Jumping through hoops

“Don’t pick a job with great vacation time. Pick a career that doesn’t need escaping from.”

As hard-working Americans, we hear the same, repetitive daily routine. We wake up at the butt-crack of dawn. We wash up in the morning and eat breakfast (if we’re lucky) as we are running out the door. We realize on the way to the job we hate that we are going to mentally fatigue at literally any point in the day, so we stop for some coffee at the nearest Starbucks or gas station. We sit in traffic and run into work to clock in right on time. Then the day starts, we drag through it, and we endure traffic until we are finally home again, too tired to cook or clean. Order food or make a microwave meal, scarf it down, and crash into your pillow to get some type of sleep before doing it all over again.

I don’t get why that has to be the narrative of modern-day “adulting.” It’s just so gosh dang monotonous! I feel stuck in a rut when I go through all of this because I end up just walking through the motions, zombie-like, brain on autopilot. Why can’t you find something you love to do, genuinely LOVE and look forward to, and start to change the narrative?

I began my career years as a teacher. It’s something I had wanted since I was a little girl. However, doubt started creeping in while I was in college…second semester, senior year. At that point, it was obviously too late to change and start all over, and even if I could’ve at that time, I wouldn’t have a clue what direction to pursue. So I went with it. Two years later, I can say that was a HUGE mistake. From teaching at one of the highest rated public schools in the state, to substitute teaching, to working at an inner-city charter school, a lot has come of the last two years, and not much of it healthy. After leaving my last teaching placement, I really got to thinking and started questioning everything I’ve come to know about careers and the workforce.

I obviously wasn’t chasing money (teacher salary is a JOKE—but that’ll be an article for another time). I’ve always chased HAPPINESS in every workplace setting I’ve gone into. It was very hard for me to stand up for myself at a place where I didn’t feel loved or appreciated at first, but now I can tell in a few months if I like somewhere and if I don’t, I say goodbye without turning back. I just remember that life is wayyy too short to stick around where you aren’t valued. I feel like so many adults feel trapped by a job they hate or that they aren’t treated well at, and they don’t feel confident enough to leave or challenge things. It took a while for me to develop, but it’s one of the most liberating experiences of my life thus far.

Teaching didn’t fill that happiness factor for me—if anything, it created a deep void that I am still trying to fill. However, one day, I came across a pop-up advertisement that read the words: “Turn your passion into purpose.” I knew at that point that I had just received a clue leading me closer to career satisfaction.

That was the slogan outside of Empire Beauty School. An hour later I was there for an academic consultation, and two hours later, I committed to enrolling in the esthetician program. As someone who focuses on self care so much and making sure people know how beautiful they are, it just seemed like the perfect direction for me.

I like to joke to people: I like pretty people, pretty places, and pretty things. I am hoping with all of my heart that this new path will help me break the basic daily routine of robotically meandering through each day. Beauty is huge for me, and making people feel great about themselves is even better, so why not get paid for it?? This decision to change my career is the beginning of a new chapter of life, and hopefully this one won’t be as sad and boring to read or hear about as the careers others out there are waking up to every morning with grumpy distain on their faces.