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Featuring Megan Zink: Marketing Strategist, Writer & Photographer

March 19, 2020 by Kelly Nash Leave a Comment

I first met Megan Zink through a mutual friend nearly two years ago. She and I immediately clicked and bonded over the fact that we both worked full-time jobs and managed a passion on the side. She is a marketing strategist and creative mind, passionate about ongoing education, data-supported storytelling, and visual communication. She is also the brains behind her photo-driven travel website, Moderately Excited and is a published writer and photographer, as well as a public speaker (oh – and can’t forget, a Second City program alum!). Megan is quite literally a jack of all trades and seems to know how to do it all. 

In her current role as a content marketing manager at the Chicago-based SaaS company, ReviewTrackers, she leads a team responsible for producing educational and entertaining content and is focused on creative implementation and how content impacts the customer journey. When she has spare time outside of work, she loves to explore the world and update her website. She writes and shares both posts and interviews with female entrepreneurs and how travel inspires them, blending her passions into one. She also has had the opportunity to work with travel brands such as Visit Idaho, Visit Bloomington, Paloma Resort Properties and Blurb Books with the intent to create and execute comprehensive campaigns. 

Get to know more about Megan in our interview below, where she shares her progress and success with both her career and Moderately Excited and the challenges she has faced balancing the two!

Megan stands in front of Machu Picchu

KN: Megan, it’s about time I had you be a part of this series! I’ve admired your ambition and tenacity ever since I met you. For those who don’t know you, I’d love it if you could share your story and how you got to be where you are today with your current job and travel website, Moderately Excited.

Megan Zink: Whew! Of course! Well, this is quite the story but I’ll give you the ‘short’ version. I dabbled in a lot of different things growing up – and in college too. I was in the Greek system, held a job at my school’s media center, volunteered and majored in journalism. But I also minored in business marketing and studio art with a concentration in photography. I always thought being a jack of all trades/master of none might be a disservice – but I think it’s actually the opposite. When I graduated in 2011, marketing jobs were tough to find/get into (do some internships mixed in with that camp counselor job, past self!), so I took a role as the marketing/office manager at a race car driving school at the Autobahn in Joliet – which probably set me on the trajectory I followed through my career: semi-small companies, entrepreneurial spirit, work that has an impact and creativity. I also learned a LOT about a LOT of stuff. Like brake pads and calipers. After that, I took a full-time job at an IT recruiting company, where I learned soft skills (like how to negotiate) and hard skills (hard in the sense of having to learn how to fire someone). I also did some coding and design classes in the evenings, knowing I wanted to get into the marketing industry someday. I soon took a leap of faith and accepted a part-time community management job at a social media agency, where I stayed for nearly 3 years and went from writing real estate tweets part-time at a folding card table to managing Potbelly’s social media campaigns from a real office as the agency’s first full-time employee.

In 2015, I went in-house to work as the marketing manager (and essentially managing editor) for a chain of health clubs in the Chicagoland area and fell in love with content marketing hard and fast, (pay attention, this part will be important) and stayed there for 4 years until I most recently accepted a position at an online reputation and customer insight analytics SaaS as the content marketing manager. Here, I manage a team to create interactive, educational and entertaining content to help turn leads into customers.

Around year two of my role with the health club, I began to get a little restless. I knew I wanted to grow my career and thought of ways to overcome my terrifying hatred of public speaking. I ended up doing nine months of improv classes at Second City. Additionally, I’d always been creative, and I was actually really starting to like being a managing editor and overseeing our blog. I ended up at a networking event with a women in tech group, where Danielle Moss of The Everygirl was keynoting. I started thinking about my skills: photography, writing, marketing, graphic design… some abysmal coding… and also saw how popular blogs had become. And so, I decided to start one – and I did. I learned a lot by trial and error. I watched a lot of YouTube videos and joined a lot of groups on Facebook. I built content and edited photos and designed pins and slowly became a hermit. (Just kidding – but only kind of).

Fast forward three years later and I am still going strong with my travel website, Moderately Excited. Since it’s a website, I am now just finally starting to see the fruits of my SEO labor (it takes a lot of work upfront!). I have also sold my photography, sat on and moderated panels, taught photography workshops, founded an LLC and worked with 3+ tourism bureaus plus other travel brands to strategize, create and execute creative campaigns. 

