Barrio AK47

I’m still alive even though I haven’t posted anything in ages.  Once again, I post when there is a lot of change in the work world.  As a result of the sale of the Pulmonary Business Unit by Nektar Therapeutics, my position was eliminated in December.  With my background in supply chain, operational excellence, and portfolio planning, I am now exploring opportunities in Life Sciences or Renewable Energy companies where I can increase productivity, improve service levels, and grow profitability.

In 2005, I was in uncharted territory with my first involuntary job search.  This time I know what to expect, and I already have the USANA business as a backup (and I bet my USANA business will grow again like it always does when the day job is in flux).  The new wrinkle is having a baby - yes, that was the big news in 2008!  The key thing is to be able to treat my job search as a job and not believe I can be a fulltime mom and job search on the side.  Fortunately, I’ve got babysitting help on Mon-Wed, so I can focus on the job search on those days.  Definitely not the same kind of personal break as 2005 - I think being a mom makes me a lot better at prioritizing things!

Michael is such a cutie pie and smart cookie!  I look forward to seeing him grow and change every day.  And Don has been an amazing hands on father (he took paternity leave after my maternity leave ended) and doing tons of stuff around the house - but I knew that would be the case from the get go.  That’s why he’s my husband!

Been in quite good health - the pregnancy diet / supplementation / exercise of course continued post birth.  I recovered quickly (especially since it was a natural birth) walking within a few hours afterwards and lost all but 5 pounds of the pregnancy weight after 6 weeks and then lost the rest of it in another 2 weeks when I got the go ahead to exercise.  I joined something called Stroller Strides which really got me moving - I was more toned after the birth than before the pregnancy!  Once I returned to work, I haven’t been working out as much, so I’m back to about my pre-pregnancy state. 

Happy Chinese New Year!

Wow, I haven’t written anything in a long time.  Strangely enough, the last time I posted something I was lamenting the huge layoff at Nektar.  Well, I must lament the second layoff at Nektar which happened on Feb 11 - another 110 people let go and 40 open head count cancelled.  I’m still in the same role (Manager, Portfolio and Strategic Planning), but I’ll be reporting into Finance instead of the COO.  The good news is that I will now officially get my title - my role must not have been all that important because it took HR 10 months before creating the new job code.  All this time I’ve been masquerading as a Strategic Planner while in Production Control clothing! 

Even more coincidental is that while chaos was happening at Nektar, I managed to make progress on my USANA business.  There must be a correlation between corporate uncertainty and having time to work on other things?  This time instead of Platinum Pacesetter, I was focused on making Silver Director during the 4th week of my teammate’s Gold Director run.  I didn’t quite make my goal, but I still advanced two ranks from Builder to Director and was the #4 top income earner at Director level worldwide for that week!  All thanks to some great teamwork with associates and preferred customers placing orders that week and me signing up a new preferred customer who decided to stock up on the Heart Smart Pack (a $15 discount over buying products separately).

Did a lot of traveling since my last post:  went to Huntsville, AL twice for business (one of the luxuries of my new role, it’s not confined to the San Carlos HQ), had a family trip with the in-laws to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam which included another mini-banquet for all the relatives who couldn’t come to our wedding in the US, a family trip with my parents to Sydney, Australia to celebrate Uncle Albert’s 60th b-day, a one week jaunt to Daytona Beach during Christmas week to unwind, and just recently a weekend trip to Las Vegas to visit Don’s cousin who just had a baby!  That’s it for travel for now…

Go Hillary!  I was a Hillstar - got people to a live rally and a house party at my place, but then I got pregnant (we’re having a boy in July!) so never did much campaigning after that (too tired!).  And that’s also the reason I need to put a hold on all the traveling!

Can only do so much when a parasite is sucking me dry, hehe.  Since the Toastmaster Area Governor role and the Nektar Employee Foundation Board role are much higher priority because I’m a point person who can’t shirk, I had to back off of the Hillary Campaign and the Neighborhood Liaison and CERT stuff for my neighborhood.  Both Don and I were nominated for the Redwood Shores Community Association Board, and I had to learn to say no!  But Don is now on the RSCA Board, so I’m sure I’ll end up getting involved in stuff anyway…  Always the overachiever!

I’m such a sporadic blogger.  And I’m always such a perfectionist at wanting to sum up those things in my blog that i didn’t have time to blog about.  Hmm - sounds like my life!

