Tips On Inventing A Job From Women Who Have Done It - When I Grow Up

Tips On Inventing A Job From Women Who Have Done It - When I Grow Up Want to invent a job thats just for you? Listen up. Every day I wake up and I think three things: 1. I have to pee. 2. What do I have to get done today? 3. How lucky am I that I get to do what I love?   Then, usually, I think about my incredible clients who took the brave and awesome steps towards finding or creating the business of their dreams.   Through my work as The When I Grow Up Coach, Ive had the unique opportunity to watch careers form where there was never once a career before. Ive seen clients design their own perfect, beautiful nichés in industries that are meaningful to them, and that made me think of these truly inspiring women.   Andi took her background in theater and killer interpersonal skills and became a Creative Communications Consultant. Molly took her passion for writing and her quirk of  enjoying online dating (for real) and became an Online Dating Profile Writer. Inge took her dream (and gift!) of helping people find exactly what theyre looking for and became a Shopping Sleuth. And theyre here to tell you that not only can you do it too, you can do it totally different and have it work better for YOU. Here is epic career inventing advice from women who have done it themselves. Seriously. Andi Fairbanks Creative Communications Consultant  Idea Champ On her a-ha moment: I can’t say that there was a specific “a-ha” moment, as Oprah says it was more of an evolution. I was volunteering as an ambassador for a running program while I finished my master’s degree (I thought I was going to be a corporate trainer SNORE), and the woman who runs it asked me to help with an adult education project, and then with some social media outreach. It was fun and I used all the skills I love to use. I started finding more opportunities, sometimes paid a bit, sometimes volunteer because I liked doing it. A little voice quietly began asking me “how come I can’t just do this?”. That voice started screaming when I got laid off from my corporate job. On some of the unexpected challenges: I think everyone expects that it’s hard work to find clients and stay motivated, but what you might not realize is how hard it is to explain what you do to others…and sometimes it’s hard to explain it to yourself! I recommend getting an elevator pitch down solid ASAP, and revisit it weekly. Michelle has a great formula for this, it saved me from throwing in the towel over and over. It’s also a constant internal struggle to not say, you know what I can make so much more money doing x, y, or z, even though I hate x, y bores me, and z would require 2 more years of school and loans. You gotta fight it every day. On self-motivation: I always ask myself, what do I have to lose? If you have a good escape plan and your finances are solid, there is no reason to not do this. I always go back to when I was 17 and wanted to go to theatre school. Sure, I could have made a different, safer decision but I would never have known if I could have been successful, and I wouldn’t be who I am today. I also often give myself what I call the “year out” if, in a year, I hate this and I’m miserable, I’ll stop and do something else. But if I don’t try it, in a year, I’ll still be wondering if I should have tried it.     On the surprisingly easy stuff: The technical stuff, like getting a domain name, creating a website, and deciding how to track your time and money is pretty easy. Perfecting them and keeping up with it is harder. On the change of  responsibilities since job inception: I tested out several job titles before settling on Creative Communications Consultant, but to be honest, I don’t even remember them anymore! Once I settled on that one, it felt so right that I never thought twice about it again. It’s open-ended but sounds official and makes people lean in and ask, “Oh, what’s that?” My responsibilities change with my clients’ needs and what I decide I’m willing to do! That’s the best part. I do a lot of social media posts that combine text and simple graphics, I write emails, I moderate Facebook pages, and as often as possible I plan outreach events and celebrations. Everything I do is based on my education in theatre and adult education I feel that combination is what gives me my flair for effective creative communications. I’m still early in this journey, so I will still take on some menial tasks like data entry if they are in a pinch, but I know as my business grows I won’t do that anymore. On what she would change if she could: Always, always, I’d be more organized and less of a procrastinator but other than that, I wouldn’t change a thing. I’m enjoying nurturing my own interests and learning more every day. Molly Quigley Online Dating Profile Writer On her a-ha moment: Working with Michele, she drew it out of me.  I wanted to write for a living and get paid, but having come from a life in retail management, I had no writing portfolio or experience.  But I could sell. So, why not try to sell others and promote them? This way I got paid to write while I chased other writing jobs. And Michelle was the best cheerleader. On some of the unexpected challanges: In some ways, its fun to think outside the box and certainly, your idea becomes a novelty as people introduce you at parties, etc.  