This is my last weekend in Dubai. Only 5 days remain till I get on the flight home, for good this time. My 2 years has flown by, and I am so glad I kept this blog. Now, I'm not going to sign off yet, so this is not the good bye blog entry, but it's the winding down of this amazing experience.
So first off; I got a new job! I'm now going to the Manager of Store Operations for our international division!! This is the role I have dreamed of for years. I'll be in charge of all the store education materials, store meetings, trainings, new franchise on-boardings, then overseeing the store props (plexiglass boxes, hanging decorative elements we change all the time, etc), new store opening kits, any technology updates, scheduling tools, staffing tools, and... alot of other things. But this works out great because I've worked in the US business for years and have great relationships with the US home office teams, I've worked on the ground inside the franchise world, building those relationships, and really seeing what it is like on this side of the world. Now, I get to go back and fix all the issues that we've had on the ground, while connecting them more to the US business. So all in all, I'm thrilled and can not wait to start my next new adventure.
And secondly, I didn't know how this last week was going to go. I was thrilled that I got to spend last week in Istanbul seeing the team before I left. Then I came back to Dubai and was excited and got emotional as both the LBI team and the franchise team wanted to throw me going away parties. And then the store managers all wanted to go out with me to have dinner and say goodbye :-) It really showed that I've built a great team, built strong relationships, and best of all, made some great friends.
The pictures above are from our Franchise team brunch we did yesterday, and the picture of Sherrellea and I is great. She is the VP of Operations for the big franchise and we've become great co-workers and friends. I'll still be working with her as I'm now Operations from Columbus, and she'll still be here for the middle east.
Below are the pictures from our Limited Brands team dinner. We went to my favorite restuarant in the city "Bice Mare" which is right in front of the Dubai fountains. We then went for drinks at my hangout bar called "Neo's", super posh top floor of the Address Hotel downtown Dubai. It was the perfect evening with the team. And they got me the best going away gift; a photo-frame to keep on my desk so that I can always remember the amazing times' I've had over here. They also got me a spa gift certificate for a spa in Columbus- joking that I'll need it since I'll have to start cleaning my own house, and making my own bed again when I get back :-)
Pictures of the team, me and Ashley sitting infront of the Burj Khalifa, My card and they got me Magnolia Cupcakes for dessert! And the fountains.
This is my last weekend in Dubai. Only 5 days remain till I get on the flight home, for good this time. My 2 years has flown by, and I am so glad I kept this blog. Now, I'm not going to sign off yet, so this is not the good bye blog entry, but it's the winding down of this amazing experience.
So first off; I got a new job! I'm now going to the Manager of Store Operations for our international division!! This is the role I have dreamed of for years. I'll be in charge of all the store education materials, store meetings, trainings, new franchise on-boardings, then overseeing the store props (plexiglass boxes, hanging decorative elements we change all the time, etc), new store opening kits, any technology updates, scheduling tools, staffing tools, and... alot of other things. But this works out great because I've worked in the US business for years and have great relationships with the US home office teams, I've worked on the ground inside the franchise world, building those relationships, and really seeing what it is like on this side of the world. Now, I get to go back and fix all the issues that we've had on the ground, while connecting them more to the US business. So all in all, I'm thrilled and can not wait to start my next new adventure.
And secondly, I didn't know how this last week was going to go. I was thrilled that I got to spend last week in Istanbul seeing the team before I left. Then I came back to Dubai and was excited and got emotional as both the LBI team and the franchise team wanted to throw me going away parties. And then the store managers all wanted to go out with me to have dinner and say goodbye :-) It really showed that I've built a great team, built strong relationships, and best of all, made some great friends.
The pictures above are from our Franchise team brunch we did yesterday, and the picture of Sherrellea and I is great. She is the VP of Operations for the big franchise and we've become great co-workers and friends. I'll still be working with her as I'm now Operations from Columbus, and she'll still be here for the middle east.
Below are the pictures from our Limited Brands team dinner. We went to my favorite restuarant in the city "Bice Mare" which is right in front of the Dubai fountains. We then went for drinks at my hangout bar called "Neo's", super posh top floor of the Address Hotel downtown Dubai. It was the perfect evening with the team. And they got me the best going away gift; a photo-frame to keep on my desk so that I can always remember the amazing times' I've had over here. They also got me a spa gift certificate for a spa in Columbus- joking that I'll need it since I'll have to start cleaning my own house, and making my own bed again when I get back :-)
Pictures of the team, me and Ashley sitting infront of the Burj Khalifa, My card and they got me Magnolia Cupcakes for dessert! And the fountains.
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