Someday I’ll do the rundown, but today I just want to share how crazy life has been the past few months.  As some may know, Nektar just laid off a ton of people at the end of May.  We knew this was coming because at a company meeting 2 months earlier, someone asked a pointed question to the new CEO - "what’s the real deal - we all know there’s going to be a re-org. when will it happen?"  We were actually given a specific timeline of 6 weeks (it ultimately became 8 weeks).  Unfortunately this meant everyone was stressed out - for me, even though in my head I knew I’d come out all right either way, I still couldn’t control some of the subliminal reactions that manifested themselves in increased skin rashes, emotional eating, and restless sleep.  Work productivity pretty much ground to a halt since no one wanted to start anything if their head was going to be on the chopping block within weeks.  It got really bad when the layoff was iminent and we were all certain when "D-Day" was going to be.  Everyone I talked to had problems sleeping, had eating or digestive issues, difficulty concentrating on anything, etc.

It goes to show that the psyche really impacts our physical well-being, and that logic cannot win over the subconscious.  Heck, on Myers-Briggs I was WAYYY over on the Thinking side vs. the Feeling side.  But man, was I a feeler when it came to this re-org.  Forget logic when basic needs like having food to eat are being threatened!

Ultimately, I survived the riff, but I moved over to a different role, from production planning (operations) to portfolio management (corporate).  Some people are saying I’ve moved to the dark side - I like to say that I’m bringing light to the dark side.  We’ll see how it turns out - I still don’t have a defined set of roles / responsibilities / title nor did I get any salary adjustment, so I’m not going to bother updating any of my networking profiles until this all gets shaken out.

In the meantime, I worked hard on my USANA business (the antioxidants definitely helped me combat the stress - hey restless sleep is way better than succumbing to the flu) and signed up several associates, making Lifetime Platinum Pacesetter, and earning a free re-entry business center during a special promotion that ended on Jun 22.  Still pretty incredulous that it came together - trying to figure out new job and reaching a milestone in my own business all at the same time.  During the final week of the promotion I was in Tahoe for the weekend vacationing (this is before the fires) and then flew over to Nektar’s Alabama site to get going on my project.  I was probably averaging 4hrs of sleep a night juggling everything - felt like MIT all over again.  Actually I think I did that at Stanford too.  Hmm, I kind of do that all the time don’t I - push myself to the limit.  Hey, at least a highlight was seeing the top half of Air Force One barreling down the runway at Huntsville Airport (Bush was in town to visit a nuclear power plant)

Life is always changing, so always best to look out for yourself.  Have multiple streams of income, backup to the backup, don’t settle for less, spend time with friends and family, and follow your passion.

More later - stay tuned…

We just got back from our honeymoon in New Zealand - we joined a tour (Scenic Tour’s 18 day Royal New Zealand), but we got alone time by upgrading where available to luxury lodges (amazing places with great views!) which along with a homestay also allowed us to interact with local Kiwi’s instead of being holed up in a hotel.  We also stayed a few extra days on our own in Auckland (starting point) and Christchurch (ending point) to get acclimated and to do final sourvenir shopping!

Alas with all the food (buffet breakfasts and dinners, fish and chips, morning and afternoon tea), we ended up gaining a few pounds - Don about 5 and me about 3.  So we’re back on a 5 day RESET this week to get our systems back in order.  I’m sure we’ll feel much better after that (our digestive systems and blood sugar levels are out of whack right now).  And we’re trying our best to not scratch at the pesky sand fly bites - these buggers are 10 times worse than mosquitos!

More later - gotta get ready to go to work.   I so don’t want to go to work today :(  Oh well, something to look forward to is to find out all the  gossip about the new CEO at Nektar.

OK, that’s a little silly.  The bad news is that Don’s mom’s car broke - the good news is Don is giving to give his worn out Toyota Avalon to his mom, and he’s going to get a Prius!  We were going back and forth about old or new, but we came upon a really good deal on a Craigslist posting for a fully loaded 2006 Prius (sans leather seats) that we’d be buying from a couple that is moving to Australia.  Kind of a small wolrd - they’ll be in Sydney where a bunch of my relatives are!  So we’ve got the auto loan in progress and will seal the deal next week.  There’s a bit of financial depression considering there’s still a bunch of credit card debt from the wedding and the time share to pay off, but oh well.  We’ll make it happen (and all the more reason to kick it up another notch with my USANA business)

So far on the RESET program, Don and I have both lost 2 inches from our waist as well as 6 pounds  - not bad.  After the 5 day RESET we moved into Phase 1 which is 2 shakes a day, 1 bar, 1 low glycemic meal, 1 low glycemic snack.  Plus we’re gradually ramping up the exercise.  OK, fine, we did almost no exercise the first 3 weeks of Phase 1, but we’re finally getting into gear the past week (been following the Self Magazine Reach Your Goal Plan which is supposed to help me scult sexy muscles in 4 weeks).  So I expect we’ll lose those last stubborn inches through regular exercise!  Just in time for our honeymoon in New Zealand - zippa dee doo dah!