You can have a great idea, but your greatest challenge will probably be getting people to know about you and your services. The marketing never ends in this role. On self-motivation: What do I have to lose? I was not afraid to fail. But people are, and it keeps them stagnant. On the surprisingly easy stuff: Owning what I did.  I thought I needed credentials to market myself as a dating profile writer, but, as Michelle coached me, I realized, all of this was in my head.  I was an English major, I could write and I could sell. No one expected me to be anything other than what I said I was. On the change of  responsibilities since job inception: I work full time now for a corporation handling all their corporate gifting.  It is the best job I have ever had.  But I would not be half as good at it  if I had never started this business because I know how to market my services.  I still write profiles and taught a private class just the other night for 6 ladies.  I love helping others find love. On what she would change if she could: My biggest piece of advice would be to have a job while doing the other job.  I was lucky that I had a husband to support me quitting a job and working on this one.  But then, I was constantly waiting to see when I would get a client, when this, when that. I know this much about myself now, I would have worked twice as hard if I was working, even part-time.   The years I hustled through building this business were the most character and confidence building of my life. Inge Geleyn Shopping Sleuth Thoughtful Gesture On her a-ha moment: I started thinking about a gift idea service ten years ago. My initial idea was providing people and businesses with book gift ideas, completely tailored to their family and friends or their customers’ reading tastes. And while I did work on a few book gift related projects, I quickly realized that the revenue model for that initial business concept wasn’t realistic. I put everything aside for some time, while continuing to work as a freelance translator and editor, but never stopped thinking and dreaming about starting a business that would allow me to do what I love (and do) best: helping people find things. With the help of Michelle and Laura, I expanded on my original idea last year, and decided that I could create a niche for myself specializing in gift ideas for people who want to show their love or appreciation through thoughtful gifts but don’t have the time or talent to find them themselves. And that’s how Thoughtful Gesture came about! On some of the unexpected challenges: The biggest one for me: The enormous freedom that comes with literally being able to start from scratch. It’s a huge advantage for sure (and I’m over the moon that I get to to this), but it can also feel overwhelming. My “sleuthing skills” are my main talent, and I have lots of extra ideas that I want to explore in the future (e.g. help clients shop for decor, planning memorable experiences and events, organize shopping tours…). I want to do it all!-) But to get the business up and running, I realized I needed to narrow things down and focus on one aspect at a time. With a new business concept especially, telling people I can do all those things, would have muddied the water, and made explaining how the business works extra complicated. On self-motivation: For me, the turning point came in 2016 when my Papa passed away. The death of a loved one really does put things in perspective, and it made me ask myself some hard questions. I was 45 years old, and yes, circumstances were not ideal, but what exactly was I waiting for?! So I said to myself: “Alright, you’ve had this idea in your head for 10 years now, high time to give it your all and see if you can make it work.” It’s funny, by the way: Just before I started writing to you this morning, I came across this Doris Lessing quote on Twitter that sums it up nicely:  â€œWhatever you are meant to do, do it now. The conditions are always impossible. On the change of  responsibilities since job inception: I only just launched Thoughtful Gesture in November 2017, so not yet, no. I’m sure things will evolve, but at the moment I’m a one-woman show, and pretty much do everything myself, except for the bookkeeping because I was already working with an accountant for my translation business. On what she would change if she could: I would have started looking around for a business coach or some kind of business launch programme with built-in accountability much, much sooner. And I’m not just saying that because I participated in Michelle and Laura’s 90 Day Business Launch programme!-) For me, the objective input of an “expert outsider was invaluable. When you’ve been working intensively on your business for a while, it’s easy to get stuck in the same old thought patterns and just no longer see that there might be other options, or a different way to do certain things.”A second pair of eyes” got me unstuck and gave me loads of extra motivation. It also helped me tremendously with better communicating exactly what it is that I do (especially important because I was creating a new service that people weren’t yet familiar with), with coming up with a solid first offer, getting a better idea of how to market the business etc. If I had done this sooner, it wouldn’t have taken me 10 years to go from dream to reality!-) Last day to save 40% on my  Leave Your Job Launch Your Biz in 2018  workshop in celebration of my 40th birthday!