I had never worked at a start-up before starting work at docstoc, and there was a time when I literally was working three jobs at once; Office manager, Community Manager, and Press/Blogger Outreach. It was very stressful because I was pushing myself so hard in the Office and then going home to write at night.  As I’ve noted before, I’m not a web developer and technology used to frighten me, so when I’d attend meetings where all that was discussed was numbers/metrics, I’d promptly shut down.  That’s not how I think.  You see, I tend to connect with people, stories, and how to help people either by making them laugh at my expense or just trying to tell them an inspirational story.

I think that the one aspect of my job that kept me going was that I was able to interact with the Community, you know, actual members of the site who would e-mail me supportive comments about my work on the site, or just how they were helped by the documents on the site.

If you told me at age 10 that I would be work as a Community Manager, I probably would’ve given you a weird look.  Anyway, there was this huge community of people from across the world that would e-mail me on a daily basis with comments/feedback, supportive words, weird comments, and of course people who just needed an answer to a quick question.

I actually thrived on this because I enjoy helping others. It makes me really happy to see that I can do something to help someone out or make their lives easier.

Last summer, one particular user, an American soldier stationed in Iraq named Scott Darley, reached out to me and told me that the site helped him create his own business in the Iraqi desert. This was his exact quote,

“I’m in the middle of the desert in Iraq and ended up starting a company because of Docstoc.”
I had been doing press outreach for a while and was searching for a compelling story when I got his e-mail in my in-box. We kept correspondence for the months that followed and he let me know about his dreams in Iraq, how he wanted to come back to the States and start a business, and also about how he stays positive in Iraq. The thing that struck me the most about Scott is that he was so POSITIVE!!!

I would look forward to each e-mail that I would receive from him because it made me see that even amidst a situation where a soldier is far away, ready to fight, he was still thinking about positive thoughts and how he was planning his future when returning to the States.

I think that people across this nation could learn a lot from Scott because you should always live in the moment, smile, be positive, but also have a set plan for the future.  The key is to move forward, even if it is just one step.  Again, even though I’m no longer at Docstoc, I’d have to say that the Community of users that have e-mailed me, sent me humorous and positive words, and even the ones who would e-mail me everyday with an inappropriate comment (Umm.. yeah, I should’ve kept a record of these) really just made my experience as a Community Manager, one that I’ll always remember.

Oh, and last but not least, Serena Ehrlich, who actually was the last piece of the puzzle for getting this story out there, has gotten Scott’s story on CNBC. I believe that it airs tonight. Or here’s his website where you can watch his interview.
Or you can watch the story on the CNBC Website.

Scott’s time in Iraq inspired him to start a lingerie store. Hey he says, “Make love, not war.” Holla.