Make no mistake – some of these goals I wrote down in my planner when I first started my passion project took me over three years to achieve. It’s been a lot of sacrificed workouts and late nights out and TV shows to balance this passion with my full-time job. I also definitely have burnout episodes (I’m learning there isn’t just one – it will be a constant throughout your entire creative career) but I’m learning how to anticipate, plan for and mitigate them much better. But now my passion project injects creativity and problem-solving skills into my full-time job I wouldn’t have seen otherwise, and vice versa!

KN: Oh, how I can relate to so much of this. Balancing a 9-5 and a passion on the side is no easy feat and I’ve talked at length about burnout myself. How do you balance your work and your well-being?

MZ: At first, I was REALLY bad at this. I was coming home and working on my site for 5-6 hours, nearly every day. And there were a lot of late Sunday nights (because naturally, I am a professional procrastinator, and always ended up writing, editing, publishing and editing and publishing photos for a post in one day. Don’t ever do that.). But then, it all came around to bite me in the @$$. At the crux of it, I ended up with food poisoning for four days one week and then the flu (for the first time since I was about 12) the next week. After that, I knew I needed to change something. I pumped the brakes on outside projects and stopped publishing as frequently.

Now, I am much better about learning when my body and mind is reaching its limits and taking my foot off the gas sooner. I am currently doing a monthlong cold-turkey social media detox and have done so many more productive things with my 70+ hours than I was doing before. I’ll probably incorporate more breaks in, as well as some concrete boundaries (i.e. website days are only Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday) – I know it will be hard at first, but once I get the hang of it, I think it will help me stay balanced in a sustainable way. 

Megan Zink sits along the oceanside

KN: I’ve been learning to do the same thing and I think that many women can benefit from that advice. How did you go about building your website initially and ensuring what you wanted to do with it was successful?

MZ: Here’s a secret: there was no ensuring success. Everything I tried was new. Everything was a gamble. I started the process with a lot of research – and I wish I did more. There’s probably a better way to do everything I did – but I think the most success I gained was the skills I was able to take away – and also the confidence that gained from figuring things out on my own is invaluable. I think the number one way I’ve been successful thus far has been through my persistence. When the going gets tough, the tough get going. But to see any kind of reward, you have to put in the work. It’s hard and you feel gross (in the uncomfortable sense) and everything goes wrong and seems hopeless, but taking a step back and looking at the obstacle from a different perspective always helps. 

KN: Totally, you learn so much about yourself when you’re able to figure things out on your own. What has been the most rewarding part of starting Moderately Excited? 

MZ: Woof. This is a hard one. I’d have to say it’s a tie between the people I’ve met and relationships I’ve cultivated, and the different things (projects, skillsets, etc.) I’ve pushed myself to achieve because my site served as the motivation for it. I always knew I was a storyteller and I wanted to be a photojournalist. While it might not be National Geographic, I essentially am doing it – visual storytelling. I also created Moderately Excited to act as a sort of living resume – I thought it was going to be my ticket to some super awesomely cool job in the travel industry. Well, it’s not quite the travel industry, but my site did help me land my new job. It was the catalyst to teach myself skills that I am now using an insane amount in my new role, of which I probably never would have learned in my old job (SEO, light coding, building popups, conducting surveys, etc.). 

KN: Ahh, I love when our jobs can intersect with our passions and even help our career in a positive way! So we talked about the positives, but now I want to know what has been the most challenging part of having a full-time job and having a passion that you’re pursuing on the side?

MZ: You want to do all the things. But you can’t do them all at the same time. I’d like to take credit for this – but actually this is something I learned from one of my interview subjects in my interview series on female entrepreneurs. But it is SO TRUE. Time management and finding ways to fit in all the things I need to do for both has been something that has taken me a while to learn. I can do more with a 25-minute lunch hour now than I ever could have imagined. And it’s also difficult, as someone who is always looking for new ideas and loves to start new projects, to wrangle in the inspiration I get bombarded with every day. Of all the things, figuring out a way to balance them both – along with not forsaking my friends, husband, family or other obligations, has been one of the most challenging.

Also, some advice – if you’re pursuing your passion, you’ll have many moments of ‘should I leave my full-time job?’. I’ve listened to so many people answer this question and one of the most prevalent answers (and my personal opinion I share with them) – don’t do it unless you have built up your side hustle to where you can comfortably be in the same place as with your full-time job. I personally know I have so many more things to learn from my current role that I want to see through, too. 

Megan laughs in front of a sea of colorful leaves

KN: I too have heard that same advice and definitely agree. There is so much to gain still from working a full-time job! Speaking of, what do you love most about your job?

