The One Where I Quit My Job + Started A Business (wait… what?)

It’s me, hi. I’m the problem, it’s me. The wise words of Taylor Swift lol.

Omg hi. It’s been forever. Actually. I can’t promise I’m back but I can promise I’m going to try. Life has been absolutely insane lately and while I am officially my own boss (more on that soon!), I also have less time for my typical personal creative things than ever. But here’s to setting boundaries and actually doing things that make me happy.

Okay so first things first. A little reintroduction since it’s been a hot minute. Hi! I’m Anne. Born and raised in Upstate New York, with a deep despise of winter, I moved to California last year kind of on a whim. The perfect position opened up for a Marketing Coordinator up at an interior design firm in Santa Barbara, CA and ya girl pounced.

It was suuuuper fun and I met so many lovely people but I also got super burnt out really quickly. Marketing Coordinators handle A LOT more than many people (including myself) realize. And I’m not sure if you know this, but California is pretty dang expensive.

So in an absolute whirlwind of a month, I visited my boyfriend in San Diego, found the perfect apartment down here, put in my two weeks notice, and moved. Yes you read that right, I moved for the second time in less than a year.

Okay, Anne, you moved. But um do you have a job? Do you have a plan? How are you going to live… in San Diego? These are all great questions. And you guys, why does EVERYONE KEEP THIS KIND OF STUFF SO SECRET ON SOCIAL MEDIA? What do you do? How do you do it? These are the questions I was asking when I flat out didn’t know what to do with my life.

Anyways, if you know anything about me it’s that I’m an over thinker. So when I see people on social media owning a beautiful home or purchasing a cloud couch my first thought is always “wait.. how can you afford that and how can I afford that one day? How did you get there?”. You best believe I’m on LinkedIn finding out what you do outside of Instagram and how you make yo money.

So basically I started researching all of my favorite people to follow on here, finding out what they did for a living, and the steps they took to get there. Jobs, schooling, the whoooooole shebang. I made a whole list of things I love - photography, mood boards, curation, styling, interior design, home decor, family, shopping (lol) - and put it all in a list. And if you’re anything like me (and most humans) the things you love line up with the things you’re good at.

@withgratitudeandjoy

I’ll be honest with you, I’m a big believer in God and also manifesting what you want. I read a quote once along the lines of “if it’s placed on your heart, it’s because it’s meant for you” and I wholeheartedly believe that. That’s how I landed my first job in CA as a Marketing Coordinator for an interior design firm, and I was confident that would happen for me here too if I just let it. I got the apartment, I was making the move, and I was leaving everything I knew behind, there must be something amazing on the way.

I remember telling my mom, and my best friend, “what if I just started telling people I’m a freelancer? What if I just said ‘Hi, I’m Anne and I’m a Social Media Manager’ or ‘I’m a professional photographer’”. And then it clicked. I can be whatever I want to be, I just have to freaking go for it. And so I did.

It’s kind of funny because my story of “how did you get into this field?” is pretty much along the lines of “I just did it”. I did it. I believed in myself. And I did what I’m good at. And I told people what I did and showed them I was capable and well, I just kind of did it. Once I made that decision, there was no going back. No other job seemed good enough. Nothing compared to what was placed on my heart.

@aefinteriors in action

The thing about believing in fate and believing that everything happens for a reason is that you will be connected with people who have the same energy, and believe the same thing. And I wholeheartedly believe that.

So that very same day that I said “I’m really going to do this”, by the grace of God, or the intertwining of fate, I posted a story and my long time IG friend Ali reached out saying she loved my work and I told her if she ever needed someone to let me know. And what do you ya know, she did.

I’m not going to pretend I fully knew what I was doing because I didn’t, and to be completely honest I thought I was gonna sh** my pants. But I knew I had to dive head first. I spent so many hours and sleepless nights putting in the work and researching and designing proposals and figuring out pricing and how to calculate my worth and trying to figure out if I was over or under-charging but I knew that I was going to make it work. I had to make it work.

When I sent that first proposal I was shaking. But at the same time I knew I had value. I knew what I had created on my own social media and on @withgratitudeandjoy had been sought after. I knew that no one sees the world the way I do and that is my superpower. I knew that I had the knowledge and the vision to help brands grow and to be different. Not to be salespitchy (lol) but I knew that what I was providing would bring value back to other businesses ten-fold. And I knew that the proposal I had designed, and the accounts I had managed, and the moodboards I had created, and the outfits I had styled all communicated that in their own way. They all came together cohesively to show that I was capable, and I was ready, and I was different. And I truly didn’t believe any of that until I sent that first proposal.

I have been lucky enough to have the best support system in the entire world. And I’m slowly but surely learning that the safe option isn’t always the best option. Sometimes you have to take risks (not my fav) in order to go after your dreams. Safety doesn’t always equal happiness.

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I could go on and on, and I probably will at some point lol, but I just wanted to write this note because I don’t want to keep it a secret anymore. For a while I didn’t want anyone to know I was out on my own because what if I failed? What if I couldn’t keep up? I’m only 4 months in now, and who knows what the future holds, but I took the damn jump. And I’m so happy I did.

So long story short, if your heart is in it, there’s no stopping you. You can’t fight fate.

You’ve got this, friend.

Love,

Anne