On Relationships

Four months ago, I made a decision.

After twenty two years of growing up, living, and going to school on the east coast, I decided to pick up and move west. All the way west. I decided that, after my college graduation, I was going to pack my things and move from New Jersey to California. The main reason for my move was that I was offered my dream job, but there were other factors that helped me make the decision. I knew that I was going to be living completely on my own in a city where I knew absolutely zero people, but I was comforted by the fact that many other college grads do the same exact thing, and that now, as a young adult without a family of my own, was the time do it.

The adjustment was - and still is - difficult. Making friends and settling into one's new life just isn't the same when you're not living in a small college town. There were a few things that were keeping me connected to my life back at college, but as time has gone on, those things have faded away. The further I get into my new life, the more I realize that I'm really on my own and anything can happen next. While it sounds exciting, it can also be scarier than anything imaginable.

There's one thing, though, that keeps me grounded (aside from my great job and amazing apartment, that is). What is this one thing, you ask? It's my relationships. Whether it be with the new people I've met here over the past few months or the people back east with whom I constantly keep in touch. Having relationships with others helps me get through my days more than I ever even knew. Being in college and living in a small college town (State College, PA) caused me to take my relationships for granted. Now, living on my own in a huge city where it's scary, intimidating, and, not to mention, expensive, to go out and meet new people, every minute of interaction that I share with the people in my life is special. Without the people in my life over the past few weeks, I never would have realized how much a 20 minute conversation with a friend could turn a day around.

Now, you probably going to think I'm going to get on my soapbox and talk about how important it is to treasure the people in your life and thank them for being there every single day. Well, here comes a curveball....

Why can't brands and companies be like this for their customers? [Don't forget for one minute that I'm a community manager ;)]. Everyone always talks about how important forming a relationship with your customers is, but do brands really think about how to form this relationship and the potential impact it could have? I'm a firm believer in humanization. Remind your customers (and yourselves!) that you're not just a brand or a company, but a bunch of humans trying to make a bunch of other humans happy. You never know, you could become just what your customer didn't even know she needed.