// WIDSIX WRITTEN WORD //

Finding Peace in the Midst of a Career Change

I spent the majority of my college and adult life believing that I was destined to work in the music industry. The degree I chose, the internships I pursued, and the extra-curricular studies I engaged in revolved around that world. I was intoxicated with everything that went in to the production of an album, the logistics of producing a nationwide tour, and getting a hit single on the radio. Not only did I love the process, I loved the product even more.

Music has always been my primary source of joy and communication. Songs have always spoken to me in ways that words never were able to and all of that rolled together made me believe that a career in that industry would be the dream. So, I spent 6 years in that world both on a small scale and also for a large multi-billion dollar record label. And all the while, I was miserable. I was doing exactly what my goal was, yet every day I felt myself becoming less joyful and more bitter. While I believed it was what I wanted, it became apparent that what I had a passion for did not necessarily transfer in to a profession. Change is never easy, but a career change may be one of the most unsettling and nerve wrecking types.

That revelation shook my ‘plan’ to ashes and confused the hell out of me. As someone driven my plan making and to-do creating, falling back to “what am I going to do with my life” broke me. However, in that brokenness I was able to truly think about what a successful career for me would look like – not what industry, not what title, and not at what timeline I wanted. I took a step back and realized that success for me looked like being able to utilize my strengths in a creative space while breeding hospitality and inclusion. Through that evaluation I was fortunate enough to find not only an organization that fuels my passion for that, but I found a crew of people that allow me to thrive in the areas that matter to me, an opportunity to take ownership, and a space that makes me feel safe and proud.

Not all plans work out (as much as I hate that fact), but more often than not a better “plan” comes from it. I have to constantly remind myself that is okay to fail and to be wrong. This is a daily lesson that I force myself to speak with confidence because it is so out of my comfort zone. However, if I hadn’t chosen to accept that truth I would not be at the greatest place in both my personal and professional career.