Looking for... a new dream
I'm officially over the idea of a "dream job." But, having something to be excited about is a helpful motivator.
It’s been exactly 120 days since I received the news from Bumble that I would be terminated, effective immediately. I had one day to download any important documentation from Workday and Gmail. I would receive an acceptable — though never actually worth the full breadth of my work at the company — severance package, and be able to keep all of my technology. In short, Bumble sent me a break-up text telling me to pack my things, and that they would never want to hear from me again.
While I immediately was met with prayers and sorrows from friends, family, and former colleagues when I told them the news, I proclaimed that this was the best news I could have received. I had been wanting to leave for a while, but quitting without a next step felt irresponsible. I was making six figures while working remotely, collaborating with teams internationally, and being able to uphold a comfortable lifestyle.
Feeling excited about being free felt irresponsible to share out loud. I wanted a break to rediscover what I wanted to do, how I wanted to feel, and what role work would play in my life — instead of what role life would play in my work.
Between 2018 and 2021, landing a marketing role at Bumble was my dream job. I applied for the first time in 2018 as an ambitious soon-to-be university graduate. I recently published my book, Swiping Right: How We Connect, Communicate, and Love, and landed an interview for a brand manager role. I couldn’t believe it!
I made it to the final interview and prepped a pitch deck for my ideas to help the brand engage locally in Washington DC.
Unfortunately (though unsurprising), the team decided to hire someone with more experience. It then became a dream deferred.
Fast forward to 2021 and a recruiter from LinkedIn reached out to me for an open role on the community marketing team. Within 4 weeks, I completed 3 interviews and received an offer to start in 2 weeks. I accepted the role and started my then dream job.
I won’t go into detail about my experience working there, as I recognize that my experience was unique to my role within the company at the time. However, within a year, my dream job became the primary source of my stress, a growing lack of confidence in my work output, two hospital visits, a medical leave, and a very quiet LinkedIn profile lacking highlights of my work that were siloed and rarely celebrated.*
This post isn’t meant to be about Bumble, though. It’s for me and others who may have felt similarly working at a company that they wanted to believe in and were sadly disappointed. I know what it’s like to enter a company with a clear vision, sense of self, and confidence to excel. I also know what it’s like to leave feeling depleted, lost, and fearful that you wasted your time and don’t have any work that you’re proud of. It happens and it’s okay to feel the need to reset and bounce back after two and a half years.
This post is my bounce back.
I’m looking for a new dream.
Not a dream job. Instead, I am building a dream life. I want to find a way to blend all of my passions into a sustainable lifestyle and income. I am currently planning for a wedding, spending quality time with family and friends, and finding a place that my fiancé and I can call our home. The freedom to choose where and how I spend my time is my motivator.
My first passion is for marketing. Much of my creativity is channeled into spreading a brand message and creating an emotional connection between brands I believe in and their audience. I started Passionfruit Studio to help people plant the seeds of their passions and grow sustainable mission-led brands. It’s my way of personalizing the marketing work I want to do and working with people that I can also learn and grow with.
If you know a business or nonprofit in need of brand and marketing strategy work, please send them my way.
My goal is to secure 3 clients this year.
My second passion is for writing. I dreamed of being Carrie Bradshaw, but again, this isn’t about having one job. This is about incorporating the things I live for into my work. So, I am going to commit to building this substack and pitching my stories to media outlets. I have stories I am excited to tell. I want to share my POV on everything from the trad wife conversation to career advice to wedding planning, and everything in between.
If you are an editor looking for a freelance writer, I would love to connect. Or at least have your email so that I can send my pitches.
My goal is to have at least 3 pitches accepted by media outlets.
My goal is to grow this Substack to 10K subscribers.
My goal is to complete my first fiction book and prepare a book proposal.
My third passion is for hosting. I enjoy welcoming people into a space and building an experience that creates a lasting connection or core memory with each individual. The best part about my community marketing work leading our local activations in NYC, Chicago, Denver, and other key cities was being on-site to welcome attendees to my events. I love speaking to people. I enjoy seeing them light up when they walk into a room. I melt when two people go from strangers to friends throughout an hour-long event. I am highly experienced in event production, on-site coordination, and project management.
I would love to connect if you know a wedding planner, a brand looking to invest in event marketing, or a public space hosting special events (e.g. museums, gardens). I am regularly in NYC and Houston.
My goal is to host at least 3 dinner parties (for fun and work if the opportunity presents itself). I’d love to secure 3 event production gigs for either brands, wedding planners, or local organizations.
Anyway, I’ll start there and try not to overwhelm myself with too many commitments, haha. I’ve always told people that you have to share your dreams out loud, so here I am.
I am looking forward to this next dream of mine.
* I switched teams during my second year at Bumble. My experience as a product marketing manager, under the guidance of an amazing director, led me to want to stay at Bumble longer than I anticipated. I’m so thankful to that team for allowing me to leave on a positive note full of gratitude.
My favorite projects as a product marketing manager:
*New dream baking* and she knows the recipe ✍🏼🩷 rooting for you since always
I loved reading this and I am so honored to have worked so closely with you. I'm super excited about your future and please let me know if there is ever anyway I can support