You can create your own career

As you’re reading this, I’ll be on my way to Tokyo (!!!). This will be my first time in Japan and I can’t tell you how much time I’ve spent poring over every guide, YouTube video, and Google review I could find about anything related to Tokyo over the last several months (content marketing is clearly still alive and well).

I can’t wait to report back with how much sushi I ate, how many steps we walked, and how life-changing Japan is 😜

But until then, I wanted to share an experience I had last week — and how it really made my career feel like a full circle moment.

A full circle moment, 10 years in the making

Last week, I had the opportunity to visit my alma mater and speak at Mass Comm Week — an annual event for the School of Journalism and Mass Communication where speakers from various comms and marketing fields give students career advice and insights about working in the real world.

As a student, Mass Comm Week was one of my favorite times of the year. I couldn’t wait to get my career started, so I was always inspired to learn about different career paths and hear how people carved them out for themselves.

However, one thing I can say after looking back on my time in school is that I didn’t really know that freelancing could be its own career. People who came to speak either had flashy marketing titles at big brands, or went the entrepreneurial route of starting their own agency. I can’t remember hearing from anyone who worked for themselves in a solo way like freelancers do.

So, of course, I went into this speaking event with the goal of letting the youths know what freelancing is all about! Here are some things I told them:

• Get comfortable pitching yourself: This is an underrated skill that’s applicable to every career, whether you want to freelance or not. We talked about how to find the right people to pitch, getting clear on what you can offer, and exactly what to say to get a response. I even showed them the real cold DMs I’ve sent to clients!

• Get on LinkedIn: I felt like such a boomer talking about LinkedIn, but it turned out to be helpful. They asked about what to put on your LinkedIn when you don’t have experience yet, and asked to see what my profile looked like (side note: it’s really eye-opening to see what your profile looks like to most people when it’s projected on a big screen lol).

• Be open-minded: When I was in school, I thought I knew exactly how my career was going to turn out (I was very wrong). I recommended that students explore different industries, roles, and skillsets while they’re still in school. Given how weird the job market is, I think it’s safe to say that the roles they may have in the future might not even exist yet.

Going back to the college campus I graduated from 10 years ago was such a full circle moment. I never could’ve imagined that I’d someday be the one sharing career advice, let alone about a career I didn’t know existed. My college self would be proud! (Maybe a little confused, but still proud).

Anyways, here’s me right after presenting — standing in front of Old Main, the building I spent so much time in as a mass comm student.

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• Newsletter I love: I’m an avid reader of Alisha Ramos’ Downtime newsletter. It’s very Pinterest-y in the way she shares style tips, outfit inspo, book recommendations, recipes, home decor…you get the gist.

• Book I’m reading: Loaded up my Kindle with tons of murder mysteries to read on the 11 hour flight to Tokyo!

• Life stuff: I have a busy season of work ahead, so I’m excited to fully immerse myself in this Tokyo trip before life gets too jam-packed.

I’ll be back in your inboxes on October 28th 💌 In the meantime, let me know what you’re working on and how I can help!

Rough Draft is a bi-weekly newsletter where I share tips and musings on creating a freelance career from scratch. Subscribe here. You can also find me on LinkedIn, Twitter, Threads, or my website. 👋 Have a question about freelancing? Submit it here!