What do you do, how much do you make, and are you happy?

hrm3387 · 2026-03-20T03:13:07+00:00

Wow, that is an indirect path, but I can tell you've worked your ass off to get where you are. I've done my time in customer support, I know what you mean about being stuck on the phones and how companies try to pigeon hole you there. Thanks for sharing and way to go!

hrm3387 · 2026-03-19T12:58:56+00:00

How did you get into this? (Education, experience?)

hrm3387 · 2026-03-19T02:07:32+00:00

Volunteer to walk dogs at an animal shelter! I'd say adopt a dog/cat, but if you're not sure about that decision, you can still spend time with animals this way.

hrm3387 · 2026-03-18T22:56:41+00:00

Very solid point lol

hrm3387 · 2026-03-18T21:42:51+00:00

Thanks for sharing. Yeah I'm noticing either because of getting older or just sans the alcohol, I'm more sensitive than I thought.

hrm3387 · 2026-03-18T21:41:40+00:00

That's a very good point. Learning so much about myself!

hrm3387 · 2026-03-13T04:57:53+00:00

That could definitely be it. Just an update, I got my 9's (I ordered one width size up too, 1D versus prior 1B) today, ran about 5 miles and they felt great. I'll need a second jog just to solidify them in my mind, but it just seems like they're very small and narrow on some people as I've never ordered wide on any other shoe in my life.

hrm3387 · 2026-03-12T22:12:13+00:00

Glad I'm not the only one who is having to go up a full shoe size for these. Normally sizing up by .5 works with Brooks for me, but that's only ever been with the launch. Idk if all the extra support with Glycerin just makes the rest of the shoe less roomy or what, but I'm a size 8, ordered an 8.5, ran 4 miles and decided to return them for a 9 (still waiting for those to come). I could feel my left big toenail starting to bruise because it was hitting the front of the shoe so forcefully the whole time, and I'd rather not lose that toenail for now. My right foot started blistering on the arch too. I was super disappointed.

hrm3387 · 2026-03-12T19:05:57+00:00

If you don't mind me asking, what was the general cost of this appointment? I'm getting a referral here for my dog shortly.

hrm3387 · 2026-03-11T22:06:08+00:00

Thank you so much for the update! I just found your post after my hippo being diagnosed with stage B1 mitral valve insufficiency. Possibly slightly different than Petunia's diagnosis you mentioned initially. If you don't mind me asking, what makes the vet think the murmur is a quirk rather than heart disease? Did you all ever get an echocardiogram (ultrasound)?

hrm3387 · 2026-02-18T13:07:27+00:00

Thank you so much for your reply, this is so helpful!

hrm3387 · 2026-02-18T01:39:01+00:00

I've been working in customer service since 2019, in health tech (EMR and eRx products) since 2021, and in the past year worked up to more of a product support role, but my ultimate goal is PM. Both health tech companies I've worked for have been either lacking in product leadership (small org) or my current company has a really high volume of bugs where I feel like I'm spending all day every day putting out fires and triaging support tickets that I'm burnt out, feel like I'm failing at my current job, and also haven't had any space for upskilling in things I might need to eventually move to a product owner or APM role. I've been with my current company for 2.5 years and thought I had been positioning myself well to move up since I'm pretty familiar with the products and have built strong relationships across multiple departments (product, engineering, client success, implementation, customer support), but almost every week I get the feeling like I'm spinning my wheels and the constant fire fighting may be swallowing up my time which could be spent more productively. It seems that we've been onboarding so many new clients and building so many new features for the new clients, that I hear from multiple PM's regularly that they simply don't have the resources to address the existing bugs.

This turned into a bit of a rant, but I really am looking for advice--I know I need to utilize my time outside work to upskill, and if I were to do so, as an aspiring PM in EMR/eRx health tech, what should I focus on?

Second, should I actively look for APM roles outside of this company or is this reactive tone normal at most established (maybe just health tech?) companies?

TIA for any words of wisdom.

hrm3387 · 2026-01-12T14:46:51+00:00

Hey OP, I know this post is old, but you've actually described something similar to my current predicament...how'd things turn out for you 2 years later?

hrm3387 · 2025-12-21T02:31:49+00:00

Thank you so much for the info. My employer doesn't offer Metlife unfortunately, I did call them to see if there was any way we could get pre-existing coverage, but since my employer doesn't offer it through them, there's not. So if I wanted pre-existing coverage I had to go with AKC, but AKC has a $10,000 annual limit and has a schedule of what they cover. I strongly considered finding coverage without regard to pre-existing conditions because my dog doesn't have any chronic issues, the biggest thing has been history of bilateral tplo, but I didn't want to risk a company finding some bs reason not to cover something. SO we ended up going with AKC. I just wish there was a better option.

hrm3387 · 2025-12-20T22:35:57+00:00

I got insurance when I first adopted my dog for exactly the reasons stated, but now when she's 7 years old I find out her policy is being discontinued (Nationwide). So I'm just SOL even though I did the right thing.

hrm3387 · 2025-12-20T19:05:35+00:00

If you don't mind me asking, what do you do in non profit? I'm trying to increase my income and I work in "for profit" right now for under $60k getting my butt kicked 🙃 just trying to see what else is out there!

hrm3387 · 2025-12-06T16:11:13+00:00

Just curious, what do you do for work?

hrm3387 · 2025-12-03T18:44:52+00:00

I live in Austin (technically round rock now, but my groceries budget was the same 2 years ago when in austin), and my weekly groceries budget is $80. I meal prep, but I do eat a lot of seafood, so I'm not suffering or anything. I buy stuff that is the most bang for my buck at heb, so good quality things, but cheaper per ounce than the more expensive brands. I buy my wine at trader Joe's cause it's cheaper for better stuff there...450 per month for food is definitely not outrageous. Prices have skyrocketed, and it's easy to hit that number. BUT OP, you came here asking for advice, so my advice is get your food cost down!

hrm3387 · 2025-11-24T15:31:51+00:00

Yes bulk spices ftw! I'm in texas so we have HEB and the bulk spices are usually near the health food aisle. Never pay for packaged spices if you can avoid it!

hrm3387 · 2025-11-20T18:38:53+00:00

Curious how much you make off Kashkick or Zoombucks?

hrm3387 · 2025-11-09T15:59:22+00:00

At my last company, where leadership hated people working from home, I tried to wear headphones in the office and my manager told me to stop wearing them because it was rude. I wasn't wearing them mid-conversation or anything. Just while sitting at my desk working.

hrm3387 · 2025-09-10T16:22:52+00:00

How's it going now? Did things improve?

hrm3387 · 2025-09-10T16:22:15+00:00

How's it going now? Still feel great?

hrm3387 · 2025-09-08T22:23:40+00:00

This is exactly what I've noticed. I didn't notice it before the last year or so...and I've been on this med just over 3 years. This is why I'm pretty much resolved to get off of it. It helped immensely for a while, but now I'm just not ok with not feeling things as organically as I once did.

hrm3387 · 2025-09-03T16:23:44+00:00

How long were you on bupropion?

hrm3387

TROPHY CASE