Your Career, Your Adventure

Two things: it's officially wedding season (I've got three invites taking up precious cute family picture real estate on my fridge) and second, it's I'm-so-busy-with-work-I'm-gonna-freak-any-minute season.

I guess it's good to be busy. I really liked Ali's comment to Healthcare Working Girl's "Just a Bit Frazzled" post about how we should probably count our blessings if we're busy because the opposite is much worse. Good luck to you, Ali!

So in my last post, I asked the audience if there was anything anyone would like to know about the PR industry. This is a Working Girl blog and we have several fabulous industries represented here, so want to make sure you're getting what you're looking for! I'll focus on answering Mrs Soup's questions. Here's her comment:

"I'm always interested in what pulled people to their job. Also, how you got started/what education/what intrigues you/what do you like about the PR world. At 28, I still don't know what I want to be when I "grow up" and it's starting to drain on me."

Mrs Soup, you can read my intro to Working Girl here which should answer all your questions. Since that post, however, note that I quit my job and am now working from home where I manage my own freelance writing and PR business, which I am really enjoying. Number 1 perk: sleeping in everyday until 9:00am or so ... ahhhh, there's no way-no how I'm going back to the corporate world after this. LOL

I think now-a-days, what you want to be when you "grow up" is no longer a fixed thing. People's careers are constantly evolving and you have to be flexible and really get in tune with your gut feelings and follow what drives you and what gets you all fired up. Follow your passions. While the downside is that you may feel lost or confused as you're figuring out what your passion is in the first place, the up side is that you have so many options to choose from. Maybe you're not completely happy at your job now, but think of it as the stepping stone to something better. You're probably learning great skills now that will benefit you later on, or meeting people now who can help you later on, and so forth.

Be patient. And think of your career as an adventure that began when you were just a kid. What did you want to be when you were five? Isn't it amazing how things have changed since? When I was a kid, I wanted to be a nurse, then a teacher, then a marine biologist (I loved sharks, but since I failed at practically every swimming lesson ... yeah, NEXT). In high school, I dabbled with the thought of going into graphic design, and by the time I entered college, it was broadcast journalism. And then you know the story from there: advertising, public relations, and today it's freelance writing and public relations. Who knows where I'll go next?! I'm not sure if even I've hit my sweet spot yet, either, you know, if I'm exactly what I want to be when I "grow up" too. But I know that I'm happy, and I know that I'm learning, so that's all that really matters to me right now.

Yeah, who knows, maybe I'll jump ship again and enroll in beauty school and become an esthetician. Seriously, I'll admit I've thought about it :)