Why I Quit My Corporate Job (And What’s Next For Me)
The History
Now where do I start? Perhaps I’ll begin with how I’ve always known that I was a creative person. Starting from my early childhood, you could always find me with my nose buried in a book, doodling on the edges of any paper I could get my hands on, or constantly watching movies with my family.
From high school onwards, I had my heart set on becoming a writer of some sort since I felt a deep affinity for words and enjoyed stringing them together in pleasing sentences. In university, I proved to be skillful enough at writing essays to score A and A+’s in my courses (I majored in History and double minored in Publishing and Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies). Although my professors encouraged me to take my Masters for History, I felt the need to get out of the “ivory tower” and be a part of the real world.
The Jobs
After I graduated, I thought I would be throwing myself into finding some sort of writing job, especially since I had been running a blog for a few years already. However, as fate would have it, my part-time job at the Guest Services of CF Pacific Centre would lead me to a job as a bank teller at TD Canada Trust just upstairs (I caught the eye of a manager as a result of exceptional customer service).
For the next two and a half years, I threw myself into learning the ins-and-outs of the banking world instead of pursuing my dream creative career. Following that, my role as a “financial services representative” led me to my next job at CWB Wealth Management as a client services administrator. Over the next three years, I became much more educated about the wealth management and investment industry. However, it slowly became clear to me that being in the finance and banking industry was suffocating me and any potential for real satisfaction in my career…
Don’t get me wrong— I am very grateful for the opportunities that I was given while at CWB Wealth Management. The people are wonderful and caring; as well, the company culture is pretty darn great in general. As well, the steady paycheque and above-average benefits did much to sweeten the pot. Nevertheless, after exploring alternative paths in the company and finding that they were not for me, I knew that I had to make a big change or be professionally “stuck” for much longer.
Another feature of this job that kept me around for 3 years was that it was only cyclically busy. As I often could enjoy a lot of downtime in between tasks, I was able to start a brand new venture: @TheStylishWordsmith. Pretty much one month after I started this role, I created my new Instagram account and dedicated myself to learning more about being an Instagram blogger (I later learned that the correct term was actually “influencer”).
The Leap of Faith: Why I Quit My Job
After working hard on my Instagram platform for the past three years, I have been blessed enough to have built an amazing community of over 19,000 followers, create connections with amazing people in the blogging community, and receive many wonderful sponsorship opportunities.
While the aforementioned things were wonderful to achieve, I previously would never have entertained the thought of quitting without another job lined up. So then, what were the exact factors that encouraged me to take the leap of faith into the unknown?
1. The Pandemic: Enduring the hardships of 2020 forced me to shine a spotlight on my life and priorities. Since I could no longer travel, I was obliged to sit at home and rethink what I really wanted out of life. Using my bestie’s amazing Hemlock and Oak planner also really encouraged me to reflect on my core values, goals, and how I wanted to live my life.
2. Achieved Financial Goals: Other than not travelling (which certainly saved a ton of money), I exceeded the financial goal I set for myself at the beginning of 2020 by over $15,000 (which, coincidentally, was almost the same amount that I made from blogging this year). Therefore, I felt somewhat confident that I could take some time off from full-time work in order to upgrade some skills (i.e. writing, digital media marketing, etc.) without becoming destitute.
Side Note: I plan to create a strict budget for myself to follow in 2021 and will be sharing about it in future blog posts!
3. Our Debt Is Minimal: As a university student, I received a full scholarship to Simon Fraser University and therefore did not have to worry about paying student loan debts after I graduated. As well, I am super fortunate that my husband bought our apartment 10 years ago and we are well on track towards paying off the mortgage in a few years.
4. My Shift Towards Conscious Fashion: Making this choice had such a positive impact on my soul (and hopefully will help out the earth and humanity as well). I’ve also felt such relief about dropping out of the rat race of consumerism (for the most part at least). Instead of dropping hundreds of dollars on a Zara or Aritzia sale, I’ve been trying to choose ethically-made, high quality pieces that I can wear for years to come (or unique pieces from thrift and vintage shops).
While I am far from perfect, I already feel so much better about my spending habits and have been forced to be more creative with my outfits. Another major benefit from this change is that I now have much more disposable income that I have squirrelled away in investments, RRSPs, and TFSA accounts.
5. Being An Influencer Has Become Profitable: In 2019, I only made a few hundred dollars from blogging activities. In stark contrast, I made approximately $12,000 from blogging in 2020— all while I was working full-time! During the pandemic, I was able to focus more on engagement and attract brand partners that were willing to pay me fairly (ex. Pandora, Crabtree & Evelyn, Olay, OXY, Michael Hill, Tradlands, etc.).
As well, several of them expressed the wish to work with me on an ongoing basis as they appreciated my professional attitude, quality content, and genuine engagement. In 2021, I plan to work even harder on my blogging platforms and see if I can reach my new financial goals as an influencer!
What’s Next
“You’re A Full-Time What?”
While I long thought that I would be pursuing a writing career, I have discovered that I enjoy the prospect of both writing and creating aesthetic visual content. Therefore, I came to the decision that being a full-time influencer is the right path for me (for now at least). Although I can’t imagine being an influencer forever, I am excited to see what opportunities will be presented to me by following this path.
Upgrade My Skills
Other than blogging, I plan to upgrade some marketable skills by taking some digital marketing courses. Since the vast majority of my social media knowledge has been through personal experimentation and casual research, I am excited to see what applicable concepts I can learn from taking professional-level marketing courses.
That Small Business Life
As well, I plan to dip my toes into the arena of small business with a trusted business partner. After helping my bestie manage her social media account for Hemlock & Oak, I realized that I enjoy the challenge of helping a small business grow its social media presence (and increasing sales accordingly). As well, I often get requests from fellow influencers to give advice on certain topics, such as engagement, aesthetics, and brand sponsorships. As a result, new business opportunities have been cropping up!
While I am not yet prepared to share about this topic in depth, I assure you that I will be discussing it much more in the near future!
Using My Voice With Purpose
Last but not least, I have come to realize that being an influencer on social media means that you have the responsibility to influence people in a positive manner. For instance, when George Floyd was murdered earlier this year and #BLM became a huge topic of discussion, I realized that I needed to become more aware of social justice issues and help educate others about them as well.
As well, after learning how fast fashion so negatively impacts on our earth and vulnerable human beings, I became resolved to educate myself more about conscious fashion and live a simpler, more intentional lifestyle. Furthermore to this resolution, I will strive to only promote quality brands and avoid collaborations with fast fashion brands.
Finally, as a Christian, I believe that it is incredibly important that I practice my core values of kindness, patience, love, joy, peace, gentleness, and self-control when engaging with others online. That is the main reason for why I strive to be genuine and kind in every interaction I make online!
Well, That’s It For Now
If you made it to the end of this lengthy post, I thank you from the bottom of my heart! It means so much to me that many kind people are supportive of this somewhat risky choice of mine to quit my job in order to pursue my dreams. While I am somewhat nervous to be making my own way in the world (especially without the security of a steady paycheque), my sense of excitement far outweighs those feelings of trepidation.
Anyways, I’ll stop rambling on now and get back to working hard on my platforms. Since my new goal for 2021 is to post at least twice a month, I look forward to sharing more of my journey with you all very soon!
Cheers,
Debbie (a.k.a. The Stylish Wordsmith)