Five years ago, I was fired from a retail job over borrowing a pair of pants from a retail store off the floor. I explained to the manager at the time that in the 24 hours previous, I had been in a car accident, gotten locked out of my apartment, and the place I was stayed at was in a city in blackout conditions with no running water in the middle of the worst ice storm New England had seen in 10 years. They knew I didnt steal anything, but my termination was on the grounds that it Looked Sketchy Instead of getting pissed off about it, I buckled down and used my broken laptop to learn as much as I could about what I had missed in Internet marketing in the two years since I had left SellMyTimeshareNOW 18 hour days would pass, non-stop where I would cram as much knowledge as I possibly could into my head. Id literally wake up in a puddle of drool after full waking days of reading Copyblogger, Chris Brogan, Darren Rowses Problogger, Rae Hoffman, Jon Morrow and any other damn thing I could get my hands on. Chriss How to be an overnight success video was one that resonated with me, for a number of reasons, and in the days where I wondered if I should give up and look for another $12 job, it was that video that kept me going on the right track. Visibly exhausted, my new friend Andrea recommended that I take a break and join her at her friend Kris Brown Adams superbowl party. Knowing full well the so what do you do conversation was inevitable in a room full of strangers, I thought it best to make light of my recent situation and tell the story about pants with as much humor as possible. Kraig Hanz Heiligmann thought the story was particularly humorous, told me that he knew a guy who did websites and would later introduce me to Tom Biggins. We ended up working together and I earned just enough money to pay my rent on time. I was hooked, but I knew I needed to do more. After that contract was over, I scoured Freelancer for jobs, and would eventually get to know Dave Liniado, who helped me get more stable pay (and an iPhone!) It was through Dave that I would get to know Kent Dean who was brave enough to stand by me when I decided to go completely on my own and has stuck with me to this day. Ive met some amazing & talented people along the way, Christopher R. Gesualdi, Linda M. Lopeke, Lisa Johnson Susan Giurleo Ryan Hanley and so many others I know Im leaving out. As with all things, there have been some ups - Inside The Mind with Joshua is one of my favorites - And some downs - the last one was just over a year ago, when I thought the entire ride was coming to an end. A bad run with a late paying consulting client made it so I had to resort to writing blog posts for a couple hundred dollars a piece. This might not sound so bad, but when youre trying to support a family off of $200 articles that take between 15-30 hours to write, it can get pretty exhausting. If it werent for my amazing wife Megan Renee Walker, we never would have gotten out of it in tact. (Btw, in case you were wondering, all the normal jobs werent hiring, because Id been on my own for 4 years.) Fortunately, I met Peep Laja, who provided me with an amazing opportunity to write for and eventually become the editor of Conversion XL. This has lead to even more opportunities, getting to know the great folks at Unbounce, Buffer, Crazy Egg, Invoca, Smashing Magazine and a bunch of other great sites doing all sorts of crazy, innovative stuff. I am forever grateful for this opportunity, and it will never ever be forgotten. But now my time as editor is coming to a close, and a new chapter is about to begin. Soon I will be joining the ranks at Shopify, and I could not be more excited. I will finally be able to bring all my passions for content, marketing, & video production together to create something that will be both informative and entertaining. I am incredibly blessed to have met such amazing people along the way & to have a wife that has believe in me and supported me even when all of the odds were stacked against us. If youve made it this far, I just want you to know with all my heart that it is 100% doable to live off of doing the thing you love. It isnt always easy or fun or lucrative. And there will be times where you have to dig deep to give it everything youve got, and it still wont be enough. But stick with it. What doesnt kill you makes you smarter. Trust me, its well worth fighting for.
Posted on: Sat, 11 Oct 2014 00:52:17 +0000
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