How I Started Following Anne Gordon’s Path
So last year I was scrolling through random career stories feeling totally stuck in my admin job when Anne Gordon’s interview popped up. What caught me? She said “just fix one tiny work problem today – don’t overthink the damn 10-year plan.” That slapped me awake.
My First Attempts Were Messy
First I literally looked around my cubicle for “tiny problems.” Noticed our team kept missing client deadlines because files got lost in email chains. So I grabbed Google Sheets – the only tool I knew – and made a stupid shared tracker. Showed it to my boss like “hey maybe this helps?” Didn’t even call it a “system” just a dumb spreadsheet.
Got laughed at by two coworkers but guess what? The tracker actually worked for small stuff. Two months later my manager asked me to improve it with dropdown menus. That was my first “project” ever.
Stealing Anne’s Networking Trick
Anne mentioned her rule: “Talk to one human outside your bubble every Thursday lunch.” Sounded cringe but I tried it.
- Week 1: Asked warehouse Joe about his inventory software
- Week 2: Bought coffee for Sarah from marketing
- Week 4: Got invited to shadow IT guy installing new routers
By month three? Warehouse Joe told me they needed someone to test their new barcode app. Suddenly I’m the “tech-savvy” admin helping roll out new tools.
That Scary Career Leap
Here’s where Anne’s advice got real. She said “Raise your hand before you feel ready – everybody’s winging it anyway.” Our company announced this new project management software rollout. I volunteered to organize training sessions even though I’d only used it twice.
Cue panic attacks for a week! But I binge-watched YouTube tutorials every night. When I messed up during the first demo? Just said “My bad – let’s reload that screen together” instead of apologizing. People actually thanked me for keeping it real.
Where This Got Me
Fast forward to now? Still at same company but:
- Got promoted to Operations Coordinator (20% pay bump)
- Running all software training for new hires
- Built four Google Sheet systems they actually pay me to maintain
Biggest win though? When Dave from sales said last week “You’re like our in-house tech whisperer.” Never thought I’d hear that after starting as the quiet admin girl filing papers.
