True Story: My Dream Job Let Me Go
One by one I watched as my co-workers answered their phones and walked away from their desks. It was a Friday afternoon…HR was on the other side of the line. We saw it coming though. We’d gotten a new boss a couple of months prior. We figured she’d wipe our team clean and create her own. We were right. So while we weren’t at all surprised, the experience itself was rather unpleasant. One by one, my co-workers arrived back to their desks. Each of them expressed it’d be their last day at our publication. Our team was like family. We were crushed by news of each departure. My phone rang. My turn.
Rewind just a few weeks. I was suffering from extreme burnout. I knew it was time to move on soon, so I began planning my exit strategy. With each passing day, my ‘dream job’ felt less of a dream and more like a job. In preparation for my exit, I started freelancing and saving money. I negotiated an excellent rate and was able to make nearly as much freelancing as I was at my ‘dream job.’ One day, during my lunch break, I received a text from a friend of a friend. It read, ‘I think you’d be great for this.’ Along with her message was the link to an application for My Black is Beautiful’s first-ever ambassador search competition. The application deadline? 6:00 p.m. that very same evening. I didn’t feel like filling out an application in such haste, but I did it anyway. The opportunity aligned with my values, purpose and passion—empowering women, speaking, writing and even a little modeling. Perfect, I thought. Why not?
Weeks later, I found out I’d moved onto the second phase of the competition. And a couple of weeks after that, I found out I was one of six women chosen! Along with my winnings came a stipend and a once-in-a-lifetime list of experiences and perks. With that plus my freelance pay, I was all set and ready for what was to come. Though I knew I’d won, I had to sign a non-disclosure stating I wouldn’t tell anyone about my winnings until it was publicly announced one month later during the BET awards.
Back to the moment a few weeks later when my desk phone rang. It was HR. Moments later, I was sitting before the head of HR and my new boss. They regretfully informed me that I would be let go from the publication. My last day, however, wouldn’t be that same day. I was asked to stay a couple of months longer—unbeknownst to them, it was right up until the day my ‘My Black is Beautiful’ contract started. While the door that led to my ‘dream job’ was closing, multiple other doors had already opened. Without even a day of interruption, I transitioned from one role to the next—and still freelanced.
The first day of our contract, the five other My Black is Beautiful ambassadors and I shot campaign images and video for media placement in magazines and on television. My ‘dream job’ was one of those magazines. The final issue in which I had a byline…my very last story as a full time writer…was also the first issue in which I had placement with My Black is Beautiful. I prepared. I was patient. I listened to my intuition. And in time, all things worked together for my good. I answered the call. Both of them.
