What I’ve Learned After Quitting My Job
It’s crazy that I’m going on almost 10 months of working for myself. While it’s had it’s ups and downs it’s been a wonderful and meaningful experience and break from the monotony of work I’ve experienced the past 6 or so years. (I know that’s not super long in comparison but when you are a creative it can feel a lot longer). There have been so many things I’ve learned about myself, my relationships and about the industry itself. I just felt the need to share a bit about some things I’ve overcome and experienced in my short time in this industry.
Attending Events Solo
When I initially quit my job I told myself that I had to network and create more long lasting relationships with my amazing clients who have entrusted me to create content for them. Previously I had to be very selective with events I attended and with a lack of experience in how events are managed I was always too nervous to attend any without a friend coming with or meeting me there. Once I was freelance however I knew that had to change. My friends couldn’t always make it to the same events as me and you aren’t always offered a plus 1. It quickly turned into me focusing on why I went there in the first place, to meet new people and get to show my gratitude to individuals and brands who were kind enough to invite me there.
I have to say after a handful of uncomfortable events I really got the hang of riding solo and almost prefer it. It makes you interact with new people and if you aren’t super aware of the people in attendance it was a great opportunity for me to connect more with the brand reps or PR agencies that were running the show. For me, I love to get there right on time (it helps when you drive from the OC) so I can connect with brand reps before the big crowds get there. It just gives me more one on one time we might not have experienced later in the evening.
It can definitely be intimidating at first but I’ve met some of my now really great friends at events like this! Both riding solo and being able to chat and find a connection that we probably wouldn’t have experienced had we both brought a familiar face with us.
The Reality of Rejection
Now this one seems like a doozy and while it kind of is, I also understand rejection is an aspect of any business. The one thing I don’t think I was ever ready for was the underlying reasoning for rejection. We all have our analytics, we all have certain aesthetics or styles when it comes to our imagery but to be judged on your style, charisma, attitude, and honestly looks was something I wasn’t fully ready for. When you turn a passion into a career you have to flip partial switches to “work mode” where it’s no longer a “oh my friend got that campaign not me, all good!” to “why did they get that campaign when we basically have the same follower counts, engagement, look/feel of our feed, I really could use that extra income”.
I have always been more of an outcast when it came to my school days (even college) and preferred my handful of close friends to trying to impress others with a large group of elites. The problem with what I now experience in blogging is that while analytics and statistics matter, what can matter more, is how you look. Coming from a mixed ethnicity background (Chinese, Hawaiian, German & Swedish) I never really felt much racism towards myself. But then again, I always seemed to counter people with “I’m half white”. Looking back it’s sad to think that I would even say that to a person. But the closer you get into this industry you realize that there is still a huge gap between POC and the kind of campaigns they receive. While there is usually one or two in the mix with big campaigns it’s clear as day to see who is preferred. As much as you want to brush it off as “they have more followers” or “they live in a bigger city” or “they travel more” it’s definitely become clear to me that although I might think they are considering us as apples to apples, it’s really still apples to oranges.
Feeling the Pressure to Find Work
If you or anyone you know is a freelancer or owns their own business then you know that finding work is of course the most challenging aspect of working for yourself. It’s also something that while having a full time job I felt almost more confident in (since I didn’t REALLY need the extra money, it was more of a plus). Now being on my own it’s become a severe reality check that you really have to know who you are, what you offer, and how to basically sell yourself and your services.
I also had an interesting conversation with a client recently who straight up asked me, do you accept basically any paid job you get even if it isn’t exactly something you like. Now the honest answer to this is NO. I only take projects on where I feel either confident in the brand, and/or the product they are offering. Now if you were to ask me would it be my first choice if I could choose a brand/product to work with, well not always. One of my clients made an interesting point “We all make deals with people we don’t want to work with, it’s just part of business”. We have become a sea of content creators and finding your niche is challenging now in this space. At the end of the day sometimes you’ll regret having worked with someone and that’s ok, but I have not and will not ever take on a job that I don’t feel I can fulfill naturally, I’m just a really bad liar and it will be clear as day that it’s not organic. At this point I realized that by saying NO to even gifted opportunities that just don’t sit right will make space for the RIGHT project to come along. For the right company to reach out or for me to stumble across an amazing new designer I’ve fallen in love with. While that might mean saying no to money that is going towards paying my mortgage I have to have faith that my content is worth waiting for.
My Takeaway
You really do learn a lot about yourself when you are putting yourself out into the world. Whether it’s with social media or you’re job. I realized that immersing myself in the industry has brought so many benefits but also a lot of harsh realizations. Either way I wouldn’t give up being my own boss for the world and it’s almost a constant motivator to know that you don’t know what to expect next.