIFTers have it worst of all. You can bet that in my time at SHIFT, I’ve said it more than a few times: this is the best day ever.

Karly Bolton
Account Executive