And can I say kudos to USANA supplements?  I was coming down with a cold on Monday (watery eyes, sneezing, runny nose) - somehow I got through the whole day at work and probably infected all my cubemates.  But I was completely fine by the following day - amazing!

I’m realizing I still haven’t caught people up on what happened between the time I got engaged and the time I got married.  Since Turkey Day is coming up, I’ll post some stuff over the weekend that will fill in the gaps from Barrio AK47.

Don and I just completed Day 2 of RESET.  What is that you might ask?  It’s a 5 day cleanse program where one kicks bad eating habits / curbs cravings / establishes natural satiety point via a low glycemic diet.  Check out http://products.usana.com/en/products/us/macros/reset/

We joined a large group of folks (118 members and growing every day) that are communicating via a yahoogroup about goals for 12 weeks (after the 5 day cleanse, we go into Phase 1 and Phase 2).  There will be three 12 week sessions in total.  People are posting their before and after photos, sharing progress towards their goals, and sharing feelings and "best practices."  It’s so much more fun than trying to do something like this alone!

My goals are pretty attainable since I’m already in a healthy weight range - I just need to trim the tummy and good eating habits will go a long way!  And Don is doing this too to improve his triglyceride levels / blood sugar levels and also trim the tummy.  I’m sure as a husband / wife team we can make it happen and reach our goals and maintain it!

If you’d like to join us in this effort, feel free to contact me - the more the merrier!

-Amy

I’m so far behind with my posts I’m just going to ignore capturing the past for this post and just post something current while it’s fresh in my mind.  Then I’ll get back to capturing some highlights from the past year.

Now that I’m done with wedding planning (although not done with thank you notes), I’m refocusing my energies on my USANA business.  Today I sacrificed a chance to go back to my high school for a sesquicentennial celebration open house and instead went to a super super Super Saturday event in Millbrae.  The energy there was pretty amazing with over 400 people in attendence (probably 20% were guests?)  Mark Wilson, VP of Customer Relations, and Dr. Tim Wood, VP of R&D flew in from Salt Lake City to present.  Turns out Dr. Tim Wood is a Bay Area native from Woodside!  There were also speakers from the Medical Advisory Board and top distributors who covered the products, the business opportunity, and training.

One of my big take-aways was that I need to model healthy behavior in order to influence others around me to be healthy.  I can’t just go into this lecture mode or else people might get defensive; either go silent and shut me out or lash out in a violent response.  It’s like telling a smoker to stop smoking because it’s bad for him/her - instead we should paint a pretty picture of what life is like without smoking and let the smoker decide on his/her own that quitting is a good thing.  So my focus is on myself - eating healthy, exercising, sleeping (this is going to be a tough one for a sleep deprived fool such as me!), and taking supplements.  On that note of modeling healthy behavior, I’m also going to do a RESET with my hubby - RESET is a one week low glycemic cleanse (nutrition meals, nutrition bars, veggies and fruit, nutritional supplements, walking for exercise, light weight training) to break bad habits and re-locate ones satiety point.  That’ll get me off on the right foot!

Now if people do go into silence or anger, it’s not the end of the world - that’s where I will need to be a better communicator, not just speaking but rather listening and being aware of all cues and pausing to find out what somone is feeling.  I’m not very astute at this (I’ve always been pretty oblivious), but it’s definitely something I need to work on.  Oh, did I mention that I’ve helped to start a Toastmasters club at my company, Nektar Therapeutics - I’m both the club mentor and the VP of Education!   It’s been a lot of work to get going, but it’s so much fun to see something being born and mature day by day.  Toastmasters will go a long way in helping to improve my communication skills - I’m one speech away from being a competent communicator - but I digress…

The final takeaway was how to grow my USANA business and find leaders.  I won’t go into all the details, but primarily I need to have a vision and a why.  My vision is to help people improve their health, their sense of empowerment, and financial outlook.  My own "why" is to have time freedom to raise a family, be involved in the community, and pursue my varied interests (like singing!).  To end the Super Saturday, we all committed to our own goals - so I’ll make a public commitment right now - by the time of the international convention in Salt Lake City next year (Sep 2007), I will be a Silver Director earning at least $500 per week.  I’ll give a progress report come next Sep!

