Upon reflection, there are so many serendipitous moments that led me to Serendipity Media. The irony is uncanny.

I’ll attempt to summarize my background so this all makes sense. For nearly five years in the early-2000’s, I was a radio DJ in Grand Rapids, a job that called for a lot of community engagement. During that time, I developed relationships with several people involved in West Michigan media and events.

In 2014, my now husband and I moved to Dallas, TX. Both of our jobs were transferred, and we began our life together as Texans. Our Midwestern roots never really fit in, but nonetheless, Dallas is where we got engaged and married, bought our first house, and had our son.

At the end of our time in Dallas, I worked for a global brand experience company (aka, we produced massive events). In 2018, I began working remotely, and my family and I boomeranged back to Grand Rapids to be closer to our extended family.

Fast forward to 2020 ... when South by Southwest cancelled, it was the shot heard around the industry. Every event that I had scheduled over the course of the following several months cancelled in a matter of two weeks. With event work seemingly obsolete, I, along with thousands of others, was let go.

For the next four months, I wallowed in self-pity. In my adult life, I had never been jobless. I felt as if I had no purpose. I applied and interviewed for several positions, but nothing ever stuck. When my 36th birthday came around at the end of October, I decided to give up and simply start fresh in the new year.

In early November, I got a call from my best friend who had caught wind of a potential position opening up at a company she couldn’t disclose at the time. She thought I’d be a great fit and wanted to pass along my resume. As I waited for a response from her, I saw that someone at Serendipity had taken a new position, so I called my contact that I knew worked there to see if the position was going to be made available. She told me no, that anyone leaving Serendipity was a result of pandemic downsizing.

It was probably two weeks later when my best friend came back to me and told me that the company she had referenced earlier was Serendipity, and low and behold, the Marketing Director position had just been posted. My contact wasn’t lying when I asked her about open positions, as she didn’t realize that positions were going to change so quickly in the coming weeks.

I ended up having three interviews with Serendipity. I put very little pressure on myself and followed my mantra—“if it’s meant to be, it’ll be.” Apparently, it was meant to be: Kasie offered me the position via a Zoom call, and upon hanging up, I cried. I had done it.

I look back on the flurry of events that led me here, and I’m still in awe. I disconnected from Grand Rapids for nearly five years while in Dallas, and ultimately, it was a pandemic, job loss, devastation, a close friend, my former connections and the right mindset that made me the Marketing Director at Serendipity. Today, I still work with several of the people I once collaborated with as a radio DJ. Those relationships are meaningful, important and obviously, lasting.

I’m happy to be home, and this position is truly a perfect fit ... much more fitting than my former. My story continues to evolve, and working at Serendipity, I’m learning how to write it better and with more impact. No matter how it’s told, it is truly serendipitous.