Ever since I began trying to build my career, I am thankful to say that I was fortunate enough to go from one job to another with little effort. In fact, most job transfers I made were from one position right to another – with the biggest break in between being only a two month period. But since I left Fillmore Real Estate as their Director of Marketing in March of this year, I have not been able to find another full time job no matter how hard I tried. No matter the field I applied in, the number of positions I sent in resumes for – or the amount of interviews I went on – it started to seem as if I would not be able to land a job playing myself in the movie of my own life. It got so bad that I actually began to think that all I have built in my career was now worthless and for nothing – and that I would be forced to either take a job in retail or sales – or find a new career path entirely...

…until I applied for a job as Editor of The Nassau Herald – and was hired on September 27th.

Despite the fact that I have had many different types of jobs in my life – my heart always belonged to journalism. I enjoyed running a newspaper and overseeing the creative process from editorial meetings to final editions. Writing stories and seeing them in print has been my passion all my life – and I was very grateful that I was able to take that love and turn it into a career that has seen me go from a Contributing Reporter all the way to a Publisher. So when I saw an ad for the job at The Nassau Herald on Craigslist – I instantly applied – because I really wanted the position.

After a week or so, I received a call from John O’Connell, the Executive Editor of Herald Community Newspapers, who invited me in for an interview. During our meeting, he mentioned to me that the previous Editor was leaving to move upstate, which is why the position became available. He also explained to me that The Nassau Herald, which covers the Five Towns area of Long Island and has a circulation of 9,261, the company’s largest – is the Flagship of the company’s chain of fifteen newspapers – and has only had five Editors in the paper’s prestigious eighty-one year history.

Following the first interview, I went on a second, where I met the owners of the company and went on a tour of the building – which to me – was a very good sign. I then waited to hear for what I hoped would be the call that I received the job. After waiting for a few weeks, I called Mr. O’Connell to check in, who told me that the process was going to take a while because they wanted to find, as he put it, “the perfect candidate for the job.” He said that because of the newspaper’s reputation in the community, as well as the longevity of each previous Editor – they wanted to take their time to ensure that whoever was hired would be able to properly follow in the footsteps of those who came before them.

Then, I received a call from Mr. O’Connell eleven days ago – and was asked if I would like to take the job.

When I heard him say that, I felt the same relief, amazement and jubilation that a winner of the Publisher’s Clearing House Sweepstakes would feel. Finally, I not only had a full time job with a guaranteed weekly paycheck – but a job that complimented the career I built for so long. Once again, I was the Editor of a newspaper, and would be able to bring my editorial expertise back into a newsroom – where I could do the one thing that I have always loved – be a journalist.

I begin my tenure as the Editor of The Nassau Herald on Monday, and I can’t wait. I very much look forward to hitting the ground running and getting back to being in charge of a newspaper, which I may not have done since 1997 – but know how to do better than anything else. I eagerly await meeting the staff, assigning and gathering the stories of the week – and seeing that first issue published with my name on the top of the staff box. But most importantly – I can’t wait to get back into the workforce, back into a steady income, back into a normal existence…

…and back in the high life again.