THE WAY WE GET BY

The year is 2012. I'm the youngest person working for a Connecticut-based marketing firm. After applying to more than 200 jobs, this was the only company that requested an interview. I started working as an entry-level editor five days after graduating with a bachelors in English, Writing and Mass Communications.

I didn't care if I swept the halls. I needed a job in my industry, fast. Looking back, I realize how imperative this job was for getting to where I am today. If only one other employer had agreed to an interview, my entire career (dare I say, life) trajectory would have looked different.

I took the job as a way to get by. Today, I owe it everything.

OPPORTUNITIES IN THE UNLIKLIEST OF PLACES

The story of my career beginnings is just one of endless ways life has shown me that the greatest opportunities happen in the unlikeliest of places.

If it wasn't for that employer, I wouldn't have been able to quickly establish my own client base as a freelancer. Allow me to explain ...

As Director of a seven-person editorial team, many of my clients were understandably confused as to why I had parted ways with the company so quickly (I was laid off due to "restructuring," conveniently right before my scheduled move to California). I kept in touch with several clients and the rest is history.

I am continually astounded by life's little delights. My first client as a freelancer came not from a corporate crossover but a contact of a contact of a contact I had made years prior. I had met a woman several years earlier while out on a walk with my now husband. I asked if I could pet her dog (duh) and we struck up a conversation where I learned that she was the VP of her own marketing firm.

When I decided to go solo, I gave her a ring and she put me in touch. I have acquired new clients from thrift stores and dog parks. I have made key connections at cafes. All moments you could never plan which you'll never get back.

Because of my experiences, I firmly believe in the power of saying "yes" with an open and positive perspective.

SIDE BAR

Can we talk about the beauty of life's natural and inevitable design? I truly believe every moment at that marketing firm was meaningful and purposeful. Not just being hired as an entry-level editor but transitioning to the company's content marketing division. Not just being promoted to Assistant Manager but then Director of an entire team.

Every second added up to perfectly position me for the moment I never thought would come: starting in own business.

If you were to ask me then, I would have never believed in my wildest dreams that I would be doing what I am today--let alone that the opportunity would stem from where it did. Unlikely, no?

There is little I believe in as strongly as the fact that everything happens for a reason. When my mentor and former Director--a brilliant woman and inspiring leader--asked me to succeed her, my first thought was heck no.

I didn't want the added pressures and responsibilities, and I imagined that upper management would be difficult to work with. Yet in the end, I would have regretted more not seeing what I was capable of achieving.

Even if I failed miserably, I knew I would walk away better for having seized the opportunity. Accepting the promotion ended up being one of the best and worst decisions of my life. I became depressed and wouldn't eat. I experienced physical symptoms of extreme stress. But it all lead me to where I am today, and to me that's worth it.

In looking back, I'm reminded that uncomfortable and even painful situations have their place in our purposeful path towards success. We need to trust life's plan, even if we don't understand the path.

INTO THE VOID

In just one day, I had gone from Director of Content Marketing responsible for a seven-person editorial team to being by myself with my own thoughts. I went from making $75,000 a year to no sustainable income besides unemployment checks I could claim for the next six to 12 months.

I was very unhappy at my job and so I was in an odd way at peace with what had happened. I was excited about the newness of life and the possibilities that lied ahead, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't equally scared of the void.

I had a conversation that day with a dear friend who happened to have two successful businesses of her own. In the past I had discussed with her the dream of working for myself with my own set of clients.

She told me to go for it. Then I thought to myself ...

If not now, when?

So I did. I launched a website. I followed up with my clients from corporate. I designed new business cards and created fresh samples of work, I had little idea of what I was doing, but more passion and drive than ever before.

Within one week I had my first client. Within one month I had five. Now, I have over 20 clients worldwide.

You have to embrace the void in order to fill it.

I know what you're thinking.

Sure, let me just reach out to all of my clients right now. Beep boop boop ::mimicking dialing::

You might be thinking I'm out of touch or that I don't remember what it was like to start from the bottom. I haven't forgotten. I just believe in you that much. I know with absolute certainty that you can get to where you want to be because I did.

I paid $20 to launch my first website using money from unemployment checks. My brand evolved through the years to what you see today. It won't happen overnight, but I promise that with good counsel and a sincere belief in your own power and capability you can do whatever you set your mind to.

'TIL YOU MAKE IT

I hate the phrase "fake it 'til you make it." What does that say about someone's passion or willingness to learn? More importantly, what does it say about their efforts? It implies you're coasting rather than climbing.

I believe that every effort and action is impactful. I believe that with hard work and dedication you can "make it," but you'll have to travel your own purposeful path for getting there. No comparisons, just you.

Define success on your own terms. Once you know what "making it" looks like for you, create a strategic roadmap for getting there. The beauty here is that there's no right answer. Maybe you won't know what "making it" looks or feels like until you reach that point. Maybe it's something you can't even comprehend yet. That's totally okay. You don't have to have it all figured out right now. All that matters is that you're bold enough to have a vision and brave enough to pursue it.

I know it sounds horribly cliché, but you need to trust that you'll get to where you want to be in your own perfect timing.

SIDE BAR

Why do I feel so strongly about women helping women?

Because of one...