Coming to New Hampshire was not a difficult decision for me. When I was younger, my family didn’t go on any extended vacations to Disney, or some resort South of the Border, we drove from Cape Cod to Center Sandwich New Hampshire, where my grandparents live. Our brief vacations outside of Massachusetts consisted mostly of hiking or skiing. Swimming in Squam, Old Home Weeks, The Sandwich Fair, these are the things I remember from my childhood, away from home.
Living near the beach for my entire life, I was quite familiar with the fact that I was a “flatlander”, but I wanted to show these North Country folks that I knew how to navigate the White Mountains and ski any terrain. I had three schools in my mind, one from Vermont, one from Maine, and one from New Hampshire. New England schools are beautiful in the fall, and the campus of Plymouth State University really stood out to me, in location and charm. Being nestled in between the Lakes Region and the White Mountains was the perfect setting for me to explore and pursue all of the ventures that I found appealing.
The smell of the ocean air was nice, when returning home, but it also came with the congestion of an over populated area. New Hampshire isn’t like that. There is plenty of room for all of us Granite State-rs to Live Free or Die. This was my new home; a place where the air is clean and the people are pleasant.
During my time at Plymouth, I met so many good people, professors and professionals alike that were always giving back to their school and state. That type of goodwill is something that I wanted to be a part of. At the end of my sophomore year, The Common Man approached me about an internship with their CEO, I was happy to get business experience, but even more excited to work for such a philanthropic company. When I graduated, and found out The Common Man wanted to create an Executive Assistant Position for me, that was when I decided to stay in New Hampshire. I, unlike many of my graduated friends, had a job. I also wasn’t taking on this journey by myself.
During college I met the woman who will be my wife next year, Lindsay Hutchinson. We both were from Cape Cod, coincidentally, and she motivated me to work hard through college and seek bigger things. It was a great fit and I wasn’t going to be such a stranger in a strange land, we are each other’s support. With Lindsay and I both making the move to Holderness, and with both of us having good jobs out of school, we were ready for some more responsibility. We took on this added responsibility in the form of Willow, our Chesapeake Bay Retriever (pictured). Willow brought to us all the joy of a dog and more. Her obedience and readiness to be outside was a great fit for us both. Willow has allowed Lindsay and me to do all the things we enjoy outside, and the opportunity to never have to do them alone.
Although The Common Man was very good for me and to me, I found that while pursuing my MBA at SNHU, I wanted to try something different. Just recently I took a job with SubItUp, an online staff scheduling solution. They have a great culture and provide a fast paced, high tech environment. I will touch on that more in later posts.
The long and short of it is that I love this state. I love the fact that 89% of it is forest cover, I love the wildlife, for viewing and hunting, I love the elevation changes from water to mountain top, and I love being able to explore new places that few feet have traveled. I look forward to talking more about my experiences here in New Hampshire and am eager to provide any insight I can to help us all on our ways. Hope you enjoy.
Griffin works in Business Development for online scheduling company, SubItUp, out of Manchester. Moving to the Granite State from neighboring Massachusetts, Griffin attended Plymouth State and decided to stay in the mountains, starting his career as an Executive Assistant for New Hampshire’s own Common Man Family of Restaurants. Knowing what New Hampshire’s north country has to offer for an avid outdoorsman, Griffin spends a lot of time with his Chesapeake Bay Retriever, Willow, hiking, hunting, and swimming around the Lakes Region and White Mountains. Always seeking to learn and grow as a professional, Griffin is currently attending Southern New Hampshire University seeking his MBA in Marketing.