Something about you (Norminah)

Chapter Twenty Eight

-

"Normani?"

Dr Bowman's head was tilted and she was watching me somewhat warily. I hadn't realized that I had even spaced out, but something about sitting beside Eli in couple's therapy felt surreal.

"Are you with us?"

"I am, I'm sorry. I'm here, what happens now?"

-

A day earlier...
"Okay so from the focus groups that we ran, we saw that the general demographic for the magazine is women in their late thirties to early forties while our digital issue and the website tend to be accessed more by people my age and younger and I think that we need to capitalize on that. Longevity in this current age of social media isn't just about how many clicks you get per article, but by how many people you have engaging and how many people keep coming back and how many people are still talking about your content even after the moment has passed. We have managed to find a balance between trendy content and more serious issues that aren't presented in the traditional and boring sense. Our Ask Them podcast has become very popular across the older and younger demographics that we pull in with digital and print, and an expansion to other departments is in the works."

This was the only part of my job that I found less enjoyable. Presenting numbers and constantly having to defend what were really good ideas to the board every time I came up with something was tedious, but I did it. And I reveled in their failure every time I proved them wrong.

"So I'm saying all this to say that although digital is performing at its best ever, we can still be better and if we take these steps as well as those that Raina is about to outline to grow our social media presence, I believe we can do better."

"I miss the 'if it ain't broke don't fix it,' days."

I plastered a fake smile on my face as I walked to my seat. Avery leaned forward as soon as I sat down. "That was badass, I wanna be you when I grow up."

"Thanks, was that an important call?"

"There's someone downstairs who's there to see you. I'm not sure if it's for a story or it's person, but I told reception you were in a board meeting and they said she'd wait till you were done."

"We just got started here. Take notes, I should be back hopefully soon, but if I'm not, call and get me back."

Avery leaned back in his chair, and I left the boardroom quietly and took moment to check my emails while I waited for the elevator. When I got down to the main office, I turned towards reception and almost tripped over when I saw Ana sitting there on her phone. I turned, and after a quick scan of the office, I noticed that Dinah was at her desk, completely oblivious to the fact that Ana was even there.

"Hey, are you here to see me?"

"I am," Ana stood. "Do you mind if we talk somewhere more private?"