Farewell 2019

With today being the last day of 2019, it felt appropriate to write about what I’ve been up to for the last few months. It’s been quite a bumpy ride, let me tell you finding your bliss is damn hard!

I started off leaving my job and jumping right into a new project, developing a tech startup. I was asked if I wanted to join the team who was creating a collaborative online learning platform for women in coding as the director of customer success. This was a super exciting project for me to sink my teeth into! Excitement filled me at the opportunity to channel all my suppressed creativity into a cause that needed my skills! Up until very recently I was working alongside a team of six to create this working model and drive users to our platform. I helped promote on social media, was involved in investor calls, strategized on obtaining and retaining customers and went to hackathons to connect with individuals in person. It was so exciting to be learning so much, but after failing to obtain funding in those months, I was asked by the founders to step away. It’s still unclear to me as to for what reason, but this was hurtful after dedicating many hours, nights and weekends to getting this project funded and with the hopes of benefitting financially from it.

Although I had savings to sustain me, I wanted to generate some kind of income in order to prolong my lifestyle. I figured I would put my car to good use and registered to be a Lyft driver in Boston. Along my drives there were many characters, visitors, professors and students, many of which who shared their stories with me. On occasion I received judge mental comments about my choice in work after discovering I was not a student driving to make some extra cash. This of course was difficult but something quickly shaken off after realizing how unhappy these people seemed. I did this for a month before moving onto the next thing. “Quitting” a job after a little over a month felt so wrong but I found peace in that this is what this time was for, letting go of what no longer served me.

I attended many entrepreneur conferences and events in the city, absorbing as much knowledge as I could for free or an inexpensive price. I’d work at some of the conferences and then sneak into the seminars after my shift. I networked with other entrepreneurs around my age. I was very impressed by my new friends who are running graphic design and lingerie companies on their own. One of these events lead me to attend a women in entrepreneur night where I was inspired by a woman who started a very successful workout apparel company just 5 short years ago and was taking Boston by storm. I was moved by her story in which she gave up everything to pursue her dream, failed and pivoted into the fitness industry, eventually starting her own brand. Visiting her store the next day I felt called to apply for a job and was hired. At first this was really exciting and I was hoping to eventually help this small company with their social media campaigns. It didn’t take too long for me to realize it wasn’t going to help me reach my goal but I stayed because it was a paying gig. Despite my gut feeling, I contacted to owner to ask if moving into a social media role was in the cards in the year ahead. She returned my inquiry with firing me.. Never in my life have I been fired before and from retail.. damn was I hurting. She attacked my character and gave me no chance to explain even though I had done nothing wrong. I was shocked and spent an hour crying. I vented out the story and as crappy as it was, I realized this is not an organization I want to associate myself with and something not meant for me. Did I mention this happened yesterday? What a way to end 2019. Somehow despite my series of unfortunate events I am more excited than ever to be free again! The possibilities are again endless.

For me, this shift into a positive mindset despite setbacks has been my biggest accomplishment. It literally transforms the way you view yourself, the world around you and mindset about what is possible. At this point I’m not completely sure what’s next for me but I’m sure as hell that 2020 is my year, I feel it deep inside and have been cultivating a game plan… For now farewell to this decade, thank you for your experiences, lessons, failures and accomplishments but I’m ready to move on to 2020 and discover all that is waiting around the corner. Wishing you all a chance to start a new, dial in and focus on your happiness in the year ahead. You got this!