Ooooh, child. Beat me up later, apply now. Deadline is next Tuesday, March 9th.
Yes, I know I’m late sharing this with you, but a wise person who I’ve never met said, better late than never. So here you go. Gentlemen, this one’s for you too, so don’t think just because we’re recognizing women’s history all month long you can jump on some of these grant band wagon.
Apply, apply, apply. And if at first you don’t succeed, apply, apply again (to another grant!)
“No” is not quite my favorite word. But I don’t mind hearing it. I’ve gotten use to it over the years. And it’s not presented to me in the safe form. Sometimes it’s a “not right now”, or a “selected another candidate” that looks a lot like “moved forwarded with someone else”. Sometimes it’s pleasantly stated as a “no, thank you”. But “no” is never permanent. And it has never been a been a death sentence. If anything “no” is a stepping stone. For some. I get that no can be discouraging, it can make you feel defeated and often it feels like a final roadblock. It’s not. I promise, it’s so not.
I had to remind my friend Carlos of that a couple of weeks ago. I told him (with love, I promise) that if he wasn’t living the life he wanted in this very moment, he needed to put being tired and fear of rejection on the back burner. 1) He don’t got time for that and 2) fear, although we all have it at various points in our lives, will never serve him.
Stealing the words from the motivational speaker, Les Brown’s mouth, “you will fail your way to success”. Otherwise, you’re not working towards anything. So, go ahead and let them tell you no. You’ve been hearing that word since you were two. You’ll be just fine. In fact, you might fine “no” invigorating. Why? There is so much satisfaction in proving someone wrong after they told you no.
Let’s kick off Marxh by celebrating how amazing women are and have been throughout history, quietly and boldly contributing to the very fabric of our society.
Don’t worry gentlemen. You’ll find that women are very inclusive. We don’t ever need to put you all down to raise ourselves up.
So shout out to the ladies you are holding it down, rocking it out and doing their own thing because it’s what they want and have the freedom to do. I acknowledge you and so many other fine women this month!
It’s official! I am taking Female, Single + Hustlin’ to the next level!
Starting today and onward, I will be meeting (virtually, for the time being) aspiring side hustlers and business owners to discuss with them what hustle or business they want to start. And don’t let the pandemic or the current rockiness of the economy stop or scare you from taking the next step in your professional and financial goals. Let’s be real, more money is the financial for the majority of people.
So let me help get you there.
But why we? What makes me so special?
Nothing. I just know what it’s like to be underpaid, undervalued, living paycheck to paycheck, being afraid to take time off work because every hour I worked was an hour of pay guaranteed to keep the roof over my head and the lights.
I’ve also spent the past couple of years networking with recruiters, career and life coaches, getting to peak behind the curtain of they help people with their goals. But also, they knowledge of what employers are really looking for, how to get a business off the ground (although I can speak to this from personal experience) and how to stay discipline when the motivation is gone.
You’ll continue to see free tools I’ve created that you’re more than welcome to use. I hope they’re helpful and I’m always open to feedback if in your experience of using them, something could he changed to be more useful. I’ve also include a few of those tools here too, in case you can’t find it previous posts.
To set up a preliminary Zoom call and see how I can help you, use the following link: https://calendly.com/thehustlingcrew/30min
I hope to hear from some of you and create a last relationship!
Now, let’s go tackle March!
You don’t like networking but you know you be networking and you’re willing to do it.
Got it.
But how do you organize and be strategic about the who you’re networking with?
I got you. Below is a simple networking tracker tool. It simply allows you to track who you spoke to, their contact info, what industry they work in, if they have any connection with you, and how you’ve continued to reach out to them. This hopefully takes the fuss out of figuring out how to follow up and with who. The network tracker is all yours to download and use at your discretion WHEN you find yourself networking.
In L.A., it’s common to hear the phrase, “it’s not what you know, but who you know. ” And for the most part this is true. You can be the smartest person in the room, but if no one knows who you are, they won’t know how smart (valuable) you are. And that’s the real game behind (profession) relationships: being valued and find others of value.
This isn’t all about transactions, what you can do for them and what they can do for you. It is about building respect and trust, so that when the relationship becomes transactional, it doesn’t feel awkward or like the request/favor is being asked out of the blue.
Relationship building starts with networking. The dreaded networking conundrum. We all know we should be networking, we just don’t enjoy it. Maybe we were never taught how to meet strangers. Maybe we’re too concerned with selling ourselves in hopes for those leads and gain clients. Or maybe we’re too shy to make the introduction. Whatever it is, we can make it as simple as sun (that sounds kind of nice).
Aim to meet only 2-3 people. If you meet more people, great. But 2-3 people allows you to really connect and have a real conversation.
Talk about anything BUT business. The weather, the commute, a game or show you watched last night, maybe an award show, a national event. Don’t start with business. Then let the conversation naturally draw towards what each of you do for living or what project you’re working on.
The most important of all, FOLLOW UP, FOLLOW UP, FOLLOW UP. Go home and send an email. Makes plans to meet up. “It’s a pandemic, everything’s being done virtually.” Fine. You can incorporate all these tips using Zoom, trust me.
But don’t let these valuable people you’re meeting go to waste. Organize them…
I know what success means to me: money, power + influence.
Sounds a bit a traditional, but so am I in some respects.
Money, obviously, because it allows you to take care of the financial unforseen.
Powe, because, if wielded right, can change the world for the better. And we’re in dire need of that lately.
And influence because if you can change the world for the better, you can convince others to join you and do the same.
I clearly know what success means to me… for the moment. It may change as my perspective changes and experiences change.
What does success mean to you?
After many, many, many years of side hustlin’ (okay, maybe not that many), I’ve often wondered why I never created a simple tool to help me keep track of the various side hustles I took on over the years. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I got everything done on time; I met my deadlines and everything. But my system for keeping track was always spread out over several sheets of paper or in journals. Sometimes I made the attempt to create a spreadsheet in Google in hopes that it was going to help me organize my caseload. But every time I created some kind of tracker, I never knew what I needed to record. And what I need was more involved than name of the client, project task and deadline. All the side hustles I took on were rarely, if ever, in the same niche or industry.
So, for your use, no strings attached, I have created a side hustle tracker. Basic, in capturing the most pertinent information for you to get the job done but helps you track how much you’ve charged the client – to let you know if you need to start raising your rates, how long you expect the project to take and where you are in the process.
I hope those of you who use it find it useful and if you think it can be improved, by all means, I welcome the feedback.
Happy Hustlin’!
Some people will call today Valentine’s day.
A day where an exuberant amount of flowers, candies, chocolate strawberries and dinners will romantically appear. To honor and acknowledge the day.
And there’s nothing wrong with that. If you love the idea of love.
But to those who are seeking love, have found the one, building the relationship… may your love have love today and not just it’s mere symbolism.
May you have that unconditional, good morning kiss, pulled into a tight hug, spoon or cuddle position because I never want to let you go and I want you to know I always feel this way day.
May you have butterflies in the stomach, slight blush and gentle squeeze when you hold their hand, I keep catching you staring at me day.
May you have you I am so proud of you and I cannot believe I get to call you my partner, who else can I brag to you about you day.
Sure. Happy Valentine’s Day.
