I feel I have "made it" in my career and at this point in time. I struggled for SO LONG - YEARS. I suffered a wrist injury in 2008 that necessitated surgery, me quitting my website management job, and recovery for a whole year post surgery. My surgeon told me that I could not return to the same line of work. I had injured and torn two ligaments working too intensively on the keyboard and computer, while having a poor ergonomic desk set up.

So I changed directions and decided to enroll in graduate school for counseling psychology. Well, that didn't work out after a year in school, so I switched directions again and entered into digital marketing.

I had to start at the ground floor at the age of 41 in digital marketing. I started out with one client as a freelancer, then I gained a full-time job earning only 35K a year. It took me 11 years to climb the ladder to get where I am now earning 130K a year, with plenty of blood, sweat, and tears along the way.

Now I am in a pretty cushy job - I get to outsource a lot of my work to an external agency and work just normal business hours. Essentially, I manage and dictate the strategy for the website and delegate tasks to the agency partner. I do some of the work myself too, but the partnership with the agency allows me to relax and not stress about tasks. I am considered the expert within the organization in my industry and line of work. I am the solo person managing the strategy for the whole company, even globally.

I am aiming for a promotion to manage things on the global level across all the regions. I included this desire in my annual self evaluation, which is reviewed by several higher ups and marketing executives, including Human Resources.

If I can get promoted to a global Director role, I truly will have made it to the top in my career.

I am very proud of this accomplishment. It took years, and loads of hard work and effort. I enrolled in multiple professional development courses and certifications to climb the ladder and learn my industry. I worked extremely hard at it, so I have well earned my position, and I am proud.

It's the one thing in my life that I can say worked out very well, but it took a long time and it took a lot of patience, stress, and aggravation over the years to get where I am now.

I remember during one layoff, I was rejected by 13 employers in a row. I kept interviewing only to be rejected again and again and again. I kept at it until I landed a job. And that is how the past 11 years went for me. I kept at it, despite rejections and setbacks until I achieved my next goal. I even got laid off 3 different times during those 11 years, and still bounced back, getting an even better position and higher salary each time.

This experience has taught me the value of perseverance in the face of adversity, the value of hard work, and the value of earned efforts.

I am beyond thrilled to be sitting where I sit now in my career - it's almost like I can sit back, relax, and enjoy the fruits of my labor.

And the beautiful thing about my company is they don't go through many layoffs - if any - and they are slow to fire someone. They give a person a year's warning and a chance to improve before they terminate employees.

Being the only person responsible for my industry within the entire global company I think may also provide a level of job security and protection. I am also doing a great job and have several big achievements under my belt there.

So, all in all, things are good in my career - except for my bully boss. Even she has gotten better though, after I spoke with her boss about it. So there's that.

I really cannot complain though, given where I had started and given how far I've come in 11 years or since 2014. I was even living at my parents home back then and now I have my own home. Thank goodness!!!

So, I feel I am sitting pretty in my life at this juncture. I have made a new career for myself after the surgery, I made it, and I did it all on my own.

I am feeling good.