#23: The No Man's Land Between Unemployed and Self-Employed
When people ask me what I do for a living, it no longer feels right to say, “I was laid off and I'm figuring it out.”
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The No Man's Land Between Unemployed and Self-Employed
I’m officially passing through that career No Man’s Land between unemployed and self-employed. After a year of being “unemployed,” when people ask me what I do for a living, it no longer feels right to say, “I was laid off and I’m figuring it out.” And not because I’m ashamed of that status, or because I have things all figured out (I don’t! Health insurance…GAH!), but because I am very pleased to report that I’m earning a living these past several months.
LOLers, I now have cobbled together enough “work” to equal a full-time job. In fact, using my rubric for evaluating all professional opportunities, I turned down two gigs this month alone! The work opportunities are finally flowing, but I still don’t have a “job” in the traditional sense.
In this weird career limbo I’m currently in, I still don’t know how to explain what I “do” for a living. That’s a much easier task with a company and job title at your fingertips, something friends, family members, and relatives can easily understand. “Ohhhh, you work for a television network that I’ve heard of!”
But now, like Writer/Wizard/Mall Santa/Rasputin Impersonator Alan Moore, I have created my own multi-hyphenate job title as a Consultant/Strategist/ Writer/Producer, four titles that tend to confound people on their own, combined, they are a quadruple threat. Right now, I get a lot of confused looks when I try to explain.
But let me attempt to explain what that means in layman’s terms: I make my own content and I help clients make their content. Last fall, I started my own business and have been helping individuals, businesses, and brands with social media and content strategies tailored to their individual goals and/or helping them develop and produce that content. Additionally, I’ve been working on my own content — this newsletter, freelance writing for several brands and outlets, and developing and pitching podcast and television ideas.
Maybe that makes sense and maybe it doesn’t. The liberating bit is that as long as I’m feeling good and making a living, does it really matter if anyone else gets it? NO. Can I sum up what I do in a cleverly worded LinkedIn headline? Also, NO. But that’s part of this career transformation journey. As I continue on, I will figure out which job title(s) pulls ahead, like horses on a race track. What line of work will win the race? That’s the unknown on the other side of this No Man’s Land. But I’m feeling more confident betting on myself than ever before.
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Poll Time!
Worthy Time Wasters
Here are my weekly recs to combat doom scrolling.
📺 Lessons In Chemistry (Apple TV+)
I get squidgy when books I love are adapted into TV shows because I find the adaptations disappointing more often than not. This was one of those times when I was pleasantly surprised that the TV show lived up to the book.
For those who haven’t read the book, set in the early 1950s, Lessons in Chemistry follows the story of Elizabeth Zott, whose dream of being a chemist is put on hold because of series of wildly sexist events. When Elizabeth finds herself fired from her lab for her condition (unwed and pregnant), she falls into a job as a host on a TV cooking show, and sets out to teach a nation of overlooked housewives a lot more than recipes.
No further spoilers. But you’re going to need tissues.
I kept hearing people talking about the movie Saltburn to which I would respond, “What is Saltburn?” I’m not sure I’m better equipped to answer that question after watching the film, but I sure did enjoy the wild, wild ride. Saltburn is The Talented Mr. Ripley but with a thoroughly Millennial sensibility. Do the themes and the plot hang together in the end? Not really. Is it a visually stunning, well-written, impeccably acted trip of a movie? Yes, it is.
📚 The Rachel Incident by Caroline O'Donoghue
I could try to recount the plot of this book, but I don’t know if I’d do it justice other than to say that Author Caroline O’Donoghue captures coming-of-age in Ireland during the recession of the late Aughts with nostalgia, wit, wisdom, insight, and humor. I think the blurb by Gabrielle Zevin, author of Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow sums it up impeccably.
"If you've ever been unsure what to do with your degree in English; if you've ever wondered when the rug-buying part of your life will start...if you've ever loved the wrong person, or the right person at the wrong time...In short, if you've ever been young, you will love The Rachel Incident like I did."
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