Tag Archives: Glorious Guest Post

May 20 2013

I Quit My Day Job: Jen Vertanen

Feels Good To Get Some Stuff Done by Mary Kate McDevitt

Think that Quitting Your Day Job means you have to stop working for someone else and work solely on your own biz? Think again! Jen Vertanen tells ya how she quit her job & found a new one + her own heart-based biz.

Hello, hello! My name is Jen Vertanen and I am a Small Biz Strategist + Vision Actualizer for creative entrepreneurs. My specialty is helping right-brain creatives get even more great sh*t done without having to work so. freaking. hard. Why? Because I’m a right-brainer operating in a left-brain corporate setting as a Senior IT Project Manager. So yeah…I get it!

I have an interesting, albeit unusual, I Quit My Day Job Update for you because I actually still have a day job and even better…I love it and even better than that….it’s helped me refocus and re-energize my own business from that of an ‘I-don’t-know-what-the-hell-I-am Coach’ to now which makes sooooo much more sense that I can’t believe I didn’t think of it earlier!

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May 15 2013

Why I Haven’t Given Up and Neither Should You

Oh my, how I love that Stacy Kathryn decided to share this letter to her past self with us today. If you need a soft kick-in-the-pants that the long, winding journey you’re on will lead you to absolutely, positively having your dreams come true, then read on.

Love this print? You can download a printable .pdf here!

This is more of a personal story, though I feel it applies to anyone out there who is chasing a dream but feeling that it’s always just out of arm’s reach. It was seven years ago that I decided to pursue art as my career. I found myself with paintbrush in hand, discovering my love for creating all over again thanks to artists I found online sharing their passion and excelling at it. Those days were just like falling in love, I was in a haze of paint, amazing discoveries, and the feeling of walking on clouds.

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May 08 2013

The Awesome Person in the Terrible Hoodie

Roald Dahl print by KensieKate

Oh, how I love that Danielle Euzent from Urban Darling. Not only has she taken my man from hot to sizzling, she’s helping us all in how to encourage your loved ones to make some positive changes. It’s advice you could apply to your marriage, your career, or your wardrobe. Either way, it’s gonna look good on everyone.

Last time I guest blogged here, I coincidentally ran into Michelle (and Friends) while walking home that evening.  Of course we talked about what you readers would want to learn about in my next blog post, and one of the first things that came up was “How do I get my husband to stop wearing those terrible hoodies?”  (Or, you know, insert whatever terrible item of clothing your significant other will not stop wearing.)  Excellent question!  While I cannot guarantee success, I do have some suggestions that might encourage your better half to make some positive changes.

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Apr 25 2013

Hey Soul Searcher! I’m talking to you!

Heart 416 from 1000 Hearts

Are you a “professional soul searcher”? You know the type – someone who’s gone through many hobbies, jobs, and journals on the quest to find Their Passionate Career. Tiffany Doten is right there with ya, and she’s here to make sure you know that it’s not a curse in the least! Read on for some fist-pumping mantras, and bookmark this post to reread when you catch yourself thinking otherwise.

Tomorrow, I say a happy goodbye to being what I call a “professional soul searcher” for the last 3 years. Throughout my soul-searching career I’ve learned to fly a plane, been to nursing school, taught group fitness, worked in sales, started my own knitting business, and dabbled in photography just to name just a few. Out of the billions (it feels) of things I tried, none them struck me or made enough dollar dollar bills as being something I wanted to do “when I grow up”.

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Apr 17 2013

What To Do with the Crap Opinions (and a Great Giveaway)

Not only does this post from Kat McBride make me wanna raise my fist in the air a la Breakfast Club, but the kind things she’s said give me the biggest case of the warm fuzzies (they were all a surprise!). Make sure you read it all and then enter to win a spot in her $197 course – she’s so the bestest.

I always knew what I was going to be when I grew up – I just didn’t know how to do it, and I couldn’t let myself do it for a long time. I’m an artist and I will paint every moment of my life if you let me but pressures from my family, and a lot of negative beliefs about artists, stopped me from treating Artist like a real career.

I received and believed so much stupid advice, nay sayings, and crap opinions about art and artists.

