Today marked my first day as Community Relations Manager for the Washington Nationals. While it mostly consisted of moving the contents of my desk over and trying to wrap my mind around all of the things we need to get done before Opening Day (34 days people!), I’m very excited.

I started in Inside Sales for the Nationals in December 2009 after working in public relations since graduating. I’d had some experience and success in various sales roles before, but this was a big switch for me. To say sales is challenging is an understatement, and it has a certain stigma when you tell people what you do. But I know that I am better communicator – and professional in general – because of my time in Inside Sales and (since May 2010) Client Service.

People often ask me about getting a job in professional sports. There’s no right or wrong way, I just know what I did, and how it turned out. Taking an entry-level job, especially after building up your career, is a risk. But sometimes you have to go backward/sideways to go forward.

My position in Season Ticket Service is now open for applications. If you think you’re a competitive candidate, I encourage you  to apply. I was fortunate to work for and with people I respect, and that’s not always the case.

If you have any questions, you know how to reach me. In the meantime, I’m somewhere beneath a pile of papers, trying to create order from chaos.

Last week, the department heads brought in Bill Guertin of the 800-Pound Gorilla for some updated training for our sales and service staff. I’ve had the opportunity to go through a few of Bill’s sessions since I started with the Nationals, and I once again found his workshop to be engaging and educational. I’m big on energy, and as Chief Enthusiasm Officer (CEO), Bill has it in spades.

One of the topics that we touched on in the most recent session was the idea of how many languages you speak, and how you can apply those to your job every day. Not languages as in “I speak fluent Japanese” (which I don’t), but in terms of what experiences you bring to the table. For example, my husband is military, so I would perhaps be more comfortable building a relationship with the MWR versus someone who might not be as familiar with the culture. Maybe you grew up doing theatre, or your parents were realtors. That knowledge base could come in handy as your grow your network.

I’m curious as to what other people think. How many languages do you speak? How are you applying them in your current position – or how could you apply them better?

In my career, I’ve done as much “relating” as anyone. Media relations, client relations, community relations…you get the idea. I’m always the first person to say that building relationships is more about listening than it is about talking.

(And I stand by that. It’s very important.)

But sometimes…you just have to walk away.

(Cue Ben Harper music here.)

OK, maybe not literally, but there gets to a point where you have to stop listening to, to stop reading, what people are saying about you, and your brand/company/mother. With the ease and anonymity of the internet, we can easily fall down the rabbit hole. I’m here to tell you that you can not please everyone. News flash or not, coming from someone who makes a living holding people’s hands (figuratively – and sometimes literally), I can tell you that this is one of the hardest things about my job. I want you to like me…and my brand/company/mother.

Haters are gonna hate. Do me (and yourself) a favor and read Tim Ferriss: 7 Great Principles for Dealing with Haters. I don’t know if it will change your life, but it certainly will save you from banging your head against your desk a few times a day.

My aunt and my grandmother came to visit me for a few days this summer when the Nats were on the road. While I was disappointed that I wouldn’t be able to bring them to one of our games, my Red Sox were visiting the O’s, so I got in touch with a former coworker that now works up at Camden. He owed me a favor (I had gotten him two seats for the Strasburg debut!), so he set us up in an outfield suite for the weeknight game.

I have to preface this story: My grandmother, who raised me, is a singular human being. My friends like her more than they do me. She knows all the gossip about who is seeing who, who’s coming home for holiday break, etc. She was on AOL Instant Messenger back when that was cool and spends a good portion of her time now on Facebook. She’s the best person I know and I wouldn’t be where I was today without her.

Anyway, I don’t know why it never dawned on me to take her to a game before (we have a 10-game package with the Red Sox), but as I watched her go to her first game in more than 30 years, I felt like the Grinch when his heart grew three times the size. I remarked that it felt like Christmas, but I couldn’t figure out why. It was that feeling you get around the holidays that just seems to fill you from the inside. I couldn’t shake it.

While she’s not a huge sports fan, my grandmother has always tried to care about the things that we did, and she cheered at (mostly!) apropriate times. As much as none of us wants to admit it, she’s getting older and probably couldn’t have sat through the whole game if she hadn’t been able to go inside the suite at times. I felt so proud that I was at a point in my career, in my life, that I could share something like that, something I cared so much about, with her. And I realized that moments like this are why I do my job.

I want other people to feel the way that I did that day. Whether it’s pride, whether it’s love, whether it’s just enjoying a night out at the Ballpark with the people you care about most. Baseball, for me anyway, is about tradition, and family. It’s timeless in the way that it transcends generations. And the fact that I got to share that with the person who is most important to me in the world, tells me that I’m on the right track. That I must be doing something right. Sometimes, especially when you’re on the business side of something you love, you can lose sight of why it mattered so much in the first place.

My grandmother gave me baseball back that day.

I’ll add that to the growing list of things I owe her for.

MITCHELL: Can people change? I don’t know. People are who they are. Give or take…about fifteen percent. That’s how much people can change if they really want to. Whether it’s for themselves or the people they love, yeah, it’s fifteen percent. But sometimes, that’s enough.

I’ve been catching up on the show Modern Family recently, and in the episode I watched today, family members were posed the question – “Can people change?”

The question – and Mitchell’s response – stayed with me as I walked into work this morning. As I settled into my desk, a few of the guys were talking about marriage, and the merits of living together before getting married. I started thinking about my own marriage and how we’ve changed since moving in together five years ago.

My husband and I agree about pretty much nothing – other than sports. Living together is a continuous work in progress, and we both have to make adjustments. My hope is that as we continue to make these changes, we still hold on to who we are. That we grow and change – but only that 15%.

Business relationships can be just as complicated at times. We want to be everything to everyone. We want to do anything to make our clients happy. But sometimes…we just can’t. Sometimes, we have to say no. Every relationship – whether personal or professional – is two-way, and take concessions from both sides to work successfully.

Companies spend large amounts of time and money to build and establish a brand, and as the people representing them, we have to stay true to that brand. We do what we can – but within reason. Within that 15%.