What It’s Like Being a New Hire During a Global Pandemic

I began my journey with DMA Solutions right at the beginning of the evolving pandemic, in early March. At the time, I don’t think we realized how the global pandemic would affect our country, much less a new way of working and collaborating in a creative environment. I was “in the office” about a week until when our company made the decision to implement work from home.

As a newcomer to the fresh produce industry, the hardest part about the adjustment from “in office” to “work remote” was adjusting to being at home. Like so many of us and you, working from home was not ordinary but something one would welcome from time to time.  As a cat owner and lover, at first the novelty of working at home with my cat sitting on my keyboard was cute.

Five months later, I am working remotely and absorbing all that I can about the fresh produce industry while we all navigate a worldwide crisis. Meanwhile, I wish my cat had a set up like this, but alas, he’s still on my keyboard, which is still cute. 

Now that I’ve gotten my feet wet and after having the opportunity to attend two virtual tradeshows, United Fresh LIVE and PMA Foodservice Delivered, I realize I’m gaining access to content and context that I might not have had the chance to experience if things were “normal.”  I’m taking time to appreciate what I am doing versus focusing on what I’m not.  So far, here’s what I’ve learned to appreciate most about being a newbie in a remote environment: the extra attention to detail required on my part and those that are teaching me, heightened communications is a must amongst our team and our clients, and having the opportunity to witness marketing produce results at an all time high.

On a personal note, between finding a career that I’m passionate about and working from home, I’m inspired to cook more and experiment with more fresh produce in the kitchen!  I recently invested in an Air Fryer and want you all to know that it is the BEST invention! Cooking and being at home more in general has graced me time to work on my labor of love which is a cookbook featuring my mom’s amazing recipes titled, Mother’s Best: Indo-Pak Fusion Foods. It isn’t finished yet, but I’m working on it!  

Working at DMA Solutions has also given me the opportunity to grow in my passion for photography and food styling.  I serve many clients and manage their social media presence, which requires me to present engaging and enticing content across multiple social media channels.  You can imagine how this has helped me with my own passion project in the cookbook!

Although being away from the team and our beautiful office makes it more difficult to come together and immerse myself into the office company culture, I’ve gotten to know my colleagues in different ways than most and I like that! 

DMA is all about strong community (and cocktails!) and through virtual training/Zoom calls I can happily say that I’ve found my new “home”.

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