Time for another love note to one of our fibre alumni – Jillian! We have a nice training program that our yarnistas go through when starting at the shop. But when I hired Jillian in 2013, I was nearly 8 months pregnant and moving the shop from our first location to our second location. Instead of going through our training program, Jillian spent the first few weeks at fibre space in a two-person packing and moving project lead by my MOTHER. If you have met my mother or know anything about her management of projects in general, you would know why this is still Jillian’s favorite story to share about her time at the shop…working side by side with my amazing but also very particular mother. (Again, I am SO sorry Jillian). Amazingly she has positive things to say about the experience…and she didn’t quit after the first week of work.
In fact, she never successfully quit. Jillian started here when she was in law school and worked on and off as a yarnista over the years as she built her career in law and as a civil servant, coming back to teach or work on the floor when possible. You will still find her working the floor during our busiest days. She is the last yarnista from our original location to still be working at the shop - a true OG. But most of you know her from our teaching program. Jillian is a phenomenal instructor, with many years of experience. She is always learning, always curious, which makes her such an incredible teacher and asset to fibre space.
Without her, I do not know how we would be pulling off our furloughed federal worker program! During government shutdowns, which have become entirely too frequent, she leads our volunteer group of teachers, creates the class program and keeps her finger on the pulse of what is happening in DC so that we can pivot quickly. As a federal employee herself, she has been able to represent that part of our community within the shop, and we are so proud of the work we have done together for our federal workers!
Thanks for making it through some big big transitions in this business, Jillian! So grateful for you.
