Because the last several months have been some of the most difficult for me. I truly would describe it as surviving instead of thriving.
My main goal for 2021 isn’t to train for some brand new Ironman race or achieve some lofty professional or financial goal. While I have set some fitness and financial goals for myself, they are the top of the priority list.
To get it out there in the open my main goal and top priority next to being a husband and father: my mental health.
Right before the holidays I was officially diagnosed with depression with a side of anxiety and mounting, overwhelming life stressors.
Just how bad was it?
As we take time to reflect on this past year, with all its ups and downs, we want to thank you for continuing to support us and for showing up for your community. Because of you, we were able to fund our first ever scholarship program, and we awarded four Black Creative Students scholarships to students from all over the country. This year, we were also able to publish 26 new blog posts, had 10,400 page views, added and featured 4 new contributing editors, hired and on-boarded a super creative new social media, Greer Blount, and offered our first writing internship to Maggie Barbour who created and published 10 posts in less than 12 weeks.
It's been an eventful year for out team, and to close it all off, TNM founder Kevin O'Connell is sharing his thoughts on 2020, dealing with change and transitions as a new dad and entrepreneur, and finding new approaches for 2021. Keep reading for Kevin’s end-of-the-year message!
Working freelance may sound glamorous at first, but those who've been doing it for a while know it takes hard work. Getting your business off the ground isn't easy and sometimes it means juggling various projects all at once, but it also has it's benefits - I mean you are your own boss after all!
This week, writing intern Maggie Barbour asks The Niche Movement's Editor-in-Chief Jaylene Perez and founder Kevin O'Connell, both of whom have experience in freelancing, what it really takes to make it work.
Read on for Jaylene and Kevin's best practices when it comes to finding clients, marketing your services, settings rates, and more!
For all those in pursuit of professional development, this week we're taking a look at which skills you'll want to brush up on depending on your specific industry. Whether you're a freelancer, marketer, entrepreneur, or work in another creative role, you'll want to read up on what will make you and your work really shine.
Tap below for the full post!
Job searching is a tough task on its own, and job searching during a pandemic... well we know it's not easy. You'll have to be flexible, know how to network and market yourself, and really hone in on what it is your looking for as you search for the right fit.
To find out what can help you land your dream job, keep reading!
When you feel like you have to decide between two things, maybe try spending some time in the middle.
Written by: Mandi Stewart
I just stare at my desk, but it looks like I’m working…I’d say in a given week I probably only do about fifteen minutes of real, actual, work. -Peter Gibbons, Office Space (1998)
Everyone has been there. If you understand the mission of this site, you may be there, trying to find a way out right now. Whether the job is boring or just not challenging, eight hours of your day, 40 hours of your week, 160 hours of your month, and 1920 hours of your year may be wasted because you’re ultimately unfulfilled at your work. These numbers may be exaggerations, as for some people, they may just go through periods of slow time or unproductivity due to the ebbs and flows of the nature of their work, while others just hit a rut. This is more so for those in the latter category as opposed to those for whom this is a constant reality, but even you are in the former, hopefully there is something here to make your days just a little brighter. This isn’t going to be a reiteration of the fish philosophy about just having a better attitude at work. Although that is the simplest way, and a prerequisite for approaching any unideal situation in life, this article assumes you know the importance of such. Instead, this whittles down to one piece of practical advice – connect what you like to do, to what you’re currently doing. This involves some creative thinking in that you need to find a connection to what you like doing within the context and confines of having office hours. For a student affairs professional, especially a residence life professional who has the opportunity to collaborate with any office on campus, all this takes is initiative.
For me, writing has become a great passion of mine. So I take the time to write about what I like and don’t like about what I do in the hopes that it resonates with others. So it’s not completely self-serving and taking away from honoring the position I have, some of that writing is research-based: reading articles from scholarly journals about student affairs practices and coming up with new ideas and theories that can be applied today. It’s being productive, even if it’s a bit outside of the purview of my job description, but one that can contribute to the department or field at large. The idea is productivity. For you, it could be dancing, cooking, singing, running or a myriad of other interests, but the point is – there’s something in life that excites you and gets you up. So focus on that, while you have to be there on the job. It could be starting an organization/office on campus, volunteering with a coach, or acting as a teaching assistant for a topic you really enjoy. You’re still interacting with students, which is the crux of any student affairs professional’s job, but it’s being done on your terms. Above all, it’s recognizing that there are ways to exercise control over what you do have control of, so don’t waste that power.
