Wednesday, 9 June 2010

Letter for work and a girly weekend away

I have been working on my letter to my MD/ owner of our company this week. Unfortunately we don’t have a HR department so he will be the first to know.
I will obviously be telling him personally but I really need to cover my backside in case things start to go wrong. I am fortunately protected under UK legislation against discrimination but people can be creative with reasons to let you go I guess.
I am trying to keep the letter in a good balance of professionalism with a bit of the personal story there. I am not making it too long maybe1 page of A4 in length. Thanks to Lori for giving me some pointers. :- )
It is going to be positive and reminding them of my performance and loyalty over these last 9 years as well as stating that I see no reason why this would not continue, and indeed it may get even better once I am free to be me.
I have worked hard in my career and have been fortunate to have been successful and in a very well paid position. I am risking all of this in announcing my transition. I guess if it all went wrong I may struggle to get a job paying 25% of what I earn now.
That’s the main reason I have been trying to sort out our finances recently.
But you know although I understand this risk I would gladly trade all this for a happy future. I have accepted the risk associated with my transition and have worked hard and done my best to give myself the best chance at keeping as many people as possible on board.
Work is my final challenge and I know it’s a big one.
I have started the degree in psychodynamic counselling as an option for a new career in 3 years but for now I could do with keeping in a decent job.
I have been involved in sales and marketing most of my life and this is going to be the biggest sale of my life. I guess I am treating and preparing for it in that manner.
I am planning on telling him towards the end of next week.
I spoke to my Brother to see if he could offer me a job should the brown stuff hit the rotating thing. He may be able to offer me a menial position but at least that is something I guess.
Today we had my hairdresser around. I told him not to worry too much about keeping the length down, but to focus now more on the style of it. As it won’t be too long till everyone knows my focus is now on ensuring I can look as good as possible. I will gladly sacrifice looking like a scruffy male for a few weeks to help me look better when I am presenting as me.
I have been doing a bit of packing tonight for my girly weekend away with Lucy and Caroline. I am looking forward to seeing Caroline’s photographic exhibition as well as enjoying some sun in the South of France. We fly out on Friday afternoon and come back late on Monday evening. It should be fun.
My wife has been helping me choose some necklaces and accessories to go with the clothes I am taking.
I have also been thinking for a long time of getting a nice girly tattoo on the bottom of my back. I am now definitely going to do this in the summer. I have been looking at some designs on the internet that I like. There are so many it’s difficult to choose!

5 comments:

Véronique said...

I hope that all goes smoothly at your current job. I didn't know if I would be turfed (as you say, there are lots of ways to let someone go without them being able to prove discrimination) when I came out to them, but as it turns out they were quite ready to accommodate my transition, even though I think I'm probably the first at the company. It might be different at a (much) smaller company, but I hope your coming out is a very uneventful event.

I have always liked that spot for a tattoo, but I probably shouldn't tell you what that kind of tattoo is called. :)

Hope you have a really wonderful time in the -- ahh -- south of France.

ms.shandy said...

Good luck with everything Lisa! :)

I considered a tattoo last year. Same placement! I changed my mind though.

Stace said...

Bets of luck with your boss, I hope they take it well.

Stace

Melissa said...

I had to laugh when I saw Véronique's and Shandy's comments. A tattoo on the lower back does have a rather derogatory nickname, on this side of the pond. But don't let that stop you sweetie! If you like it, get it! I've seen some that were quite lovely! And if you get it right now, you'll have it in time to show it off on Caroline's nude beach! ;-)

Bon Voyage Lisa! Make sure to take lots of pictures for us!

Melissa XOXO

Jenny said...

We do seem to be treading the same path at the moment. Since my employer is a tiny company too I'm going for the face-to-face route rather than the letter. Trouble is, work's been a little fraught of late so the challenge is catching him alone.

Good luck with yours, and have a nice weekend in France, you lucky thing!