At the start of the new year, I will leave my manager position at Francesca's, the place that I have called my home of employment for 19 months for a brand new opportunity. I will be a lead teacher for an after school program that gives help and guidance to a small group of students who need a little extra time working on homework and practice skills they have learned that day.

I have written a lot about my current sales lead job at Francesca's, mostly because it was my first real "adult" job where I received a promotion and a raise. I was in charge of my peers and friends and had to make executive decisions, sometimes right on the spot, and have had three different bosses, all of whom were very different from each other. I relied on my coworkers as friends when I realized the group I had called friends for many years were not, I have taken and given advice, and consider them to be the best group of girls I have ever worked with, both in a professional and personal setting. We all understood what we were going through, and I think with that came a sense of commentary and teamwork that is hard to find anywhere else.

So here I am, writing this article on my last day. I will need to hand in my keys later, walk out of those doors for the last time, shed some tears because I will no longer see the girls I have shared laughs with, tears, hugs, venting sessions with, and helped build up when they thought they could do it.

leaving people you have worked with for this long and seeing them almost every day for months and even years on is hard, but seeing that you have something bigger waiting for you and seeing all the things you have accomplished is what we all walk away with.