When I was 25 years old, I somehow miraculously landed a copywriting job interview at a major healthcare company.
And I couldn’t believe it.
They wanted to interview me…. ME? An inexperienced college dropout?
Yup.
And they were paying $60,000 per year.
(I was making about half that at the time, so 60K might as well have been 1 million dollars.)
It was an amount of money that would, quite literally, change my life. No more worrying about money or living paycheck to paycheck. I would feel financially secure for the first time ever.
I was so nervous for the interview.
I remember stepping into the high-rise building and riding the elevator up to the office, all decked out in the fanciest outfit I could afford, clutching a binder full of print-outs of my copywriting projects.
(Yes, bringing physical copies of samples was totally a thing back in the day!)
I sat down in the fancy lobby until the hiring manager found me and introduced himself. He walked me back to his office and invited me to talk a bit about my experience.
…And I bombed.
I stumbled over my words. I forgot to talk about the most relevant projects. I did not sound like a confident (or competent) professional at all.
Still, I held out hope I would get the job.
I sent him a friendly follow-up email thanking him for meeting with me. And not long after, I received a reply:
They decided to go with another candidate. Someone more experienced.
I was crushed. And disappointed. And so tired of being broke.
Not long after that, I was unexpectedly let go from my day job.
I wasn’t having any luck interviewing at other places either. And since I didn’t have financial support coming from anywhere else, I had to do something.
I decided to start freelance writing.
And just 4 months later, I had my first $5,000/mo as a self-employed writer.
(Here’s how I did it, btw.)
My business grew to over $8,000/mo.
Then $10,000/mo.
Then multiple six figures, at which point I was able to fulfill my dream of traveling full-time with my husband.
I remember being on the road somewhere in California and thinking back to that healthcare copywriting job. The one I was so desperate to get at 25.
If I had landed that job, I’d have missed out on some of the most beautiful and important experiences of my life.
Traveling the country with my husband and our dogs. Living within walking distance of the beach and waking up to the ocean every morning. Stepping back from work to fully take care of my dog, Tito, for two months when he was very ill.
None of that would’ve been possible had I not missed out on the “great opportunity” I thought I wanted so badly at age 25.
So these days, when I feel disappointed, I try to ask myself:
What if the missed opportunity leads to something greater?
Life has shown me again and again that sometimes, what you feel like you really, really want might not actually be the best thing for you.
Sometimes, you just have to trust that what’s meant for you will find you.
…And when it does find you?
Follow your gut, and start taking the baby steps to get where you want to be.
Now, I’d love to hear from you! :)
Do you have any tips for re-framing disappointment?
Or any stories to share about missed opportunities that led to something greater?
Comment below and share your thoughts:
(I read every comment and appreciate every single one. And I can’t wait to hear from you!)
In your corner always,
– Jorden
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This resonates so much! I landed an interview for a copywriting job recently and thought wow, this might be less stressful than freelancing. They seemed super enthusiastic then ghosted me. At first I was could only think of the steady income (freelancing was hard for me last year due to health issues.) But the frustration with it all spurred me on to start my editing biz, and though it's scary, I'm genuinely enthusiastic for the first time in a long time.
When I get disappointed I always try and remind myself that it's easy to see all the good things I think the missed opportunity would have brought me. But for all I know, it might have been horrible! I might have dodged a bullet. That helps.
I love this. I spent years trying to get a job at a woman's magazine. They pretty much all rejected me and that lead to... working at a bunch of great organizations that aligned much better with who I was and my goals in life. At the time I was very upset I was not getting my dream job, but I am very happy it didn't work out. Somebody or something wanted me to be on a different path. And sometimes I have gotten jobs that seemed like dream jobs and then I regret having gotten them as well, so it works both ways. The person who beats you out for the job may be upset they landed there because it's not such a great job!