Momma's Lil Yelper

Monday was my first day at Yelp! What a day it was... since I'm living in San Jose right now, I woke up and was out of the house by 5:45AM to catch the 6:20AM train into San Fran. An hour later I was there. I then hopped on a bus and took it to the office building. I met Taylor at Peet's Coffee across the street, because I was soo early. We chatted and talked about what we thought it'd be like. We are two of 32 new Account Executives, (Sales). Most of everyone is from California or has some tie to it. Of course the question of the day was, "Are you a Bama fan?" Meh. Everyone seems pretty nice, cool and easy to get along with. It was a typical first day at work, pretty easy.

The office and culture is so cool. I wish I could paint in your minds what it looks like or take pictures and post, BUT I don't think that's legal. :( We were briefed on so many things of what not to say to friends/family about Yelp and what we could say. They are so transparent with information that we will basically know everything that we would want to know - but we can't go telling people or else it'll end up in the press and having "Catherine Hartman" as the person who broke the new, interesting news info about Yelp. (They said that's happened)

But I will say this, Jeremy (CEO) has his dog roaming around all over one of the floors, such a cute dogie. There are kitchens on each floor and STOCKED with cereals, b'fast foods, sandwich stuff for lunch, fruit, an Odwalla fridge, waters, sodas, snacks galore. My eyes have never seen such a glorious site! And, it's all for the taking. There's a ping bong table on one floor. They have off site team building exercises where you can do all sorts of fun. The benefits are great.

The CEO, who is close to MY age, came in and spoke. This company was a start up in 2004. He worked at PayPal & then after a year at Harvard Graduate School he dropped out to form this company with his friend. They had some people give them money to start it and the rest is history. It has now expanded into Europe. I feel so lucky to be a part of this company. We are the last huge group of sales people they are ever going to hire. Talk about luck....

Yelp is SO huge out here. HUGE. It's used as a verb basically in normal vocab. "So after lunch today I'm going to go and yelp about this new place." Seriously. When I tell people where I work, I thought I would have to explain, but everyone says, "Yes! I use Yelp all the time!"

I wish I had known more about it while in Birmingham. I could have planned so many trips better and easier. It's also great for those new in town (ie Me!!) who don't know of a dentist to go to or a mechanic and read reviews and find one close to me.

This is a sales job though. It will be tough. It's a lot of information to learn. I am excited though. Most of the people there say it's a hard job, but they stay because of the culture and the people they work with. To me, that says a lot.

So... so far, so good! I am just ready to move to San Fran so my commute is 20 min instead of a 1.5 hour commute.

A Change of Pace

To sum things up that have happened in the last few weeks.... I celebrated my 29th birthday! It was lovely. I went to see David Gray in Nob Hill (SF) with a friend. I loved every minute of it! It was the second year in a row to be away from friends/family... so it was odd, but I'm getting used to it.

And some other great news: I start my job at Yelp (finally) on Monday! AND I found a place in San Fran to live! I am going to be moving in with a great girl, Molly, from TN. The area is wonderful and the apt is great - it reminds me of my old apt in Bham. I am moving in Thanksgiving weekend and I can't wait! Finally - my own space again!

I will post pictures of my new place as I get them. Since I came out with just my clothes, I hope it's an easy move. The place is already furnished and all I need is a bed ... Craigslist can help me with that. Craigslist has been my best friend while out here!

I will probably pick up a waitressing job on the weekends to make a little more money until I start making commission. So, I am excited to do that, as well. I will look more seriously for a weekend job in SF once I get there.

Also, more interesting news... Johnny has decided to move to San Fran. He has already turned in his notice at work and rented out his loft. He will arrive Dec 11th. It'll be great to have a friend from home here.

That's all I got for now! My life is about to go from zero to 10 in the matter of a few days. I will one day look back and think "Wow, I was not doing much for 3 months, I can't remember what that was like!" Although I have been borderline poor, I have enjoyed this experience. I have seen so many places and enjoyed it the best I probably could have. I have learned so much, too, especially how to live on MUCH less. I am thankful for this time I've had and also for this job I'm about to start.

I can't wait for friends to come out and visit. I am looking forward to showing you around my new city ... the city I have grown to just love!