11 Oct Please Stay on the Trail, if it’s Yours

When I was a little girl I had a wild imagination.  I wanted to be a ballerina that dressed like “I Dream of Jeannie.” I also wanted to be a stewardess[1] for the Pan Am airline.  On the weekends I wanted to be a detective like Tom Selleck[2] on “Magnum P.I.” Which one of these I wanted to be depended on the time of day. You see a lot of these ideas came from TV[3]. Every time I had a wild idea I was reminded to stay on the trail. Don’t dream too big or you might get disappointed.  As a kid you believe that you can be anything. That was the fun part. As you get older, your Parents, Aunts and Uncles and anyone with an opinion AKA everyone will offer you advice on what you should be. They start saying things like, Jenifer, detective work doesn’t pay anything and it’s unstable – even though I was really good at solving puzzles. Jenifer, you’re not tall enough to be a stewardess – that was true – there was a height minimum back then.

Be Serious

I didn’t really want to be any of those things anyway. But when I really did want to pursue dance as a career, I was told that I needed to be serious. Please stay on the trail, Jen. It was in my best interest that I didn’t go off-roading.   I might snag my shirt and scrape my knee on prickly things. I could have told them that was bound to happen anyway. I’m super clumsy. Now there are only a few things our family’s feel is stable and serious work. A lot of it has to do with working for others. Especially working for a really big company – the bigger the better. They only wanted what was best for me.

image credit from left to right: Comic Mint, The Independent, Kiwi Report

Pursuit of Your Dreams

In the end I didn’t pursue dance. I might have been a Fly Girl or a back-up dancer for Janet Jackson or a ballerina for the Alvin Ailey Dance Company, but instead of hitting the auditions, I hit the recruiters. Big companies are wonderful to work for. Usually they don’t have a cash flow problem therefore your position is pretty stable. Depending on your role, there is opportunity for advancement. But Smaller established companies are a good option too. When a company is small you can do many roles and the volume isn’t overwhelming in any one area. You get to try-on new things and become proficient in new roles. It’s one of the better ways to get experience.

Your Work

You can take experience anywhere and level-up to the next big thing. Any route that you take here can be a bonus. There are only two keys here for me. If you’re not going to be a Fly Girl or join the rhythm nation then you better have opportunities to advance your career. Big and small companies each have their benefits. You might be happy to be a worker bee or you might have big dreams of rising to the top. But if you start to sense there is a glass ceiling or you feel stifled then pull the ripcord and fly away. You don’t have to be apart of a team that isn’t willing to take a risk.  You can find a company that doesn’t need to stay on the trail every day if you’re looking for it. Companies that like to experiment with a culture of opportunity are going to stock you full of memories.   And you can stay your whole career at a big company that creates great experiences with you, but if you feel like you have to stay in your lane in order to keep people happy that is the opposite of growth.

Image Credit: Rollingout.com

A Life Where you are the Star

What do you really want to do? Have you thought about it? I mean really thought about it? Sometimes I think I want to start dancing again. Not for Alvin Ailey or Janet Jackson or anything, but for exercise. I wasn’t built for cross-fit. I was made for pliés, rond de jambes and jazz hands. For work I want to be of service and I want that service to be in support of Women reaching their goals. All the things I have done up to here in Accounting, Finance and Operations have given me the experience to do that work with meaning. Before I got the opportunity to help Women in business I always gravitated towards helping Women. I volunteered on production for Women in films at Outfest and mentored Women in banking research. Granted we were like 80% women in that department, but I wanted to make sure we were the most productive department that WAMU ever had.

Purpose Driven

And that’s the rub, I was always drawn to places where women made up the teams or managed the teams. Once you set an intention and you honor it, you will find that you are always on purpose and drawn to that experience. Start by thinking about what you really want to do, not what other people really want you to do and then start making your way towards it. When someone says to you, please stay on the trail, be sure that trail is ultimately leading towards your dreams.

[1] Yes, I know – flight attendant – but not back then

[2] Except I couldn’t grow a mustache – which is ironic now

[3] Looking back TV was pretty openly oppressive – Keeping a woman in bottle? Seriously?