After reading Leia’s great post, I decided to get in on Terry Starbucker’s contest to win a free trip to Chicago’s SOBCon2010. The conference sounds like an amazing opportunity, and besides, this thank-you/shout out has been a long time coming.
I’ve only met Rebecca once, and I would be surprised if she remembered. (Since then, we’ve connected through the book club I started on Brazen Careerist, and I’m hoping she’ll be at this month’s meeting!) She and the co-founders of Brazen Careerist spoke at a business school panel I attended on leveraging the power of social media in your career. I got her card, and upon arriving home immediately began reading her blog modite. I was blown away.
When none of my numerous final-round interviews resulted in a full-time job offer, and I felt like the world I’d envisioned for myself was falling apart, her post on the futility of making career plans provided some much needed perspective. Sure, I could wallow in self-pity, or I could realize that perhaps I wasn’t intended to be analyzing sales of Lucky Charms at General Mills. Maybe I should shoot for something outside the box; take risks; look outside the array of “top-notch” entry-level jobs that the business school had cherry-picked for soon-to-be graduates.
I’ve blogged previously during a challenging period in my life, but instead of taking my experiences and translating them into words that could give others hope, I focused more on chronicling the mundane day-to-day details of my struggle. There were glimmers of the blogger I aspired to be in those posts, but ultimately I discontinued the blog because I had written myself into a room with no windows.
Seeing how instrumental Rebecca’s blog had been in shaping her career is what finally gave me the gumption I needed to put myself out there and launch ellelamode.com. When you have something to say, and say it well, people pay attention. She made me realize that the biggest barricade to becoming the leader I desire to be is my own self-doubt.
I admire the brand Rebecca has built for herself without losing a shred of authenticity (and, when she’s questioned whether or not she’s remaining true to herself, she confronts her feelings head on). Unlike figures in the blogosphere who use the power of social media to over-share and then relish in the ensuing uproar, Rebecca writes her posts with a degree of restraint. She uses her life experiences as a springboard—instead of talking about herself and offering some half thought-out “lessons,” she develops insights that encourage her readers to engage in self-reflection. In my opinion, she strikes a perfect balance between personal & practical.
I may still be a long way away from having a finely-tuned personal brand, but elle la mode is a start.
And, as Rebecca has so often pointed out:
The opportunity is mine for the making.