MZ: In my previous role, I really loved educating and inspiring people. And taking their writing contributions and showing them what they could become – ‘yes – you wrote this article!’  ‘You’re a published author now!’ Basically, taking their work and helping them evolve it into the best version it could be.

Now, in my new role in managing a team, I love the process of brainstorming and coming up with creative ideas and seeing them come to life. I love putting something out there and watching my teammates make it their own and evolve it into something better than I could have imagined by myself. And I still love educating and inspiring – though now it’s less about the audience reading content and more about my team creating that content. 

KN: That’s amazing, Megan! Since you essentially work two jobs, can you share what the future of Moderately Excited ultimately looks like for you? 

MZ: The magic 8 ball says ‘reply hazy, try again’. I’ve really loved the force I’ve created with Moderately Excited – but I also have aspirations for some other things, too. I’ve been taking what I’ve learned with my site and in my new job and am excited to apply both to a possible new adventure – so stay tuned! But in the meantime, Moderately Excited will definitely be around for all your fun fact, silly fail and dad joke needs! (Kelly’s note: You can find all her great ‘dad jokes’ on Megan’s Instagram!)

Megan Zink jumps in front of a waterfall in Hawaii

KN: The magic 8 ball! That’s such a great little analogy and can only imagine where you’ll go in the future! What would you say keeps you motivated?

MZ: My innate sense to keep learning. There’s always something new to learn – and to try. I also recently took the CliftonStrengthsfinder test and learned that I am an ‘input’ – I love learning new information (even if I don’t do anything with it). And that I also am a natural leader and connector. Also my own personal Type A+ personality, ha! 

KN: A love of learning is what keeps us all on our toes, I think! I always like to ask the question of who inspires you and why?

MZ: Anyone who is out there creating the thing they love inspires me – it’s easy to get caught up in a hamster wheel of other people’s content and noise, so to be able to stick to your guns and do the dang thing you were meant to do is really empowering. 

KN: Yesssss, I completely agree! I get so inspired when I see women doing what they love and owning it. On the subject of other women, if you had one piece of advice for someone looking to pursue her passion on the side while working a full-time job, what would it be? 

MZ: If you are thinking of making a big change, let it simmer for a while. But on the flip side, if you’re getting tripped up overthinking too many things, it’s probably just time to do the thing and see what happens.

KN: Thank you for being a part of this series, Megan. One last question before we go. Lipstick & Ink is all about encouraging women to make their mark on their lives, the lives of others and on the world. What does “making your mark” mean to you? 

MZ: ‘Making my mark’ means being unapologetically myself – and leaving that sense of self with people in a respectful, collaborative way. For me, it’s wearing bold, colorful and crazy-printed clothes to the office in the middle of winter when the norm might be black on gray. Or taking jump shots in the middle of a crowded street and feeling self-conscious, and then also being completely fine with people’s confused looks. But most importantly, it’s leaving people with the sense that even though my beliefs, background, thoughts or way of doing things might be different from theirs, I am open to learning about them and want to connect and support people however I can. 

Beautiful words, my friend! To connect with Megan further, feel free to check out her website and respective social channels to follow along with what she’s up to next!

  • Website: www.moderatelyexcited.com
  • E-mail: megan@moderatelyexcited.com
  • Instagram: @moderatelyexcited
  • Twitter: @megan_zink
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
Kelly, Founder of Lipstick & Ink
Kelly Nash

Kelly Nash is a Chicago-based writer, speaker, career advisor, and founder of Lipstick & Ink®. In addition, she works full-time in technology as a Success Manager at Salesforce and has over 10 years of digital marketing experience. Kelly has been featured in Thrive Global, International Association of Women, General Assembly, Salesforce, SheFactor, and Six Degrees Society. She is also in the process of writing her first book.

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Filed Under: Shine On Series Tagged With: goal-getters, shine on, shine on series

About Kelly Nash

Kelly Nash is a Chicago-based writer, speaker, career advisor, and founder of Lipstick & Ink®. In addition, she works full-time in technology as a Success Manager at Salesforce and has over 10 years of digital marketing experience. Kelly has been featured in Thrive Global, International Association of Women, General Assembly, Salesforce, SheFactor, and Six Degrees Society. She is also in the process of writing her first book.

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Kelly, Founder of Lipstick & Ink

Welcome to Lipstick & Ink®, your home for everything career, wellness and #realtalk inspired. I’m Kelly, a Chicago-based advertising tech professional, career advisor, writer, speaker, events host, and goal getter.

