Career Woman ( Part 2 ) : Marketing Guru

Dear Avery,

So picking up where we left off from “Career Woman: Part 1“, I left my job as a behavioral therapist for financial reasons. Living in Orange County, you need to actually make money…despite wanting to change the world, one child at a time.

I was scared to try anything else. What would I be good at? Where else would I succeed? Surely not in the business world…I never even took at class in college!

I was lost. So I prayed. Prayed hard. “Lord, I put my faith and trust in you that my career is out there. Somewhere. That it will challenge me and make me better. And that, it will be financially better so that I can do my part in my marriage.” So, I applied everywhere for everything. Whether I was qualified or not. << And that scared me.

 I got a call one day from Quest Software. They were interested in me doing office assistant/receptionist work. First thing I did was pray. “OK, God, here it is. Is this where you want me to go?” So I took the job. And it was  the best decision I’ve made in my career.

In that time, I told myself that I would take this job ONLY if I find a way to make a career out of it within ONE YEAR. Find other things that may interest me like PR, Marketing, Human Resources. With that, I started networking. Talking to lots of people about who I was and what I was interested in doing. Taking people out to lunch and talking about THEIR careers and how they got to where they were.

I found out that I had a knack for networking. And this was the game changer for me. A coworker once said to me, “You know, networking is pretty hard to do on your own, nowadays. Most people don’t just start from bottom and work their way up anymore. You usually just have to know someone already to get that job early on.” << Well, I didn’t. I knew no one (at first), but I made it my priority to show people that I was passionate, hard working, and eager to learn.

One year to the day… I landed my first career position in Social Media. The position had been created from scratch, and I was blessed to be given the opportunity to make it what it was. I learned more in this year of  work, then I ever had. I learned the ins and outs of marketing, without taking a class. Being social was easy for me, and I found a way to make it a career.

One year later, I wanted to expand this role. I wanted to get get my feet wet in Search Engine Marketing  because it only made logical sense with how fast social media was taking off. So, I went ahead and talked to the Search Manager, and tried to make a case for why these roles should be combined. Two weeks later, he offered  me a spot on his team! And wow, was that an INCREDIBLE opportunity. This team of people blow me away everyday with their poise, intelligence, and work ethic. Reminds of one of my favorite quotes, “Surround yourself with people that will lift you higher.” 

So here I am: 2 1/2 years and 3 job titles later… I am someplace I never thought I’d be… and couldn’t be happier.

Here’s what I’ve learned thus far:

1. What “Networking” means to me : being friendly to everyone, showing strong work ethic at all times,

and being eager to help everyone at any time

2. You know those really smart people over there, get to know them!

3. You’ll feel dumb and unworthy when you start out, that’s OK

4. ENJOY THE RIDE, and always take that risk…

With love,

Aunt Megs