Experiencing The Upside Down

Before working at a large CPG, I spent a decade in the creative agency world. I was a successful freelance graphic designer. I led creative teams. I was accustomed to delivering on ridiculous deadlines. Wherever I worked, I was always one of the top performers. Business was good.

Then I became a father and long agency hours were no longer a fit. So, I took a full-time gig as a Creative Services Manager for a major POP Display manufacturer. My job was managing the creative team supporting our key account – Nestle USA.

Eventually, I was offered a job at NUSA’s Confections Division. I’d be managing their Everyday Display portfolio. This looked like the perfect opportunity to grow my career. I already knew people from my time as a supplier. Better still, I’d be working with displays that I literally helped develop over the past two years. How could I not hit the ground running?

Well, it didn’t go quite as planned. Imagine my surprise when the skills and experience that built my success were suddenly of little to no use. Fast-paced – I was used to. Complex cross-functional interdependencies (that I didn’t even understand) coupled with Fortune 100-sized bureaucracy – I was not.

From the start, associates were showing up at my desk asking for things I had no idea about. And then came the complaints - communicated to me through my manager. It was dismaying how many things I was expected to know but simply did not.

The reputation I'd built over years as a top performer was quickly erased. I was now at the bottom of the list. This was a position I had never experienced over my entire career. I had crash-landed in my own professional “Upside Down.”

Eventually, through a lot of time, hard work, and support, I figured it out. Rung by rung, I climbed my way back up to being at the top of my game.

Now, if I couldn’t get you a display, it was just not physically possible. I knew all the shortcuts. I knew all the workarounds. And most of all, I had the functional and supplier relationships to make it happen.

Key takeaway? TBH I didn't really have one. I just felt compelled to share this story of a pivotal point in my career.

I do owe a debt of gratitude to many former NUSA associates of the now-divested Confections & Snacks Division. You helped me survive, and then provided the support that enabled me to thrive.