Hitting the ground running – my first weeks as a Videolee

Well, what a welcome to 2021. Within the first month of the year, we'd packed up our lives, somehow managed a post-Brexit-mid-pandemic move, scored a daycare spot for our kid, travelled back in time to a winter wonderland, managed to find a flat in Helsinki and left behind our jobs for entirely new career paths. Looking back at all this now, a lot of what happened feels like the sort of memory you're not sure you dreamt or actually lived.

When was the last time I wore jeans?

Wednesday: my first day. I was planted in between boxes and half assembled IKEA shelves, patting myself on the shoulder for wearing actual jeans (yes, no sweatpants!). I was excited, hopeful and also feeling somewhat vulnerable about embarking on a new career journey… and then everything sped up. The first three days raced by. My head was buzzing with information, ideas were bubbling up and the more people I met, the more excited I grew. I continue to be humbled by the support and encouragement from everyone at Videoly!

Videoly in the flesh

Visiting the office in Helsinki for the first time was one of those surreal pandemic moments, when you remember what 'normal life' felt like: when having a chat about random things over coffee without using your fingers to type or emojis to transmit face expressions feels like a 'special' moment – you start wondering how you ever took anything like that for granted.

I left the office feeling energised, more like myself and with a reminder of what things could look like once we're back to normal.

A great community to be yourself in

Remote onboarding is tough! And I'll admit: I am hungry for normalcy (who isn't!). But the sense of community and support imbued throughout my onboarding experience has been remarkable (and I'm still not done learning).

It is OK not to get everything the first time around; it's OK to ask a million questions; and it's refreshing to join a team where you immediately feel fine being your weird self. There's always someone reassuring me, willing to help out or just up for a chat about the latest Drag Race episode.

These snippets of communication feel all the more important when you're joining a team remotely. They build the vital sense of community that creates the kind of workspace where everyone feels welcome. I'm really glad I found that here at Videoly.

‍