Bender Helper Impact

As I end my third week as an Account Executive at Bender/Helper Impact, I really can’t believe I’ve been here almost an entire month. Time really flies when you’re learning your way around this place!

My first impression? Everyone here is so organized they could all moonlight as editors at Real Simple. And it makes sense because they all – well, now it’s “we all” – have to juggle a million things at once while keeping in mind a million looming deadlines. So it thrilled me to no end on my first day when I was shown the break room and, within it, an absolutely gorgeous one-shot coffee machine.  You can ask my new office-mate, I think I love that coffee machine (and all the different varieties of flavors to choose from – including hot cocoa!) a little too much. But I digress…

So what’s a new girl, thrown into the mix of deadlines, meetings, projects and even special “Bender lingo,” to do? Ask! Luckily everyone couldn’t be nicer about showing me their binders, their files, their to-do lists, and everything else that’s crucial to keeping yourself both efficient and from going insane when working here. They also help with translating words like “download,” “verticals,” “asks,” and “p/u” when they’re used in ways I’ve never heard before.  I’ve also asked “How on earth do you do this all?” many, many times and always the answer is the same: teamwork.

I’ve learned more about teamwork in these past few weeks than I ever did during my high school P.E. class. I’m still new, so I’m obviously no expert, but I do know one thing – you won’t last long here if you’re not willing to both help out, and also ask others for help when you need it. The word “team” is thrown out here a ton and, unlike those words I mentioned above, it’s used in the same way I’ve always heard it. And it’s nice when you first start somewhere to hear: “That’s so great that we have a full team!” and “I’m so happy you’re on the team.” Yes, that’s right, I’m on a team! As crazy as it gets here, being on team is a great place to be.

[Follow Nicole: @NicoleLAPretty]