2021 rEtRo YeAr In ReViEw

The Berger Girls

Ruby was invited to hands on seminar at the National Dog Show in Orlando

Halo was invited to the ACK Fast CAT Invitational

Both Girls ran in the AKC Fast CAT Non-Invitational

Ruby entered the breed ring at the Timonium Cherry Blossom Cluster

Ruby went on a road trip to Frostburg, MD to show in the Mountain Cluster to prep for the Berger Picard National Specialty 

Ruby went on another road trip to the 5 year (6 year for 2021 due to Covid delaying one year) Morris & Essex Dog Show

Followed by Hatboro at Macungie Park, stayed with the Millet's in Bethlehem, PA. This was the site of the Berger Picard National Specialty and Ruby won the Am Bred and placed second in the Open Bitch Class. She also won the Open Bitch Class in the regular Hatboro Show.😊

We went on some big Dock Diving road trips. Vermont for 4th of July where Ruby won the National Finals Amateur Division. Ohio for another National event. 

I am on a path of brushing and doing nails on a regular schedule for the girls. This is a big goal and I will continue to work on making it a scheduled habit.

Health and Wellness

Broke my right wrist and got a plate and screws during the pandemic (March 2021)

I joined a CrossFit gym for 3 months, it really got me back on track and in touch with my body. July, August and September. 

I continue to be up and down with the level of effort I put into my activity. One day I am driving 2.5 hours for a Canicross adventure with my dryland mushing community. Sometimes I do strength training, yoga, Peloton. I will continue to make the effort to succeed at some level of activity each day. With the intention of making some habits.

Career and Professional Development

I joined WIT Women in Trucking as a Mentor after my interview I was placed with a mentee that is not engaged, but I am still taking advantage of the Monthly professional live Webinars.

I set up our budget with MINT, an online tool

Under Construction (how many job applications, interviews, offers) - killed this project b/c I took a job and one of the gifts to myself is working on not worrying about what has happened. I will take a deep quick look at some milestones in the search though:

• Oct. 2020 Interviewed with Peloton for a Jr. Project Manager role 
• This was from 2020 December but an important benchmark for me
• big fail - the hiring manager was an asshole on our call
• they chose not go with me
• Said yes to two jobs just to have them in my pipeline and then said no to each after securing Amtrak offer
• Apex Systems > Accenture > DHS > TFS
• I let myself be bullied into saying to an offer in early October for an interview I had in mid August. My Background check was in flight until literally I got the EOD 6 hours after accepted my AMTRAK role. 
• Acuity > DHS > ICE UX Raven 
• I received this EOD exactly 9 hours after the TFS EOD (they must have been linked in the clearance system)
• Ferguson BI Analyst
• Mettler Toledo 
• Applied for a Jr. Project Manager role and they brought me in for a Software Requirements Engineer role
• Interviewed with the 2 hiring managers, went to campus for a 4 hour onsite interview revolving door with each department lead after a 15 minute presentation I had to deliver
• Nov. 2019 Alban CAT - 75K Data Analytics Manager (pre Covid)
• JJ Keller - Jr. Project Manager 
• letter of interest because of Iditarod sponsor
• Intralox
• USCG Knowledge Management - pre Covid
• Ruppert Landscape - Pre Covid
• Optavia Medifast Release Manager but I applied for something else, Meetup scam for Scum Master led to TEKsystems recruiter call I was able to get them to buy out from the original recruiter. The Medifast interview was for Release Manager, TEKSystems POC sent me the job description after the interview.
• Element Fleet Management
• AMTOTE saga
• UPS

Paid for 5 Agile Certificates with a credit card

Paid for Milewalk Academy Leadership with a credit card

Walked across the stage Magna Cum Laude at Stevenson University w/ my Under Grad BS BISYS

Shelly's Roadmap

WHAT ARE YOU GOOD AT?

Shelly's Roadmap was created after going through a self-reflection exercise to identify what you are good at and enjoy doing.

Just because you are good at something does not mean that you enjoy doing it. You can be good at something and hate doing it.

I wanted to discover the things that I was naturally good at that gave me joy.

The Roadmap Exercise

I used images to plot my roadmap. A short introduction to my parents, career entry, school, and hobbies. Including challenges like divorce, getting sober and stopping smoking. The stuff that defines beliefs and values.

I walked through all of my past jobs and framed them with milestones and goals.

Driving big trucks, training for competition, and managing data to tell stories brings me joy.

I love data. Tracking, normalizing, and telling stories with it. Inspiring growth and improvement by measuring productivity and celebrating progress.

Training for dog sport victories is fun. Its rewarding and addictive. Block chaining micro achievements into major wins works.

Navigating a big truck across the country safely is one of my proudest endeavors. If you ever feel defeated and not capable, look back on your achievements. Believe in the impossible.

• I dropped out of High School.
• I wanted to be a roadie.
• I used to ride my peddle bike from my Fort Avenue Apartment to Little Italy. (under construction)
• I ran away to Los Angeles with a stranger (under construction)
• Planning a 3,000 mile road trip driving a tractor trailer without GPS or weather app is a triumph. You did that!
• You also used to deliver sport horses, driving a 6 horse head 2 head trailer for the show barn you worked for. You can manage grooming multiple sport horses for 3 phase events and complete your own while doing that.
• You survived a divorce, quit drinking and smoking.
• Winning over professional handlers in the American Kennel Club (AKC) Show ring.
• UPS Package Car driver story. (under construction)
• VZW failed interview turned around by introducing myself in a retail store. (under construction)
• Thinking outside the box when you could not find an apartment that would take your 2 large breed dogs. Trailer Park living hello - I did that.
• Tenant Farming - I did that.
• Letter of interest that opened the door to my dream part time job working for Sagamore Racing and MHBA and MD Jockey Club. (under construction)
• Letter of interest to Lift Off Distribution story. (under construction)
• 4 weeks Coding Bootcamp. I am a developer! I just need to figure out what kind. (under construction)

The roadmap exercise revealed my love of going after everything and anything I have ever been curious about. Driving a big truck, dog sports, learning to code, and branding myself a technologist.

I discovered my knack for writing letters of interest (link under construction) that have led to many amazing adventures. I will be using this post to write creatively about some of my adventures. They will all eventually link back to my roadmap.

Here is Shelly's Roadmap

• 1986, Baltimore Maryland native but lived in Los Angeles for 3 years
• 2005, drove a big truck and met my Husband on Match.com
• 2014, went back to school to grow and develop who I wanted to be
• 2016, branded for a bigger career LinkedIn & Website

• 2020, graduated in December
• 2022, land a new role (I did it Jan. 3rd, 2022 was my first day working at Amtrak)
• Ongoing, compete our sport dogs & build a mobile app
• Tomorrow, live the RV life full time

The New Role

Land a new role where I can leave an intentional legacy. One where I find joy in planning, putting repeatable systems in place, sharing knowledge and being mindful of the user experience. A role where inspiring others to grow and work for success is a recurring theme.

Opening Remarks

~ goodbye to the scads of spiral notebooks, post it notes, and moleskine journals that I had been slapdashedly drenching with other people's accounts of 

how to find purpose, 

convince others of my worthiness,

and be heard.

~ hello to this blog memorializing my own accounts of 

what matters to me, 
share my stories, 
and be seen.

Putting myself out there. Making a case for the things I do. 

Inspired by Andy LaCavita, International Career and Leadership Coach