
My new job is downtown Indianapolis. Today was my first day for a whole list of things!

<ul style={{ listStyle: "none", paddingLeft: 16 }}>
  <li>🚗 Parked in a parking garage all day</li>
  <li>🚶🏼‍♀️ Walked 5 minutes to work</li>
  <li>🍳 Had breakfast by myself downtown</li>
  <li>🛍 Shopped in two stores by myself downtown</li>
  <li>🍕 Had lunch at Giordano’s</li>
  <li>💻 Thoroughly used a MacBook Pro</li>
</ul>

I’m sure there’ll be lots of firsts in the coming months. I finally feel like I’m in an environment and community where I can grow. Everyone was so friendly and welcoming. They care about your wellbeing. You’re encouraged to learn and educate yourself all the time.

Supporting your team matters. It makes an entire world of difference.


This place is so exciting. This series is all about my new adventure.

Working in Circle City

Working in Circle City, Day 1&mdash;Many Firsts


Day 2 was pretty quiet and smooth, but still exciting. I had two on-boarding meetings and will have one or two per day through next week. These are chances to learn more about the start of the company, how things work, and the company's values. It's also a great chance to meet people from different teams, which is pretty cool! Everyone is incredibly friendly.

I tried another new (to me) food place! It's a cross between Qdoba and Chipotle. I'm really enjoying all the walking involved with working in the middle of a big city. Speaking of which: I purchased a monthly parking pass! The walk is twice as long as the one from today and yesterday, but that's what I was shooting for. With my bad back, walking is one of the only ways for me to start working out again. 😊

I'd say the only negative thing about the day was traffic on the way home. I've heard that while traffic in this state isn't nearly as bad as cities with higher populations, the people are excessively rude and full of road rage. I already knew it'd be like this, but it's still gross. I wish more people would just be kind and realize that everyone on the road has a story.

Stay tuned for day 3! I'll get to start looking at the code more closely, so things should get extra interesting. 😀


Working in Circle City, Day 2&mdash;Be Nice to People in Traffic


# The morning

I can't help but find myself fascinated by everything here. While I'm doing my 10-minute walk from my car to the office, I wonder about the stories other people on the street might have to tell. Where do they work? Do they have kids? How long have they been doing this? People watching is quickly becoming such a fun thing to do when I'm out and about the city streets.

# The afternoon

We were still having some issues with my set up in the system, so we decided it was time to take a lunch. 😅 I tried another new place: Potbelly Sandwich Shop!

It 👏🏻 was 👏🏻 amazing 👏🏻

I also met the CEO! He walked up to me right after I had picked up my lunch sandwich, so we fist-bumped instead of shaking hands. 🤣 After lunch, I was expecting to go into a meeting, but it was rescheduled so the team and I continued to look at my setup so I could get coding. We figured it out, and the team lead walked me through my first ticket! I learned about so many things, and am taking note of them to eventually do some further reading:

- [destructing](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Operators/Destructuring_assignment)
- [PropTypes](https://reactjs.org/docs/typechecking-with-proptypes.html)
- Mobx injectors
- `const` vs `let`

# The evening

Tonight I went to the first event of an author series at The Vogue Nightclub in Broad Ripple. Max Yoder, CEO of Lessonly, talked about his book, _Do Better Work_, answered a few questions, and played a few of his songs for us. It was a really great time!

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I paid extra for a guaranteed floor seat and that ticket also came with the book. It's going to be a good one, especially after hearing Max give an overview of each chapter. What he had to say and how he said it as a CEO was incredibly refreshing. You can 100% tell how passionate he is about making the world a better place.

I also feel so validated. It’s overwhelming. And while I’m still not sure about the most productive way to talk about the past year, I know I _have_ to and that it’s part of my story I want to share. I want people to know that they don’t have to roll over and take bad treatment from people in leadership positions just because they sign your paychecks.

You can get out of bad situations (and you _should_). You are not trapped forever. Ask someone you trust for help. Put yourself out there. You _will_ get out. You _will_ find where you're celebrated, not just tolerated.

---

If you ever need someone to talk to, please talk to me. I was there just a couple of months ago. I might not have answers for you, but I'm here to listen at the very least.


Working in Circle City, Day 3&mdash;"Do Better Work"


# The AM

The CEO took some time to talk about the company's vision this morning, but not before we had a tornado drill! 😉 It was an interesting event. Thankfully, we’re only on the fourth floor and didn’t have too far to walk to make it to the basement (which happens to be a cigar bar, by the way 😂).

The building we’re in is pretty old (finished in 1923), so when I had to walk on the steepest and narrowest steps of my life, I couldn’t help but wonder if people hadn’t micro feet back when the building was built. A fun fact I learned about the building today: when it was built, there was a 150-foot height limit on buildings so they wouldn’t shadow the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument. I’ve lived here my whole life and never knew that!

# The PM

I tried another new restaurant for lunch: Pearl Street Pizzeria and Pub. A major perk of working downtown is having teammates that know of DELICIOUS places to eat. A less than perky thing about working downtown is that there are too many tempting restaurants and my wallet is very stubborn. I should probably start bringing my lunch now that I’m settling in. 😁

At the end of (my) work day, my hiring class was taken to Pearings Cafe and Frozen Yogurt to celebrate having nearly finished our first week on the job! Let’s just take some time to note that their Buckeye flavored frozen yogurt is amazing. 😍 The place also has great coffee and tea, so I’ll be heading back ASAP for all the yummy treats.

# The post-PM

I went to Powderkeg’s Pitch Night as a volunteer for Women Who Code Indianapolis, a group I’m working to get more deeply involved with in the next several weeks. I found out while at frozen yogurt that someone from my company was no longer able to attend the event, and that we needed someone to walk up after the company name was announced for being one of fifty finalists for the 2019 Indiana Breakout Tech Cultures Awards!

So on my fourth day I was able to have my picture taken with folx from 49 other awesome companies. The networking at this event was great as well. It quickly became clear to me what this event was about and why a lot of the exhibitors were in attendance. Everyone was there to be a part of building a supportive community. That’s a movement I can 100% support, and I’m jumping in head first.


Posts in the "Working in Circle City" Series