How I make that money, honey

Today I’m doing a link up party with Lindsay, which I discovered by way of Lia Joy, who happens to be my in my Sunday School class at church.  And since I’ve never really told you what I do, here’s my chance.

I am the marketing and public relations director for a local hospital. This means I figured out a way to get paid for doing things that I think are crazy fun. Don’t tell my boss. 🙂 Here’s what I do:

1. Advertising, including billboards, print ads, tv and radio commercials, direct mail, brochures/collateral, t-shirts, people on street corners holding cardboard signs. Okay, not really the last one – that’s a pet peeve of mine. But there is no better feeling than driving down the street and seeing your billboard on the side of the highway and knowing that nobody else will ever realize how much work went into it. Or the smell of a freshly printed mail piece that I’ve slaved over for a month.

2. Web stuff – I’ve created several websites from scratch, and I also do all of the Facebooking/blogging/Pinteresting/tweeting/YouTubeing on behalf of the hospital. Who would have ever thought I’d figure out a way to get paid to play on Pinterest? Then again, who ever thought when I was hired 8+ years ago that there would BE a Pinterest? Or, for that matter, Facebook?

3. Special events – everything from an employee party in an operating room to a community party of 500+ off campus. I’ve done grand openings and anniversary parties and surprise parties and more health seminars that I could ever count.

4. Media relations – I’m the girl that reporters call when they want to do a story about the hospital, which means I’ve worked Christmas Eve, New Year’s morning, nights, weekends, you name it. I’ve worked on stories about West Nile and heart attacks and hair cuts for charity and baby making during ice storms. The baby making one made me blush, but you better believe it was such a good story it got picked up nationally.

5. Community relations – I get to serve on boards for non-profits, work on committees, participate in chamber life, go to events, and do service projects in the community. I’ve played Mrs. Santa Claus for kids and worked the finish line at a marathon and painted a house, all on behalf of my hospital. It’s one of the very best parts of my job (besides Pinterest), and I consider myself so blessed to get to help others as part of my job.

Don’t for a minute think that my job is glamorous. For every black tie gala I’ve planned, there have been five events where I had to schlep boxes of chocolate truffles to my hot car in 105 degree heat (true story) or set up events in the pouring down rain looking like a drowned rat while everyone else looks dignified. The last TV commercial I shot had me leaving my house at 4:30 a.m. – next week I’m doing a live radio broadcast that means I have to be at work at 3:00 a.m. And there have been days when I spent three hours standing over an old, squeaky paper cutter, or addressing and stamping postcards while watching Dancing with the Stars. Glamorous, not so much. But fun? Absolutely.

I love my job, I really do. Sometimes it exhausts me, especially when I have to work several weekends in a row. One year I went to 80 community events OUTSIDE of work (that was before I met Mr. Right). Not to mention the amount of stress I carry around as I struggle to leave work at the office but end up mentally taking it home with me and mulling over problems when I should be sleeping.

But when I get really worn out, I remember the times my husband, or dad, or mother-in-law, or I have been a patient in my hospital, and the fantastic care we received, and how the staff there provided me with comfort and reassurance when I was so very scared, and I remember why I chose to work in a hospital in the first place. Because I don’t sell something that’s meaningless or frivolous. I get to work on a team that saves lives, and my little contribution may provide comfort or peace during the scariest moment in someone’s year.

Plus, let’s face it. My cafeteria sells the most amazing peach cobbler known to man. That’s reason enough to stay another eight years.

What about you? Join the link up party and leave me a comment with a link to your post – I’d love to see what the rest of you do!

7 Comments

  1. Cool job! As a RN I understand the working all stat holiday things! On night shift too! LOL! Thanks for sharing!

    Reply

  2. we have very similar jobs! I am the communications & community relations coordinator for a school system so I know all about juggling a million job duties under one title 😉

    Reply

  3. Your job sounds like exactly what I want to do! Newest follower. love your blog!-Carolhttp://southernbelleway.blogspot.com/

    Reply

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