After a one year hiatus from Fantasy Football, San Francisco AK47 is itching to get back on the field.  I’m looking for folks who are interested in joining my league, incidentally called Tall Dragon Chums (Tall is my last name and Dragon is Don’s last name, hee hee).  Running the show on ESPN - it’s free, so it’s all for fun.  Contact me if you’re interested.  Will try to choose the latest live draft date available which is in mid-September or so.

Funny that my last posting in Dec 05 was about my engagement in May 05 and now I’m writing that I got married in Jul 06!  Of course a zillion things transpired over the course of the year, and that also means I’ve been so outrageously busy, that I haven’t taken the time to write about any of it!

Oh well, now that all the wedding planning is over and all I’ve got left to do is write a bunch of thank you notes and figure out how to live life as a couple (who woulda thunk finances and legalities would be such a headache?), I’ll gradually fill in what happened over the course of the year

Haha, I lied.  I said I’d update you with all the goings on in a few weeks.  It’s been two months!

Anyway, my big highlight after I accepted a job offer from Nektar was going back East for my MIT 10 year reunion.  Before Boston, however, Don and I first took a side trip to New York City, since he’d never been there before.  We were totally economizing on this trip - two roundtrip tickets using all the miles I’d accumulated from Asia business trips and several free nights at the Sheraton Russell in Manhattan.  The biggest highlight of all was that Don proposed to me at the top of the Empire State Building on Memorial Day!  It wasn’t quite the same as the movies because it was packed like sardines up there, but nevertheless it was a very special moment!

The Big Apple:  Our first night in looking for a place to eat dinner, we stumbled upon Korea-town!  We decided to choose this avant-garde Korean restaurant with chic surroundings and health conscious menu items.  We bought a NYC City Pass so that kept us busy with museums and major sites.  Walking across the Brooklyn Bridge was quite the adventure, especially when we stopped right in the middle, sat down on a bench, and ate our blueberry cheesecake from the famous Juniors of Brooklyn!  We waited in line for 2 hours, got our half price theater tickets, ran to the theater, and sat down with 2 minutes to spare to watch Brooklyn, the Musical.   Also got to meet up with family friends, high school and grad school classmates which really rounded out my reunion mentality!

MIT 10 year reunion:  Stayed at Beth’s new place - such great hospitality; ironically, Dorchester seems to be a little Saigon of sorts (Don is half Vietnamese).  We kicked off the weekend with Tech Night at the Boston Pops (at some point, I’ve got to try the picnic tables…), then we proceeded to do a Behind the Scenes tour of Fenway Park, ate some Wings at Wing-It (had to call 783-BIRD from my cell phone because I forgot exactly where it was; but still knew the number since we ordered for delivery so much!), checked out the new Stata Center (http://web.mit.edu/buildings/statacenter/), reunited with class alums at the MIT Museum (what a rehaul - definitely worth checking out; no more Pi room, but now they have an MIT history room!), joined a Duck Tour, had a mini-reunion with fellow Muses (my a cappella group), wined and dined on a Boston Harbor Cruise, mixed and mingled with Class of 2000 over brunch, and even walked the Freedom Trail (except we bailed on Bunker Hill - we saw it from the foot of the bridge at least!).

Relaxation:  Finally we picked up the rental car and headed to a Bed and Breakfast in Cape Cod called An English Garden (http://www.anenglishgardenbb.com).  I chose this B&B because while searching the internet, I noticed one of the owners was an MIT alum who had just gone to his 50th reunion a few years back!  I highly recommend this place - the amenities were top notch and the owners were very friendly.  There was even free internet access in the common room and spiral bound guides to the surrounding area in every room!  The first week of June is not high season yet - now I know why - it was still pretty cold and foggy!  So we couldn’t take advantage of being a 5 min walk away from the beach although we tried to wrap ourselves with beach towels to stay warm.  We did at least make it all the way down to the tip of the cape (Provincetown) and it was warm enough to bike amidst the sand dunes!  Oh, we had lobsters coming out of our ears both in Boston and the Cape; what great deals and super fresh lobsters - we even picked up lobster sandwiches to go for the plane ride home (airlines don’t serve you food anymore!)

All in all a memorable trip - what a great way to finish my extended vacation (that’s a nicer way of referring to my 4 months of unemployment!)