Even though I’m writing this website as a way to keep track of my own “journey to the big dream” I know there will be other people besides my mother who will read this. So I figured it’d be polite to tell you a bit about me and how I got to this point in my life.
I’ll skip over the years in fast food and retail in my younger days. And I’ll skip the part about being a “garbitch” in the recycling world, teaching 3rd graders how to make worm compost bins… and jump right into the career part of my life.
I spent the first 15 years of my career life as a secretary and executive assistant – most recently as the assistant to the media and communications officer at a local government agency. But in 2010 I finally became a college graduate – after being a three-time college drop out. Armed with a degree in Graphic Communications, I slid into a position vacated by the retiring graphic artist at my existing job. I’ve made great strides in this position to more fully brand the county and give many of the communications material a cohesive look and feel with a unified message. There’s still a long way to go, but I feel like I’ve made a real impact in my position. I love my job (most of the time) and I love the work I do. I tell you all this because I want to make it clear that I’m not pursing this Big Dream stuff because I’m unhappy in my career. I’m paid fairly well, I have excellent benefits, I have a lot of freedom in my design work and I get to work on a lot of really exciting and interesting projects (a lot of boring ones too, but that’s OK).
Over the past 5 years or so, I’ve also taken on a lot of client work outside normal business hours. For a short time I was even a part of a startup design agency with three other amazing designers – but soon realized it wasn’t for me and I tend to work better on my own so I left the company to pursue my other passions.
As I mentioned previously I ran a blog about my weight loss journey for about seven years. As part of that venture I also wrote and self-published a book about the lessons I learned along the way and how those lessons could be applied to others on the same journey.
As part of my weight loss journey I also dived deep into the world of personal development, self-improvement, and whatever it’s called when you “get your head screwed on straight” about how you want to live your life. Along with shedding 100 pounds of unwanted weight, I also discovered how to take care of myself – not just physically, but in all areas of my life. I focused on my emotional health, my vocational health, my financial health, my spiritual health, my educational health, and the health of my character and relationships. Sounds daunting, huh? But all that work has made a big different in my life. I went back to college and got a degree and worked hard for a job promotion. I paid off all my bills and I’m now debt free. I’ve reconnected with my church and have a more intimate relationship with God and my church family. I take the time to recharge and find my balance with regular “mental health days” (usually includes having my toes in the sand and a beach chair). And through all this, I’ve made some great friends and now have a circle of people I love and who (I’m pretty sure) love me back.
So now it’s time for the next chapter in my life. I don’t know exactly what it’s going to look like or exactly what steps I’ll need to take to get to the end goal. But I know it’s going to be an exciting story filled with hard work, dedication, focus and probably a few antics along the way.
So how am I going to fund all these dreams? I don’t know yet. That’s what I’m here for. I’ve got several ideas and I’ll share those as we move along. A lot of hard work. A lot of creativity. A lot of focus and dedication. Those are the things I’m prepared for. But if it’s all hard work and focus…. Then it’ll end up being boring and un-fun. So I’m going to rely on my circle of friends (you’re part of that now!) to make sure I’m injecting fun and play into my process too.
OK… now you know a little bit more about who this crazy chick is. Now we can move on to more exciting stuff.