When I left my job in July, I was excited and a bit anxious about what lie ahead. I had worked for one media company or another all my adult life — I was a reporter, photographer, paginator, news editor, copy editor, online editor. You name it, I probably had done it in some capacity as a journalist over the years. But husband’s new job in thriving Austin, Texas, was giving me an opportunity to explore my career choices.

I told myself I wasn’t going to settle on a job just because we needed money or I wanted to go back to work. I was able to save enough money to keep us going for six months or so in case I didn’t find what I wanted right away. That was probably the smartest thing I did. Because truthfully, I wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to do. Yes, I knew I wanted to use the digital skills I had honed specifically in the past five to 10 years at the Green Bay Press-Gazette. But beyond that, I wasn’t sure.

So I looked. And looked. And looked. Husband was starting to wonder if I would ever go back to work. Daughter was wanting a bit more “alone” time that she used to have when I worked full-time. I found a few interesting job postings, but didn’t get any bites on my resume. I kept looking, determined not to settle on just any job. After all, this was my chance to take my career in a new direction, to try something a bit different than print and digital newspapers.

Guess what? I’m excited to report that I believe I’ve found that job! Starting Monday, I’m going to be a content marketing manager for Sears PartsDirect. Basically, I’m going to manage the day-to-day operations of the team responsible for Searspartsdirect.com. The website is a place you can go if you’re looking for replacement parts for all kinds of lawn and garden equipment, kitchen appliances or tools. There are how-to videos and manuals, plus lots of other cool things.

I’m excited for a variety of reasons. The job gives me the opportunity to use and expand upon the professional skills I’ve worked hard at developing. I’m also excited by the whole do-it-yourself aspect of the website. I think it will be satisfying helping others help themselves. And one more very important thing. I’m really excited about the team I’ll be working with. From the very first interview I did for this position, I felt a connection to the people at Sears. I’ll be working from a distance with a number of people (who work in Illinois), but I’m not at all concerned about it. They’re such a welcoming group — I feel like we’ve known each other for years. And I only met them a couple weeks ago. And only over the phone! That tells me this is a special bunch. Now I can’t wait to meet the people I’ll be working with locally.

I’ll admit there have been a few times in the past six or seven months when I found myself resistant to change because of the things I thought had to give up. But now I can see what I have to gain as well. And I’m liking it. A lot.