Two years ago today I became a full time Automattician. It’s been an amazing two years.

I feel extremely fortunate to have earned this, and extremely humble to be one of the Happiness Engineers supporting WordPress.com users.

The amazing thing is that not a week goes by where I don’t learn something new from our users. I’ve “met” users (both just via support interactions and at WordCamps) that I now follow (and they follow me back! Hi everyone!) Who have opened such interesting new avenues for me – whether it’s poetry, history, a passion for a beloved pet (family member, I should say), gorgeous photography, design, or almost any other discipline. Our users are myriad and fascinating.

And my coworkers! So many honest, patient, kind humans. At my previous job, I worked with wonderful people at a conservative company. It wasn’t a good fit for me. Now I am lucky to be with a company where I – and all my coworkers – are treated like adults. We are trusted and in return, I feel like we pay that trust back in kind. We troll each other (with affection), we support each other (both helping each other tasks and sending cheer during tough times – indeed, Lori and Ingrid in HR sent Henry a train and books while he was coalescing), and we respect each other enough to discuss tough subjects openly and respectfully (ranging from casual sexism to whether Nic Cage is a  “good” actor). I feel that I have a lot of friends here, people I am undeniably lucky to know.

And through it all, I’ve had my family, for which no adjective will suffice. My babies have grown up adored by my Automattician family. My husband has met many of my coworkers, and now at work they ask after him, caring about the answer. I, who support our users, find myself utterly supported by my beloved. When I leave on trips, when I ” have to check in, just real quick” he is patient, he makes sure I take breaks and recharge. He is my calm port in a storm (we like to say “welcome to the chaos” at work). As lucky as I am to work where I do, I am 10 times as lucky to have even met Bob.

All I can say is I am the happiest I’ve ever been; it’s been a wonderful two years. I am eagerly looking forward to the next day, week, month, year, decade.
We are hiring – come join me 🙂