Smash A Window

I moved from NYC to Phoenix a little over two years ago. I’d recently been let go from my job at a growth equity firm, and despite substantial effort, couldn’t manage to find another job as a software engineer.

I’d spent months improving my skills - reworking my resume - sending out applications. Nothing. The job market for software developers had tightened, and with my unconventional background, I wasn’t getting any calls back.

I was enjoying my new home in the valley of the sun, but with severance checks in the rear view mirror and unemployment insurance quickly running out, I had to figure my work situation out - fast.

I was faced with a difficult choice. Continue trying to make tech work - or do something entirely different. The latter option was not an easy idea to stomach. I’d spent half a decade as a dev at that point. Those skills were a pretty huge sunk cost to forego.

I decided to pull the plug and go all-in on my fledgeling “social media influencer” (ugh) business. I had around 30,000 followers when I did this - not remotely enough to make my plan work, but I’d seen rapid follower growth, and people loved my content.

Those first six months were an extremely challenging time. Little money - lots of stress - long hours. My plan didn’t even end up working the way I wanted it to! I’ve made fairly little money directly from social media despite working on it full time for years.

In the big picture, though, things worked out, and it’s because I bet on my ability to beat the odds and do something difficult and unheard of - all over again.

You might know I’ve grown a social media audience of nearly a million followers by now. I am extremely grateful - and it’s been a tremendous time for me so far.

This all depended on me being willing to admit that things weren’t working. That something had to change. That I had to abandon the familiar - the comfortable.

So if you’re feeling “stuck” and directionless in your life - as I have at many points throughout mine - it might help to earnestly ask yourself… “What do I have to lose?”.