Sharpening my saw
“Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.” (Closing Time, Semisonic.)
I started graduate school with the hope that I could bring greater value to my current position, and someday advance my career in the field of marketing and communication in higher ed. After three and a half years, I earned my MBA in marketing and management in December.
In November 2008, I met some amazing people at the Stamats SIM Tech Conference, and those connections have been instrumental in much of what I’ve been able to accomplish since. I joined the .eduGuru blogging staff in December 2008, which gave me the opportunity to start blogging for the first time, make some wonderful connections, and became one of the primary forces thrusting me into a whirlwind of conference presentations in 2009.
As is customary for a big life event, such as earning an MBA, I’ve done a lot of thinking about what comes next. While I have lots of ideas, the first decision I’ve made is to focus on starting my own consulting business on the side, including my outpost here at RachelReuben.com. While I’ve greatly enjoyed and appreciated the outlet of doteduguru.com, I don’t believe in doing anything less than my best at anything (you can ask my friends on Twitter who read about my many travails with my final class last semester). The .eduGuru team are a great group of colleagues and friends who I have a great deal of respect for, and wish nothing but the best to.
I hope you’re not thinking, “oh gosh, not another blog to follow.” I don’t think you should expect much volume from me. I plan to spend the majority of my nights and weekends on my clients and our projects. I want to sharpen my saw and make sure my posts deliver value to the community, and it is important to me that each of them continue to build your trust and confidence.
I welcome your input and feedback and hope you’ll continue to stick around to see what unfolds. This is not goodbye, it’s see you around. The Web makes the world a smaller place, so I’ll still be in contact with so many fascinating minds and ideas … but can do so in a way that fits better with my new direction in life.
Congrats, Rachel! Looking forward to the content here and seeing what you accomplish next! You’ll do great things. :)
Awesome! Congrats to you. You’ll do great work and I cant wait to hear about it….
Congratulations Rachel. I echo Brad’s comments above. Just be careful with this statement :) “I plan to spend the majority of my nights and weekends on my clients and our projects.”
Congrats and good luck :-)
My hat’s off to you for so many things:
for persevering in the finance class that threatened to be your downfall, but of course wasn’t;
for knowing that graduate school was worth doing–and doing well;
for setting a standard of class and professionalism that I long to replicate (and while I acknowledge I’m a different beast altogether, still wish I were more like you);
for always giving 110%, even when you might not want to;
for knowing that students/clients/community matters, and championing them every single day;
for stepping back and knowing that change isn’t bad; it’s simply change, and needs to happen;
for being brave enough to turn the page and open the door to new opportunities.
I’ve admired you ever since the intertubes crossed our paths, and have cheered you on from here because your values echo my values, and I value people of quality making progress and moving forward. Your success is well deserved, as is the respect we have for you.
Congratulations and best of luck as you move forward. You have done well, and we will indeed see each other around. Go make some moo cards. :)
Congrats Rachel! Looking forward to reading about the many adventures you’re about to experience with starting up your business. Best of luck, I can’t wait to see some of the awesome projects you’ll be rolling out for clients!
Congrats on earning your MBA. You’re such an integral part to my online heweb learning and exchange of info. I hope to continue to learn from you via your posts and tweets. Best wishes for this new chapter in your life!
Hey, Rachel – Congratulations on making this move. We’ll be watching and learning from you as you move forward.
Best of luck in the future Rachel you are and are gonna continue to be GREAT!
You will forever be the ‘twitter queen’ :) I’m really looking forward to your future projects – you’re an extremely gifted thinker and, more importantly, do-er. Best of luck!
Your post “The Use of Social Media in Higher Education for Marketing and Communications: A Guide for Professionals in Higher Education” was what made me start reading doteduguru. Your great insight and writing will be missed there, but I look forward to more posts here. :)
Good luck in your new endeavors!
Devin
Rachel,
In some ways, I’m not surprised to hear about this. You certainly have the knowledge, the experience, and the insights to do wonferful work. Congratulations and best wishes!
Michael
An enormous thank you to all of you. I am so grateful to call all of you my friends and to be part of such a wonderful community. I learn from each and every one of you and look forward to expanding our connections this year. <3
Rock it!
Congrats! I wish you success and happiness! And, all of us at OmniUpdate hope to continue working with you in your new role. We are a fan!
Congrats! Best of luck in all your future endeavors. BTW – love the Covey reference. We all need to focus attention on “sharpening our saws”, especially in the world of higher ed web where the only constant is change!
Congratulations, Rachel and best of luck to you with your new venture! I look forward to reading about your successes to come. :)
Go kick some virtual butt!!
Hey ,i will go to fcae book to mee you ~