When the Church Burns Down, Cancel the Wedding: Adventures from the Other Half of Single by Sara E. Braca

Author:Sara E. Braca [Braca, Sara E.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9798885048323
Publisher: Sara E. Braca
Published: 2022-08-31T09:03:39+00:00

Dead Sea Diving

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Un-becoming a Wall Street banker in favor of the greener pastures of brand management has turned out to be the most significant career decision of my life so far. One of the perks of working in brand is the travel, which typically offsets the infrequent pangs of regret that surface when my still-banker friends buy multimillion-dollar homes in beautiful Connecticut towns. Some of the business reasons for this travel are dubious at best. I’ve been sent to Germany to explore baked beans manufacturing technology, London and New Zealand to shoot TV commercials, Barcelona to attend a global meeting, and Montreal to more deeply understand a competitive brand.

And this is in addition to frequent domestic travel to supervise brand mentions on talk shows, help salespeople sell products, and watch consumers from behind two-way mirrors. I’m actually starting to wonder if travel is part of my compensation. Sure, I don’t make as much money as I would if I were still a banker, but I have so many frequent flyer miles that Delta staff actually greet me by name on flights to ask for my feedback.

One of my most surprising business trips was an all-expenses-paid culinary immersion and tour through Israel. A business reason was actually offered for this seemingly extravagant trip. I worked for a company that makes and sells hummus in the US. Most Americans didn’t grow up eating hummus and a surprisingly large percentage of the population (almost 70 percent of households) doesn’t buy it. In Israel, hummus is a staple and is eaten for all meals in a variety of ways that would be quite unusual to the average American. The idea was to send a bunch of Americans who sell hummus to the place that sells the most hummus per capita so they could understand more about how to sell more hummus at home. Plausible? I guess so. An extremely cool job perk for sure.

I approached this trip with a blend of excitement and trepidation. On the excitement side, I had always wanted to see Jerusalem and the Dead Sea, which we would visit on the trip, and I was interested in better understanding the origins of hummus. I also love food, and discovering new (to me) foods and experiencing culture through food are two of my favorite things about travel. On the other hand, I do watch the news. It was hard not to be aware of the tensions in Israel, and in Jerusalem in particular. I kept reminding myself of the reasons to be excited and reassuring myself with the idea that surely my company wouldn’t put me and nine colleagues in harm’s way. Plus, I wasn’t sure I would have ventured to Israel on a solo trip, so this was an opportunity to see a place I might not have otherwise seen.

Upon arriving in Tel Aviv, my colleagues and I were immediately whisked off to a kickoff dinner with our CEO. In general, I wouldn’t recommend engaging in conversations with

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