Why your journey is your own (and why competition doesn’t matter).
This September I became a programme partner for Digital Mums, which basically means I am letting another Mum who is retraining in social media management run my social media channels as part of their training. Having gone through the same process early in 2015 (starting when my youngest was 3 months old), I feel really happy that I am able to be part of another Mum's journey in what was such a catalyst for my digital marketing career.
It’s really got me thinking about when I left my media agency job after my first bout of maternity leave with really no clue about what I was going to do. I did know that I couldn’t face going back to my London commute, staring at the boards at Marylebone as they all started flicking to cancelled, knowing I wouldn’t be able to pick my son up. I’d also witnessed in the years before I got pregnant so many amazing women working twice as hard with no recognition, and the eye rolling and smirks as they raced out the door at 5 to do the afternoon pick up.
The freelance world seemed so surreal, I couldn't believe people were actually able to make a consistent living without the security of a salary. I also had no idea what I could offer as a service. There wasn't much call for media planning in the Home Counties. I'd always wanted to move more into online media (as it was referred to then) when I was agency side but was told that it wasn't possible (by lazy recruitment agencies..not bitter at all, obvs!). When I heard about this new organisation called Digital Mums that was retraining women with children into social media managers I absolutely jumped at the chance to be involved.
The course took me through how to run a social media marketing campaign and once I'd got a taste of the digital world, I knew I wanted more so went on to do a postgrad diploma in search marketing (SEO and Google Ads basically), copywriting courses, coding courses, paid social courses...I just studied and studied and soaked up everything I could about the digital marketing world, taking on clients as I went.
“I just studied and studied and soaked up everything I could about the digital marketing world, taking on clients as I went.”
One of the things I didn't expect though was the amazing network of other women I had become a part of. Agency land wasn't dog eat dog exactly and I’d met some terrific people there, but I was really enjoying being part of this fantastic group who were in a similar situation to me, i.e. trying to work whilst having to be the primary caregiver at home too.
What was interesting is how these relationships developed. I think most of us would agree that we started off with what I'd now refer to as a lack mindset. We were wary of competition, nervous that so many people were retraining to do the exact same thing (or so we thought). It was only when we started learning from each other, saw others niching down further, following a slightly different path and so many of us being able to succeed and thrive doing it.
“It was only when we started learning from each other, saw others niching down further, following a slightly different path and so many of us being able to succeed and thrive doing it. ”
I know Pinterest experts, Instagram experts, Paid Social experts who specialize in working with coaches, people who retrained further as coaches, graphic designers, copywriters, and many many more, just so many amazing career developments that I was seeing flourish.
That's why I've really learned (and largely down to coaches that have had a particular impact on my life like Emma Van Heusen and Andrea Callanan) that collaboration over competition is not just a buzz phrase. Don't be scared to be proud of your peers. Watch what they do and consider the energy and initiative and focus on what inspired them and how to emulate that. It's when you start to look inwardly you'll get the inspiration about how to make your talents work for you.
