May I introduce...

This is my first official foray into the world of blogging, from a personal standpoint anyway. As former Director of Marketing for a technology company, I have been hearing about blogs for years now. They can be a unique public relations tool and well, nightmare, too. Nothing puts more fear into the heart of a PR professional than an errant blogger comment about your company that spreads like wildfire on the Internet. Learning how to deal with situations like that - and using the Internet to your advantage to spread the "good news" about your company - really is a new art form in the world of marketing. I have a friend whose college-age son is majoring in Communications (like I did) and minoring in New Media (something that did not exist back in the dinosaur age when I was in school). Having an official title to an area of study just goes to show the power and prevalence of Web 2.0 in our brave new world (blogs, social networking sites, etc.) But I digress...

Let me get down to the business of introducing myself. My name is Michele Fanning and I am a 32-year-old female who recently became a mom in November 2007. Up until that point, I had a 10 year career (as aforementioned) in marketing. I always defined myself through my job. I think most of us do without even realizing it. Think about how often you have been asked "what do you do?" Or, think about how often that has been one of the first questions you ask upon meeting someone. Until November I was "Michele, the Marketing Director". Now when people ask me this question, I tend to mumble something like "well, I'm at home with my son now, but I'm trying to figure out what I want to do, I've looked into some options and..." and by this point, the person asking has lost all interest or just can't understand me because I'm mumbling. Bottom line: I love being a mom, but what's my next move? Go back to school? Find part time work? Attempt to freelance? Regardless, one thing I've learned is that I can't be defined by what I do. None of us can. We are our character, our family, our values. We are not our jobs. Now, what does that mean? Not entirely sure what it means for me at this point, but I intend to find out...