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Apr 10 2013

So, My Husband Quit His Job…

Never Let the Fear… by Classy Canvas

So my husband quit his full-time job as an Associate Creative Director for an advertising agency to freelance, and his first day as a Man of the World was Fri, March 29th. I asked him if he’d be cool with me talking about it here, but since he’s a writer himself, he said he’d like to do it(you can read the other post he’s written for me here). While it took him quite some time to get the article ready for publishing, he knew what he needed to talk about: fear. I’ll let him take it from here. Then we’ll get a beer! (Sorry, I can’t ever resist a rhyme)

When I was 10 years old, I played Little Legue baseball. And I loved it. At that age, I was in the Minors division, so uniforms consisted of t-shirts and hats, games lasted about 6 innings (often in a tie) and the skill level of most players was not the highest–in fact, I was the Don Mattingly of my team.

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Apr 03 2013

Focusing On What You Want – Guest Post By Julia

You might remember Julia Ng from a post I wrote last year that described the amazeballs Soul Reading session I had with her. Well, Julia is a current client and Spectacular Sponsor o’ mine, and I’m thrilled that she’s sharing today how she worked through a terrifying start o’ her biz and how she pro-actively created a shift for it to be soul-fulfilling work for her. Amen and hallelujah!

In Tokyo, one of the easiest jobs for an English-speaking foreigner to get, is teaching English. I’d never thought of myself as a teacher, and being rather introverted, the idea of meeting new people every day… terrifying! BUT it was the best part-time pay for someone on a student visa, and all I seemed to need was a black suit and the ability to smile a lot. Besides, it was just something to tide me over till I found something better.

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Mar 29 2013

Developing Your Creative Entrepreneur Style

Thrilled we have Danielle from Urban Darling here to talk to us about gettin’ all stylish with our creative entrepreneurial selves. Danielle gave my man a closet audit a few weeks ago and he now has swagger like nobody’s business. Hot.

So you’re striking out on your own, Creative Entrepreneur Style!  This is quite an exciting time in your life, and being prepared with all the proper tools will help you be that much more successful (and contribute to your overall enjoyment of the experience).  Surely by this point Michelle has armed you with an amazeballs plan for ditching your day job and taking on the career of your dreams… But you have just realized you have a million things to do and places to go, and no idea what to wear!

Never fear!  Your wardrobe can be just as amazeballs as your business plan and an excellent tool to help you on your path to success, if you consider a few basic things.

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Mar 25 2013

The Five Rules I’m Trying to Live By

Ohmygosh you guys, I so heart this post by Stacy Kathryn, a former client o’ mine who is just so honest and truthful and transparent in sharing her journey. I have a feeling lots of you can relate – working a day job + running your creative biz “on the side” (doesn’t that kind of belittle all the work you’re doing? It’s hardly “on the side” when you’re most likely devoting enough time/effort/work to it that it’s become a part-time job!) – and I just love what she’s realizing, owning and claiming below. You can read Stacy’s previous guest posts for me here and here. Genius, all!

Mar 14 2013

Spark: A Change of Plans (and a Chat)

I don’t have the bestest of news, but I do have a way to deliver it in the most honest of ways. Because of low sign-ups, the co-founders of Spark (which I was going to speak at) decided to cancel the April retreat. They posted this to break the news, and I’m just so proud of them (and to be associated with them) that I had to repost it here (with their permission, of course). Want more honesty, more vulnerability, and more integrity on the Internet? Here you are.

It is with agonizing reluctance that we are announcing that we are cancelling Spark 2013.

We can’t call it anything other than disappointing, and we three met this weekend to talk everything through. We had feedback: Spark, this year, was too expensive, too long, and focused in too many directions. We crunched and re-crunched numbers, imagining different scenarios where we might be able to lower the registration fees.

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Know Who I Follow

BLOG BADGE to BESTOW onto your BEAUTIFUL BLOG

Creative Commons

Basically, what this means is that everything I write is my own property (duh), but you can use it on your blog or in your newsletter or as skywriting as long as you don't change nothin' & you add the following : "Michelle Ward, aka The When I Grow Up Coach, helps creative people devise the career they think they can't have - or discover it to begin with! A certified life coach by the International Coach Academy, a musical theater actress with her BFA from NYU/Tisch, and a Corporate America escapee, Michelle has served as an expert source and contributor for such outlets as Newsweek, Forbes, and Psychology Today, as well as leading workshops and seminars at SXSW 2011 and the sold-out Etsy Success Symposium. She could be found coachin', bloggin' & givin' away free stuff at whenigrowupcoach.com."

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