Read Online Nerd Girl by Sue Lee - Free Book Online Page B

reputation, which was one of the reasons I wanted to work for her, but it was nice to see something personal, something that showed her vulnerability. There was something reassuring about knowing that your boss had a human and emotional side to her.
    “Thanks, Julia.” When she looked back up at me, her professional face was back on. The small talk was over. “So, these next few weeks are a bit crazy for me. I think I mentioned during your interview that I’d be traveling for most of August. I’ll be in Paris through this weekend and then Singapore and Japan the week after. I’m leaving tomorrow so I can get time with EMEA HQ team before they all disappear for their August holiday. I thought I would also get in a long weekend to hang out in Paris.” She winked.
    Who could blame her for wanting to get a couple extra days in one of the most beautiful cities in the world? I would certainly take advantage if the opportunity ever presented itself.
    She tightened her lips and continued, “I really hate doing this to you on your first week on the job, however, with GA I need to get out to the regions to make sure we’re all coordinated for the launch.”
    The GA, or aka General Availability, launch date was set for late October, less than three months away. The whole company was in a frenzy anticipating the next generation of Portals.
    “So, while I’m out, I have a few things I’d like for you to work on.” Catherine took her time explaining my assignments for the next couple of weeks. She needed me to update the global marketing campaign scorecard first thing. It was basically a fancy status update that required the coordination of feedback from all MS region marketing teams. The hard part was figuring out what to report in as few PowerPoint slides as possible.
    “I know it might sound a bit overwhelming, but you can ask your teammates for guidance and assistance. It’s a great opportunity to start reaching out to folks in the subs and start building some of those key relationships.”
    I gulped and smiled nervously at her. “Okay,” I replied bravely. “I’ll figure it out.”
    Catherine wasn’t finished yet, though. “When you’re not working on the scorecard template, I’d like you to research the upgrade offer materials for Portals 8. We have a lot of digital marketing assets that you’ll need to become familiar with to provide the subsidiary teams guidance, prior to and after GA. I would also get intimately familiar with the campaign cookbook for Portals 8.” She continued to ramble on while I desperately tried to type all of my notes into my laptop. “Kyle Warren is a great resource in the US sub. He could actually give you some guidance on the scorecard, and you can review how the US sub is marketing the upgrade offer.”
    I nodded with relief. “I know Kyle. We’ve worked together before on some email marketing best practices in my old role. He’s great.”
    “Perfect,” Catherine replied. “Then you’ve already got a great resource on your side.” She smiled. “Oh, and before I forget, let me forward you our All Hands meeting invite to you. It’s this Friday afternoon. I won’t be there, of course, but you should definitely go since it will be a great introduction of the overall organization.”
    As Catherine searched her calendar to send me the appropriate meeting invitation, I couldn’t help myself from stealing a peek at the one picture she had in her office of her and what I imagined were some colleagues at a product launch event. It looked a lot like Ryan, but I couldn’t be completely sure. I took a closer look and a little thrill went through me. The man in the picture looked a little younger, but he had the same dimpled grin, the same piercing blue eyes. It dawned on me that if Ryan was in this event picture with Catherine, then he theoretically could be in this organization or was at one point. He said he worked in the US sub. I wondered if he worked with Kyle. Certainly