AMG Blog

Every business has them. If job title accurately depicted job description, he/she would be bestowed with titles such as: The Peon, Grunt Work Guru or Menial Task Marshal. Out of necessity to fill the position, desire to remain on the good side of political correctness or sheer pity, however, businesses around the country and globe label these paper-pushing, bottom-dwellers as Administrative Assistant, Attendant, or - as my nametag here at AMG Creative reads – Project Manager. No matter the title and no matter the location he/she is always subordinate to everything/everyone and as scripture so elegantly put it, I AM.

My name is Justin Williams and I AM the new Project Manager at the most desirable advertising agency in the most desirable place to live in the US (according to Money Magazine). As in most entry level positions, there is little room for my strategic vision in the office and for good reason. It is 5:00 PM on Friday of my first full week and this is the first time that I have been able to put a full thought together deeper than, “Where is that file?”

Although I accept my position at the “bottom of the ladder” and am even grateful that my to-do-list can only pile so high (decisions weighted with any responsibility never stop here!), I have a voice too. And I want to be heard! Thus, I bring you ‘The View from the Bottom,’ a weekly/whenever-my-to-do-list-allows rant about the menial tasks and headaches that we subordinates encounter on our journey up the corporate ladder – shhh, not too loudly though, my boss is in the next room.

So, what do you get when you add a middle- aged mom of two teenagers to an office full of high energy twenty-somethings?  

Apparently,  you get a mandate to write an inspirational blog, although I am still waiting to discover why anyone would want to read or write one.   My thought is that we are raising an entire generation of young people with entirely too much time on their hands, who love a public forum where they can whine and probably complain that their parents are to blame for all of their life problems.  But, I digress.

Thankfully, I am the mom of two fantastic boys, ages 13 and 17, who  were more than happy to assist in my hour of need.  Connor’s (13) immediate response was to tell the story of how we ended up in Fort Collins, the best family town we have been blessed to inhabit.  Having targeted Colorado since 1993, our family ventured to Fort Collins in March 2008 for a week- long vacation/reconnaissance mission to check out the area, public schools, CSU for our rising senior, and recreational opportunities.  Of course, we were blown away by the fantastic schools, perfect climate, super friendly people and abundance of healthy outdoor activities available.  The family vote at the end of the week was unanimous - we were moving to Fort Collins, and we needed to get here by mid August to establish residency for CSU next year.  So, we said goodbye to our friends, the beach and abundant palm trees of Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, and drove 2,000 miles to start our new lives in Fort Collins. 

Cody (17) had a slightly different take on this blog opportunity. Suffering from a serious case of senioritis at Fossil Ridge High School,  Cody’s world revolves around next year, when he will head to Colorado State University and all things independent of life at home.  He would like me to take this opportunity to proclaim CSU’s superiority over CU, and to say that life in Fort Collins is approximately a thousand times better than on tiny Hilton Head Island.

That’s it for today…from all of the Hollifields -  Cheers!