How My Side Hustle Helped My Writing Career
I’d thought starting an MLM biz was a detour. Turns out it was an important step on my path to success as a writer.
I’d just finished a job on a TV show, feeling weary and disenchanted. I’d been producing and writing television for years, climbing the ranks until my daughter was born. Now I took freelance jobs with less responsibility so I’d make it home in time to tuck her in. I’d started this particular show as a polish writer, which was perfect for our schedule. I worked a few hours in the office and mostly from home. Then, the show got picked up for thirteen more episodes, and I was hired to take over the story department.
At first, the job was challenging and fulfilling. Then, the responsibilities grew and so did the demands on my time. Childless me would have revelled in a job that consumed my life. But now, I was a mother. My heart broke when I heard my boss’s kids call her late at night, crying and begging for her to come home. When I was forced to miss some key moments in my own child’s life — my only child — I knew it was time to rethink my career path.
Make a list
Whenever I’m unsure what to do next in life, I make a list. Instead of listing specific job options (chef, acrobat, civil engineer), I write the qualities of the job: I have flexible hours, my job is of service to others, it flexes my creativity and makes me feel empowered and energized, I’m surrounded by people I like and respect.
Since I don’t know all the different jobs out there or what my needs and desires look like bundled together, I make my list and then leave it to the Universe to sort out. This also works when summoning an ideal mate or a new home, by the way.
More often that not, answers come in packages you don’t expect
While tucking my six-year-old into bed shortly after making my list, she said to me, “Mama, you had me at forty. You should have had me sooner, like right after college. How many years do you think we have left together?”
Her question sent shock waves up my spine and still makes me tear up. She was right. I’d delayed my child bearing years until the…
