Reflecting on a big change

A few months ago, I made the stupid brave decision to move to the Cotswolds, all by myself. 

Throughout my final year, I was terrified of graduating without any plans for the following year, and when a friend of mine approached with the opportunity to apply to work as a marketing intern at a distillery in the Cotswolds, how could I pass it up? Cue several weeks of nervous anticipation as I moved through a couple of rounds of interviews, and the difficult question of whether this was the right move.

The day I found out I was being offered the internship, I was on my own, sitting in my little flat in St Andrews, both terrified and thrilled at the chance of an adventure. That was the thing that scared me the most about my move – how would I cope going from being surrounded by my favourite people at all times, to suddenly left in an unfamiliar place, with not one of MY PEOPLE there to turn to. I should probably have been worried about being capable of doing the job I was coming in to do, but in all fairness, I’m a little bit obsessed with social media and knew I’d be given a fair bit of free reign, so how far could that really go wrong..?

Back in June, graduating with my best friend and soul sister

It’s been tough for the last few weeks, I can’t lie, as I have now become a full-time member of the marketing team at the Cotswolds Distillery. As a company, we seriously have VERY LITTLE experience in everything that we do. Literally. Dan knew nothing about producing spirits before he set up the company, and now he could out-nerd some of the geekiest spirits buffs! I suppose that’s part of why I love the job I do: I’m not expected to know the very best way of doing things, and in fact I am valued for coming up with new ideas and just giving things a try. Yet, that sense of freedom can be a slight burden on my shoulders, when all I want is to leave a good impression on my colleagues. I may not be the newest member of staff, but I’m certainly the youngest member of our company, and I quite possibly have the most to prove.

When offered a full-time position, one of the responsibilities handed on to me was to coordinate and carry out the release of our pre-ordered whisky. Now I’m certainly not one to shy away from responsibility, nor am I one to give up without a fight, but I had no idea just how much pressure I would feel towards the packaging and delivery of some 2500 bottles of whisky… As they say, what does not kill you makes you stronger, and this has certainly taught me a lot about handling yourself under pressure, time management, delegation, and how to manage expectations! Who knew whisky could be so educational?

No longer a Gintern, but you can't beat a #cloudygin

Anyway, all in all I love my job. There is hardly a day that goes by where I am not pleased that I took the chance and moved all the way from Scotland down to this area of outstanding natural beauty. However, that doesn’t deny that there are days like today where all I want is the comforting company of one of my friends, my sister, or my parents. These days are the hardest, especially when they fall on weekends, as four years of university have made me forget how to enjoy spare time! I can only hope that I’ll find my people and fall into a routine, so that even on these most difficult days, I don’t feel quite so alone.

Cheers!

Ellie