i figured they didn't like me. i had contact with them later on, back in january when i emailed them if i needed a tax return document from them. at the same time i updated them with my work situation and wished them well. that was around when i had started working for an infamous clothing company as a contractor for 6 weeks.

a couple of months went by and i received a call from the small design boutique inquiring of my availability. i had just started working at another well-known internatinal company....one that is known for organic foods.

today, i received a call again from the small design boutique and turns out they're interested in hiring me again for more work that could lead to a full-time position if i were serious about it. not only that, i'm getting a lot more for my hourly rate, much more than they had initially paid me. even better, they are going to allow me to work from home so it doesn't quite interefere with my day work at current freelance place. then, on days when current place doesn't need me, i can work for the small design boutique. this works out well for me. woohoo!

anyway, the good news of all this is that the owner of said company told me why they hadn't hired me in more often.

turns out that they were trying out a few people and it ended up being between me and this other girl. well, at the time, they asked their only full-time designer which one she wanted to work with and she picked the other girl over me despite the fact that the owners felt i was a much better designer.

today, the owner told me they figured out why their full-timer picked the other girl, who they felt was not very good. they suspect that their ex full-timer felt threatened by me because i'm a really good designer so she picked the one who'd be seen as less competitive! my god. could this also be the reason why the advertising team of girls at the infamous clothing company were not very friendly towards me? and especially when the company is undergoing restructuring and one of them confessed to me they no longer felt any job security? if so, this is both good and bad to know. good to know because it just gives me even more confidence with my creative abilities. bad to know because this means more folks out there may attempt to push me out of the game due to their jealousy.

for me, i'd WANT to work with the most creative and talented folks because they inspire me. i like to be inspired and i like to learn new techniques and approaches from those who may be more talented than i.

to wrap things up, i received a good fortune cookie note at my sister's engagment party. it said something like, "this is only the beginning of your success." i hope so! i've had plenty of good luck so far this year.