Explore the Unexplored: An Origin Story
You probably have heard this story a hundred times – a fresh, college graduate navigating through the job market trying to land his first job. It’s a story that’s been told so many times that even the Lifetime Channel wouldn’t make a movie about this. Well, thanks to the heteronormative narrative and the homogeneous cultural representation in the media, there is still a place for me, a gay international person of color, to tell my story. So, grab some wine and popcorn and hop on this journey with me.
I was a smart, hard-working student in college. To my credit, I spent countless hours in the library stressing about, yet, another midterm on economic theory while working 20 hours per week. Growing up, the saying, “you need to work twice as hard to get half as far” was thrown at me constantly to trigger some intrinsic motivation. I listened. By junior year, I had a 5-year plan of graduating with a double major, getting a job right out of college, and eventually completing a master’s degree in business analytics. However, life had a different plan for me.
Three months out of college, I was digging into my savings and had to get creative with my job search. It truly is like using Tinder, except you are simply swiping right on every profile that shows up in your feed within your desired radius. With the standard match rate of 0.6%, I was able to get a few interviews; Astra Digital Marketing Services was one of them. I can still remember my heart racing during my first date with Astra. Like any good first date, we discussed my experience, skill sets, and passions in an attempt to determine our compatibility. It went as smooth as possible, and I was really hoping for a chance. Luckily, I did not get ghosted and joined the Astra team two weeks later.
Astra isn’t your typical startup. Having worked at chaotic startup companies before, I was shocked at how organized everything is at Astra and how much pride the company holds in its employees. Coming on as a rookie, I wanted to learn everything but also yearned to focus on my passion and my future plans. I didn’t think a company would allow me to have both, but Astra did. I wanted to gain experience in Search Engine Optimization. I was given projects on writing SEO strategies and learned to use different website platforms. I wanted to learn about online advertising, so I got the opportunity to complete various certifications for Google Ads and Amazon Ads. I wanted to test my ability to develop and write email campaigns, and I did with a huge amount of guidance and support. Most importantly, in 6 months, I learned more than I could ever learn from a 4-year institute. I attribute this to the importance Astra places on company culture and team spirit. It really wasn’t until I started writing this blog that I made this revelation. Obviously, work has its highs and lows. I realized that what helps me through the lows is what I cherish the most.
At Astra, we have “Wine Hour” every Friday. Quite literally, we spend an hour (or two) every Friday drinking wine and a charcuterie plate, in true wine marketing company fashion. However, we also use this time to reflect on the highs and lows of the week and to seek improvements for the future. We get to celebrate the achievements of our coworkers and acknowledge how proud we feel as a team. Likewise, we are able to share the hardships and discuss areas of improvement. Through this, I have learned that having a job with a fancy title is quite meaningless; you need to surround yourself with people that inspire you, support you, and push you.
In 10 years, it will not be the job that I remember the most but rather the people I worked with. I will always remember what the ‘Nick Fury of Astra’ once said to me when I was struggling: “you need to let random things happen to you.” Working at Astra has been an amazing experience and I’m so grateful to say that I’m able to take something away from this job with me through the rest of my career.
