Thread by @kazweida

I want to tell you a story about this cover and how it came to be. And why it illustrates that it’s never too late to start doing what you love.

When I was a little girl I desperately wanted to be a journalist. My mother even named me after a CA TV newscaster.

(THREAD)

(2) I used to go everywhere with a little notepad, jotting down observations & pretending to call them into my editor in abandoned phone booths. (Yes. I’m old & we used to have public phones back in the day)

But as I grew up I kept hearing the same thing from adults.

(3) Writing wasn’t a career. It was a hobby. Best to go into a field that had better prospects. I could teach, they kept saying. That had job security.

In college, terrified of the prospect of paying back my student loans, I started to pivot. First from communications to English

(4) Then from English to English education. I graduated with a degree in teaching and ended up working nearly two decades in education, both in the classroom and later in college administration.

But the feeling that I’d left some vital part of myself behind just wouldn’t ease up

(5) After the birth of my second child I was a stay at home Mom for awhile and the itch to write again became unbearable.

So I wrote a book. A book I’d been hesitating to start for 20 years. I did it by writing a page a day for a year. On this typewriter because I’m a weirdo.

(6) And then I thought to hell with it. I’ll try making some money writing and see where it takes me. I did that for a few months but it was hard to hustle jobs. I started a food blog. And I just kept writing. Anything and everything.

Eventually a local marketing company noticed

(7) They hired me as a copywriter I worked for them for more than a year. Building a portfolio. Learning the ropes.

I left to start my own business nearly three years ago.

The first year was rough. I wasn’t really making ends meet.

(8) The next year was better as I built out a steady clientele and proved myself over and over and over again.

I got involved in journalism on the side and did a stint as a volunteer managing editor.

The next year I was so busy I didn’t have time to work pro bono.

(9) This year I’m booked so far out that I’ve come to realize I probably need to hire someone or start turning down jobs. I’ve made progress getting a foothold in journalism and I’ve earned some bylines in local and national publications.

My point is this. Don’t give up.

(10) I reinvented myself at 40 & I’m doing what I love. If you’re passionate & willing to work hard, it’s possible to start again.

It’ll be hard but so very worth it.
Don’t wait. Don’t second guess yourself. And most of all, don’t let other people define what’s possible for you.