I never set out to be an entrepreneur. In fact, it took me ten years to start my own business.
Do you remember Xanga?
When I was a teenager, I LOVED Xanga. It’s a blog website that allows you to custom code and style your own pages. I had so much fun tinkering with the layouts, customizing CSS, choosing colors, creating graphics in Illustrator, and then sharing the codes for others to use as well!
Of course, when it came time to choose a college and choose the entire trajectory of my life, it seemed only natural to go for Web Design, because I was one of the few people in this world that found CSS fun! Maybe you don’t even know exactly what “CSS” even means and, well, case-in-point.
Come graduation day… I was totally burned out from the academic workload and stress. Web design had lost all of its shimmer and shine. I was already working at a nearby performing arts center, so I decided to throw my degree in the closet, and think about that… later.
From the age of 16, I had been working as a lighting technician and stagehand. The performing arts center near me hosted touring shows: concerts, musicals, comedies… you name it! I loved it and was very successful doing this work, as well as made a great living! I felt like life was going just fine, so why rock the boat?
I continued down that road, working in the theater and freelancing around Providence, RI. I eventually moved closer to Boston, MA and was able to expand into even more opportunities, really focus on what I loved, and be selective about the work I chose.
And then 2020 came.
You know what happened, I don’t need to remind you. But in case you’re reading this 50 years from now, and you don’t know the story, the coronavirus pandemic hit the U.S. and the events industry HARD.
“Cancelled” was in the runnings to be the 2020 word of the year. Events everywhere were cancelled or moved online, requiring far less physical labor and essentially putting me and millions of others out of a job.
After a couple weeks of waiting, because let’s be real, we all thought this was going to blow over in a month at the most, I realized I needed to figure out what my next step was.
I began by asking “What am I good at?” “What do I enjoy that I could turn into work?” Images of those Xanga layouts from 15 years ago started dancing around in my head again (I have vivid memories of yellow stripes and penguins… the peak of my design skills). It was just the nudge I needed to bring me back to something I loved doing.
How does one actually get started following a dream after a setback like this?
First, I devoured all of the knowledge I could. I started buying online courses and spent time consuming information about graphic design. Then, I brushed up my resume and began looking for jobs hiring for web or graphic designers. It seemed like everyone was looking for a job in this field and it seemed all of the available positions required more years of experience than I had, and a degree in marketing, not in graphic design.
Here is the irony in this… when I first set out to do graphic design, I was worried because I didn’t consider myself an “artist”. Now, all of these job descriptions seemed geared towards those who were decisively NOT artists. Pick me! Pick me! I desperately wanted to show them I had it in me. But without the word “Marketing” in my degree, my pleas fell flat. It occurred to me that the real purpose of graphic design is in fact to improve your marketing.
“Maybe I should be doing marketing instead?” I questioned. It seems like that is what everyone wanted! “Maybe I need to go back to college and get my marketing degree…”
As I thought about going back to college, I realized what a huge time and money commitment that was and I couldn’t be sure it was going to get me in the direction I felt I needed to go. So, I took again to the world of endless online courses and made it my full-time job to learn about all things marketing. Eventually, thanks to some intense project-hunting on UpWork, I landed two clients in one day for marketing work! When I started, I did it “all” for these clients: Pinterest, social media management, and any admin tasks they felt like delegating to me.
I was on the path.
Those two clients didn’t pay much, but I am grateful to them for helping instill confidence in me and give me momentum on my journey.
I realized this was it. I was an entrepreneur and officially building a business and it was time to market MYSELF. I picked out my business name Authentic Vision Media, which felt aligned and right, and then I started putting myself out there in the world.
As I started to follow people on social media, I stumbled across Andréa Jones of the Savvy Social School who was hosting a workshop on how to improve your sales calls. That caught my attention because I knew I needed to get better at pitching myself. I attended the workshop and then at the end (like you do) she pitched her new mentorship program that she was launching.
I wasn’t bringing in much money, and the price felt like a stretch. I thought it over for a few days—could this REALLY be worth the price tag?—but in the end, it really just felt right! So, I took a leap of faith and did it scared and unsure. I am so happy I did because it changed my life! It was everything I needed. She walked us through the ins and outs of social media management, basically showed us the inside of her business, and gave us a community with which to talk about our struggles and wins. I finally felt extremely connected to a community of like-minded people doing what I was doing—something I sorely missed from the live events industry. I had a purpose behind what I was doing and I also had a mentor to go to with questions about whatever I was struggling with.
One of the most important things I learned in the Thrive Mentorship program is that my strengths are what set me apart. When I lead with my strengths and passions, I will attract the clients that need exactly what I have. And I will naturally weed out bad-fit clients. Focusing on my skills and interests is KEY to building a business that lights you up, instead of sucking the life out of you. (Are you fueling burnout in your business? This blog is for you.)
Working with Andréa set me on the path to finding my place in the graphic design and marketing world. She helped me see what sets me apart from everyone else, and she provided a space for connecting and collaborating with others.
My experience with her has snowballed into SO many opportunities for networking and collaboration—which in my opinion, are the keys to success in the online business world.
So often, life doesn’t happen how we think it will.
Today, this career path feels so much more manageable and feasible than it did when I was a new graduate. Sometimes I wonder—why is that? What changed?
I can see now how valuable and essential those years in live events were for shaping me into the business owner I am today. Sometimes what you need is a 10-year excursion and maybe even a world-wide pandemic to set you on your path.
Want to get a taste of the Savvy Social School, but not ready to make a commitment? Enroll in Andréa’s free mini-course: Social Media Rockstar Framework, and start growing your business with a simple social media strategy.
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