Someone once (accurately) accused me of being narcissistic even about my own narcissism. For years, any time a coworker asked what they should write about in their blog post that week I said: “write about me!” Well, the day has finally come for someone to write a whole post about me, but unfortunately that person happens to be me. I’ve been sitting in the same spot at Roundpeg for a little over six years, so calling this a bittersweet day would be a huge understatement. 

When I first came to Roundpeg, I was a fairly inexperienced designer who didn’t know the first thing about marketing. Little did I know, I was joining a team of truly fantastic people, lead by one of the fiercest and smartest women I have ever met. My degree was in design, not marketing, but the things I’ve learned at Roundpeg have fully convinced me that the best designers think strategically. Lorraine has taught me time and again to focus on the results of a good design and not just the visuals. I will forever be grateful for everything I’ve learned here, and how much I’ve grown as a professional because of it.

It’s been a wild ride, full of ups and downs, many laughs and a couple cries. I’ve seen people come and go at Roundpeg, but it’s always felt like a family. Rebecca was always there when I needed advice or even just a hilarious parenting story. Peter allowed me to tell lies about him on social media regularly, and while he never wore a dinosaur costume like I asked, he did let me give him a Sharpie tattoo once. We never took ourselves too seriously here and that is one of the things that made the little white house feel special. 

I’ve always felt comfortable being myself here. On my first day on the job, I showed the team a (p̶r̶o̶b̶a̶b̶l̶y̶ definitely NSFW) video of a tortoise, and I’ve become a master at stringing together elaborate never-before-heard profanities. Several years ago we decided Roundpeg needed an HR person, and shockingly the role was given to me. The idea was pretty much “if Jenna won’t do it, no one should.” The greatest compliment Peter ever gave me was when he said: “Jenna writes the best violence.”

I’ve loved working in a place where my idiosyncrasies are not just tolerated but embraced. My Twitter photo will probably always be the time I looked like Wednesday Addams purely by accident. It will be a sad day when the team takes down the counter on our website tracking how many photos of me holding weapons are on our server. It’s safe to assume I won’t ever work at a place where I can punch my coworker in the armpit (Allison dared me to!), or beg the IT guy to make friendship bracelets with me.

I’m going to miss Sam’s daily trivia questions, our monthly Cheese Day tradition and of course the cats. Clyde will no doubt continue being a very good, cat-like cat, and Benny will be equal parts cute and a pain in the ass. Since I have a cat at home and two in the office, this means I currently spend around 22 hours a day in the presence of a cat. It’s going to be a huge adjustment period for me, so please send all the cute animal pics you can find.

I’m not going to lie, I will enjoy taking a break from blogging. However, I do think I will continue to write from time to time. It was a great exercise and a really smart way to keep those skills sharp. I learned how to use my sometimes over the top snark to put an interesting spin on everything from branding to client relationships to stock photography. 

I’m leaving Roundpeg as a better, smarter designer. I’m thankful for all the lessons I learned here, the wonderful clients I got to know and especially the people I worked with. Hopefully, someone in the office will still occasionally make everyone take off their headphones and listen to Goodbye Horses or the Free Willy Song in my absence. Since Lorraine never allowed me to change my email signature to my favorite salutation, I will just leave it right here.

Good day, idiots.