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Kelly💋 Career Advisor & Writer
I was in a meeting when Adam texted me, telling me I was in a meeting when Adam texted me, telling me to check Twitter with a screenshot of a tweet: "The US Capitol is now on lockdown." Immediately, my heart started to race and my first thought was, 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙣𝙤𝙬?
⠀
Just when we think we're taking two steps forward, we take one massive step back. We all know what we saw yesterday. And the reality is that our country is still divided over what to even call yesterday’s events. 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐝, 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐲, 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐟𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐬𝐚𝐰. My loss of control feeling then resurfaced, something I've certainly grown accustomed to these last 10 months. The utter shock spiraled me into checking my Twitter feed and watching the news for 𝟷𝟸 𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝. I couldn't fall asleep until 𝟹𝚊𝚖.
⠀
I woke up this morning wondering how I was going to get through the rest of this week. 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘐 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴, 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘺 𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘦, 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘥 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘺? Here’s what I came up with:
♡ 𝗙𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗹. Minimize the news and social media you take in. I'm distancing myself and dialing in on protecting my energy.⠀
♡ 𝗪𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗽𝗮𝗽𝗲𝗿. I recently started writing morning pages (thanks to @juliacameronlive), where you start the day writing 3 pages of long-form writing about anything. I wrote about how I was feeling in today’s pages.⠀
♡ 𝗚𝗼 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮 𝘄𝗮𝗹𝗸. Adam and I went for a walk before work to get fresh air, & clear our heads.⠀
♡ 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗸. Don’t pretend it didn’t happen. Check in with others (including people you work with) and connect by sharing your thoughts and feelings too. If you need time to process, be open with your manager and ask.⠀
♡ 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘇𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗹-𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴. Take breaks during the work day. End work at a reasonable hour and do something that gives you joy. I plan on doing yoga to calm my mind & lose myself in a book. {continued in comments}
My goal in 2020 was to complete my book's manuscri My goal in 2020 was to complete my book's manuscript. As you probably know, I didn’t come close to reaching it since I'm still working on it. And #itsokay. Old me would have dwelled on it, beating myself up for not accomplishing it. But I now know this: 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐚𝐥, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭.
⠀
I wrote my 2020 goal down and pinned it on the wall in front of my desk for me to see every day last year, to push me to put my vision into action. It was my 𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳, a reminder to myself to keep going, even on the days I was discouraged. It led me to get serious about my goal, hiring a book coach, and 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯.
⠀
While I didn't finish in the timeframe I had originally hoped, I myself know how much thought, time, and dedication went into attempting to achieve my goal. Looking back, there was 𝑺𝑶 much progress.
⠀
January, as we know, is a time to set new goals for the year ahead. I'll be thinking about mine and writing them down this month once again to keep me motivated throughout the year. My reminder to you (and me for that matter) for the next 12 months is as you work towards your goals is to 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺.
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𝐑𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐭𝐡 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐰𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐠𝐨𝐚𝐥𝐬 -- 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞💋
[𝗡𝗘𝗪 𝗕𝗟𝗢𝗚 𝗣𝗢𝗦𝗧] I [𝗡𝗘𝗪 𝗕𝗟𝗢𝗚 𝗣𝗢𝗦𝗧] I love NYE - not for the parties, the dresses, or really even the ball drop. I love it because I treat it as a day to look inward, to quiet my mind, and reflect. Every NYE since middle school, I've taken time to write in my journal and reflect on the year, to acknowledge my growth, to accept what didn’t go as planned, and to appreciate the life I am creating. The past few years, I've shared a lot of those thoughts on L&I. This year though, I went back and forth as to if I still wanted to share a recap given how intense this year has been. 2020 was taxing for so many and I wanted to be sensitive to that, especially when the end of the year recaps can cross into “𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦!” territory.
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But I sincerely believe 𝙧𝙚𝙛𝙡𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙞𝙨 𝙖 𝙠𝙚𝙮 𝙥𝙞𝙚𝙘𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙜𝙧𝙤𝙬𝙩𝙝. It's important that we take that time to look back on our year and celebrate, especially before we rush into the goal-setting madness that accompanies a new year. We learn a lot about ourselves when we reflect, and write down and share our wins and our shortcomings. Not only that, we learn a lot from each other when we read these type of reflections. This year especially is important to recognize our growth because of the hardships we endured.
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Despite how challenging 2020 has been, I do believe 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙮𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙩𝙖𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙪𝙨 𝙪𝙣𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙜𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙬𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙪𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙨. I want to share those lessons and things I personally learned about myself, because this year will be one that we’ll never forget. In my newest post on L&I, I share:
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☆ What Went Well⠀
☆ What Didn't Go So Well⠀
☆ What I Learned⠀
