Embracing Change: From Client to Vollmervillian

by Ariana Montelongo, Vollmer Public Relations Houston Senior Account Executive

"Change is as inexorable as time, yet nothing meets with more resistance." Benjamin Disraeli

If one thing has been constant in my life, it’s change. I can always count on it to strike and it never fails to surprise me. As much as I can count on change to happen I can count on it to teach me a lesson.  I’ve come to understand that change, with all its unpredictability and certainty, is like the crazy uncle you avoid like the plague at family gatherings. But when you face him and you’ve been around him for a while you realize he’s not that bad and that he means well, so you learn to embrace him.

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Embracing change isn’t always easy but there’s always a valuable lesson to learn from it. I began to embrace change at a young age. I was only six when my family and I moved from the Rio Grande Valley to the east coast and I dealt with culture shock and having to learn English (as with most RGV residents, Spanish was my first language). Then there was the time during my seventh grade year when I attended four different schools in three different states because my dad kept getting relocated for work. There was also the time I lost 150 pounds – though this was a change I highly anticipated, it was none the less a difficult one. But my most recent change came last November when I left the corporate world and went from being the client to being the agency. Here are a few things I’ve learned during my transition as a new Vollmervillian:

• I will always strive to provide my clients the same quality and professionalism that I received as a client.
• I have a fountain of resources in each one of my fellow VPR teammates. Whether I have a question about social media or film production, I know that an expert is only a phone call away.
• My passion multiplies each time I get to work with a new client or a new project. Currently I’m passionate about making every Houstonian count in the 2010 Census, ensuring that credit card consumers know how the new Credit Card Act will affect their spending habits,  promoting the world’s largest car parade, the Art Car Parade, held right here in my hometown of Houston and more.
• I embrace the fast pace of agency life because it challenges me to become more efficient and I appreciate that there’s never a dull moment.  
• Time sheets have been difficult to embrace, but I have hopes that soon we’ll become best buds.

The cool thing about change is that it doesn’t discriminate; it’s sort of an equal opportunity employer. No one is immune to change and I hope we never find its cure because I’d be lost without it; it has always been a faithful companion. Change has given me the opportunity to grow in spirit, mind, and body (or in my case it’s helped me shrink some of my body).  And while I know that change is inevitable, I’m ready to face it because I know that I have the support of my family – both the one at home and at work.

As I reflect on the changes that have happened throughout the last few months that I’ve been at Vollmer, one thing stands out clear in my mind: The most natural transition for me has been to put my Passion and Expertise in Action. It comes so naturally to live out the Vollmer creed.