I Reinvented My Career in the Midst of a Global Pandemic
How manifestation, virtual networking and old fashioned hard work transformed me into an entrepreneur while the world turned upside down.
Image via Unsplash
How manifestation, virtual networking and old fashioned hard work transformed me into an entrepreneur while the world turned upside down.
This past summer, I sat in my stylist’s chair, mask on, telling her that my burn out was inevitable. Eventually, I was going to spiral, I thought. It was June. The news cycle was Black Lives Matter protests. Covid 19. Trump. Rinse. Repeat. A few days earlier, a job I’d been on for six months asked that I chair a Diversity and Inclusion task force they were creating. Out of fear, stress and confusion, I agreed. My job had been in a tailspin since the pandemic hit and it seemed no one knew which direction we should go and therefore, we continued to spin.
My stylist’s immediate response was, “Why aren’t you working for yourself?” I just looked at her and sighed. Why wasn’t I working for myself yet? This is something I’d be saying out loud for the past two years; why wasn’t it happening? Since then, seven months have passed and I’m working for myself full-time. I have clients, I make my own schedule and I love being in control. How’d I do it? For one, I had an enormous support system around me. Many people who’ve supported me personally and in my career that made this leap even possible. There are, however, three very important ideas I leaned into that pushed my dreams into fruition.
Manifestation:
2018 was the first time I said out loud, “I’m not working for other people the rest of my life.” I was in my final year of grad school and my career seemed to be moving very fast and very slow at the same time. I was constantly being nominated to be part of leadership fellowships and conferences but when it would come time for a promotion - crickets. I rang in 2019, graduated with my MSJ and turned 30 all within three weeks and with the sweet smell of optimism filling my nose, I was ready to take my career to the next level - it didn’t happen.
By the fall of 2019, I realized that I’d given my legal marketing career all I had and, after four years, it was time to move on. Throughout the year, I constantly found myself saying out loud, to myself, whenever the thought crossed my mind that I was going to be an entrepreneur one way or another. In less than a year, I began to see my manifestations taking shape. The stylist who told me to work for myself? She became my first client. From that point, I began calling myself a freelancer and entrepreneur. After her, a mentor reached out to me for a project, then a co-worker and another colleague.
I saw that my words had power and meaning. When spoken into the universe (and I believed them), those words proved to be true. I used to take manifestation and vision boards as cute ways to motivate yourself when hard work wasn’t enough. Through my own journey, however, I became a true believer that your words can change your world.
Believing in yourself can move mountains.
Virtual Networking:
The pandemic stopped the world this past spring and as such, I started working from home for the first time. At first, I despised it. It threw a wrench in my otherwise streamlined routine: wake up at 6:30am, out the door by 7:15am, Starbucks run and at my desk by 8:30am. Working from home in the beginning meant struggling to open my eyes before 8am, countless hoodies, pajamas and constantly hearing “you’re on mute.” I was overwhelmed to say the least, but I tried to see the silver lining: not only am I helping to stop the spread, but this is an introvert’s DREAM. MY dream. This was something I could work with. I’ve been an introvert my entire life; huge social gatherings exhaust me, you’ll usually find me cowering in a corner at networking events. Working from home and eventually networking from home helped me to come out of my shell slowly and surely. As I continued to speak into existence my entrepreneurial goals, I started taking the steps to get myself into rooms I’d normally hide from.
I attended virtual conferences through Create and Cultivate, With Honors and others. I joined networking Slack channels and Facebook groups and found myself more eager to step outside of my comfort zone. I had my elevator pitch down, I felt confident and I was able to slowly but surely grow my online community organically. I’ve become friends and colleagues with influencers in my industry and have been able to increase my visibility through social media.
Introvert or not, if you haven’t tapped into the power of virtual networking, start now!
Hard Work:
Listen, our parents and their parents have all told us the same thing: there’s nothing like an old fashioned work ethic to get you where you need to go. When I first began freelancing, I started while working from home full-time. I went from 35-40 hours a week to nearly 80. I doubled my income and stayed vigilant that it wouldn’t last for long. I worked hard to build and maintain relationships with my clients by making sure they received the same high quality work I produced for my full-time job. I’d be lying if I told you it’d be easy, but it’s not called hard work for anything.
I worked almost 80 hours a week for three months before I received the call that my company was dissolving its entire marketing department. That day, I cried tears of joy. Not only had I manifested this very moment, but I put in the work to prepare myself for it. The universe cleared a path and I collected my tools for the journey.
If you’re on the fence about taking the leap, start manifesting, start planning and get to work!
Are you ready to take the leap into your next business venture? Send me a message at hello@brookenoeldigital.com and let’s collaborate.
Too Many Pots | Episode III
A conversation with Tia Haynes about the journey to discovering art as her passion, how she finds inspiration and why dancing is part of her creative ritual.
Just Dance.
“Art is more than just drawing to me. It’s the space you live in, it’s how you live your life, it’s how you dress, it’s how you speak, how you interact, how you love.”
On this episde of Too Many Pots, we explore what it means to be an artist and the journey it takes to become one. Our guest is someone very special. She is not only a Capricorn like our host, but they also share DNA and that makes this episode extra special. Tia Haynes is a multi-faceted designer, illustrator, creative collaborator, educator and overall creative genius who gave our listeners her incredible take on what it means to be an artist, how to find your lane and how inspiration is all around us.
Full episode available below or head over to Apple Podcasts or Spotify to stream!
Too Many Pots | Episode II
Brooke talks to longtime friend Langston Jones about the importance of power in community, intersectionality in the era of Black Lives Matter and how to practice self-care amidst the madness.
What is community?
“I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community and as long as I live, it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can…
I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I live."
-George Bernard Shaw
On this epside of Too Many Pots, we discuss the power of community. Our guest, Langston J. Langston is a multi-hyphenate advocate, educator, stylist, entrepreneur and so much more.
When I initially began brainstorming guests for this episode, it was in the thick of Pride month, which this year, came with the backdrop of a global pandemic, and the reignition of the Black Lives Matter movement. Let me be very clear -- Black Lives Matter never lost momentum or stride, their work is always on go, whether we see it or not. However, with the murders of Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd, Tony McDade, Breonna Taylor, and many more, Black Lives Matter and the peaceful protests were on the world’s stage, in a way that it hadn’t been before. With all these things swirling about, I thought about the people I know whose lives intersect these occurrences in more than one way, and I immediately thought the perfect person for this episode would be Langston.
Listen to us discuss the power in community, intersectionality in the era of BLM and how to practice self-care amidst the madness.
Available below or head over to Apple Podcasts or Spotify to stream!