Life in Pivots
From the desk of: Sophia Ferrera
I am absolutely elated to introduce myself as the newest Events Assistant at AE Events - my name is Sophia Ferrera! In my time on this earth, I feel as if I have already lived a hundred lifetimes - pivoting will do that to a person; pivoting not out of necessity or out of boredom, but out of the love for change, for challenge. In dance, a pivot is a movement where you rotate on an axis, often your foot, to redirect your body without traveling. When you pivot, you stay in place - you can then move forward, full steam ahead, creating new momentum. I have always been a fan of pivoting, not just on a stage but in my career. Pivoting begs the questions, “where do I want to go next? Can we stop, take a moment, and reflect before we head there?” My most recent pivot to Events Assistant at AE Events was one that was a product of my past pivots:
My first job was as a pantry chef at a restaurant down the street from my house - I was 15 years old, wielding large knives and torching creme brulee.
I became an au pair on the coast of Italy for 3 months after my first year of undergrad, chasing tiny Italian children around the Porto Ercole beaches.
I worked (for free, as you do as a college student in New York) for a fashion designer, teaching myself motion graphics for her socials accounts and leaning into the remote work lifestyle during COVID
I helped spearhead a tech startup in a taboo industry, narrowly avoiding a $40,000 investment mistake - I came out unscathed! Huzzah!
I worked as a production coordinator for a large visual effects company out of NYC - if you look at the credits for some shows that came out in 2023, my name is on there! Definitely someone’s dream job, just not mine.
After relocating back to Massachusetts, I choreographed over a dozen dance pieces and managed the same dance team I performed on during my teenage years. This one felt very full circle.
I worked for the Boston Ballet School, teaching third graders around the Greater Boston Area about movement and dance and stage performance; they would beam up at me when I would show them posters from Sleeping Beauty, and we would reenact the evil witch casting a spell with her spindle. On my days off, I taught ballet to 7th grade boys at a prestigious private school; they would pinch, poke, and prod at each other before laughing at our video presentations (I knew they wouldn’t receive the whole “men in tights” thing very well)… I preferred the third graders.
I became a certified personal trainer and coached over 500 group fitness classes at OrangeTheory - during this time, I was in the process of planning my next move. I wanted whatever it was to be my last pivot for a while.
My epiphany about working in event planning hit me in a profoundly delayed manner. In my last semester of college while majoring in design and media, I took a class with one of my favorite professors about Live Experiential Design and absolutely loved it. I wanted to graduate and produce activations for Smirnoff at Coachella, or create a 20-foot-tall statue made of pool noodles at Lincoln Center (I’m not quite sure, upon reflection, if that dream was worth shooting for). I ended up taking the first job I could get my hands on, the aforementioned VFX Production Coordinator role, and forgot all about my dream of working in live events and experiences. At that point, I was pivoting just for the sake of it.
That is, until now! Through all the pivots (the many, many pivots), I found a role that matched what I was looking for: an opportunity to learn via multiple verticals with the strong creative team to back it all up. It was like all of my pivots lined up in front of me and offered me a beautiful compromise. My pivots asked me, “what if we took all of your favorite things and turned them into something you could do as a job?” While getting to know AE during the discovery and interview processes, I was blown away by the detail-oriented nature of the work done at AE Events, how each personal touch was thoughtful and strategic. I loved getting to see the individual voices of each team member on the very blog you’re reading now. I could tell just by reading how much everyone loves working here. I had to get in on it!
As I progress in this role and learn more than a few new things every day, I look forward to the mistakes I will make and the lessons I will learn. As early as it may be to say, I love this team already - I am happy to know that all of my pivots have led me here.