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You can read it all via the link in my bio! I hope that you too use the last day of 2020 to take a moment and reflect and truly appreciate how far you've come. Because damn, it was a 𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘰𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐢𝐭. 𝐖𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐢𝐭. Wishing you a healthy, safe, and prosperous 2021 ahead ♥️
Living through this year has been challenging on a Living through this year has been challenging on a number of levels. There’s no doubt about it. Between the pandemic and the upheaval of our lives that’s come along with it, to the racial injustice many of us had our eyes opened to, to the ongoing political strife and divide, to the deaths of our loved ones, it has been a 𝐋𝐎𝐓.
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It’s been a common refrain ever since March to wish 2020 𝙖 𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙝 𝙜𝙤𝙤𝙙𝙗𝙮𝙚. I certainly don’t blame anyone for it. But even in the darkest of moments, it's important for us to not be consumed by it and instead seek the light. Find the good, find the lessons, find the realizations 𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱𝘴.
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Which is why I asked the L&I community – 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟎 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮?
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Swipe to see some of the top responses that were shared. You can also see the rest of the responses in a new blog post on thelipstickandink.com, via the link in my bio. Perspective and perseverance will always see their way through💋
As women, we are faced with 𝙖 𝙢𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙞𝙩𝙪𝙙𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙤𝙗𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙘𝙡𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙨. And with those come a 𝕔𝕙𝕠𝕚𝕔𝕖:⠀
➸ Those obstacles and challenges can either define us and hold us back from being our most authentic selves⠀
ᴏʀ⠀
➸ We can break free and rise to the women we want and are meant to be.
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Each of these obstacles and challenges I've listed are ones that I've personally faced. Throughout my 20s, I allowed them to consume me, lower my confidence, and ultimately chain me down. I limited my potential for years without even realizing it. But in these last few years in particular, I've learned what it means to 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫. And with that comes making an active choice to let go of what holds me back.
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I bring this up because 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘴 𝘐'𝘮 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐'𝘮 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨. Revisiting the memories and emotions and writing out these experiences is helping me realize just how much I've overcome - and still am overcoming. I'm in no means past all of this as I feel I'm a constant work in progress. But it feels empowering to reflect on how far I've come and have the opportunity to share that with other women. I can't wait to reveal more about my book in the coming weeks. There will definitely be more to come.
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Now, I want to ask you - what do ʏᴏᴜ want to break free from? Are you currently releasing anything that's been holding you back? Let me know in the comments!💋
I’ve seen a quote all over IG & it’s one that I’ve seen a quote all over IG & it’s one that I slowed my scroll to pause and take in: “𝙸 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝟸𝟶𝟸𝟶 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚋𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝙸 𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍. 𝙽𝚘𝚠 𝙸 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝟸𝟶𝟸𝟶 𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝙸 𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙸 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎.”
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While living through this year has been challenging on a number of levels, one of the things I hope we can appreciate is the 𝙜𝙞𝙛𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙨𝙥𝙖𝙘𝙚 🎁. I’m not referencing the physical 6 foot distanced space we’ve grown accustomed to. (That part has been hard - I really miss hugging my mom 😭.) I’m talking about the 𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗲 we’ve been given - 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙥𝙖𝙘𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙚, 𝙩𝙤 𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙣, 𝙩𝙤 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡, 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚. Through the gift of space, 2020 has been a year in which we’ve learned what we need, what adds value to our lives, and what depletes us.
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For me in particular, 2020 made space for:⠀
🎲.Play and connecing with my inner child⠀
💭 Reflection and journaling⠀
🙅🏻‍♀️ Boundaries and learning to say no⠀
💬 Tough conversations on racial injustice, science and politics⠀
♥️ Connection with others, even when it meant virtually⠀
🌳 Getting outdoors and enjoying every walk and hike I took⠀
🤔 Curiosity into learning more about myself through astrology, human design, shamanism & mediums⠀
📚 My book, a dream of mine since I was a little girl⠀
🦋 Being present and learning the power of slowing down and tuning in
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It’s been a common refrain ever since March to say 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘣𝘺𝘦 𝘵𝘰 2020. And it's crazy to think it will pass in just 24 days. The new year is going to come regardless, but 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙮𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 2021 𝙗𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙮𝙤𝙪? What lessons can we carry with us from 2020 to shape it into the year of freedom and possibility that we are hoping for? How can we continue to 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐞 even as our schedules inevitably fill up, our offices open, and our lives go back to a sense of normalcy?
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I'll tell you what, the space that 2020 created is something I'll certainly be holding onto and ensuring I maintain💋
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