Life Changes, FTW!
Poppets! It’s been quite a spell, hasn’t it? I’ve missed chatting with you every morning, but I’ve had a couple o’ life changes and a dog without a walker last week (lady Orca needs her four hours of exercise a day, thank you very much!)
Soooooooooo I started a new gig last Monday, as VP of Communications at Medium! After years of cheering the company on from the the sidelines, I’m officially working at a company home to “human storytelling” — and that’s pretty damned cool.
So a bit of background (which I already shared on LinkedIn, because what screams peak 2023 cringe more than multi-platforms to announce something as mundane as a job change? LOL): after 10+ years of agency life, I’ve moved in-house. But this isn’t just any in-house move, it’s a bit of a homecoming of sorts: 12 years ago, as colleagues at The Obvious Corporation when Medium was created, I first experienced Tony Stubblebine’s creativity, thoughtful leadership, and remarkable ability to build and get shit done. We’ve kept in touch throughout the years as he grew Coach.me — a key personal tool and community when I quit drinking btw — and I went agency-side in technology public affairs and then corporate reputation. And, of course, I cheered loudly from the sidelines when he took the helm of Medium as CEO last year.
So when Tony reached to see if I’d be interested in helping tell the next chapter of Medium’s history, you’d better believe I took the call. And after long and animated conversations with Scott Lamb, a media leader I’ve admired since his BuzzFeed days, discussing Medium’s external communications opportunities, and a call with Cameron Price morphed into a boisterous convo on all things employee engagement, it was clear this was an opportunity from which I couldn’t walk away.
“We believe that what you read and write matters. Words can divide or empower us, inspire or discourage us. In a world where the most sensational and surface-level stories often win, we’re building a system that rewards depth, nuance, and time well spent. A space for thoughtful conversation more than drive-by takes, and substance over packaging.” — Medium About Us
After all, we’re at a pivotal moment for public discourse, and Medium plays a critical role in that ecosystem. And when I read through Medium’s new About Us page last week, it hit home that I now work at a place dedicated to writing and how it can be shared and discovered.
So what does this mean from a Morning Missive perspective? I’m going to be migrating all of my work and communication and daily-ish musings over to Medium — in the name of knowing a product, embracing a community, practicing what I preach, etc. etc.
And in doing so, I hope I can utilize this space you’ve granted me, a spot alongside your morning cup of coffee to skim the web and get up to speed, to dive in a bit deeper as well. I’m not going to lie, I’ve been burnt the hell out over the last year, and the mere act of pulling together a list of links every morning was getting harder to do. Now, as it is literally a part of my job to write, I’m looking forward to using this space to explore and experiment and generally have a swell old time.
I hope all of you will join me over on the Medium side of the fence, as I attempt to import all of you, dear readers, over to our new Morning Missive home. There will be speed bumps with this week of overlap between the two platforms, but I hope you’ll stick with me through the transition. So I apologize in advance if you get duplicate emails or something wonky happens - human error, it’s a thing!
As always: drink some water, get outside, and be kind to yourself, won’t you?
xoxo Amy
P.S., here’s an Orca tax for your troubles
