mizChartreuse || redefiningSuccess

Tonight I will be coordinating and hosting the Chicago branch of Brazen Careerist’s first-ever WORLDWIDE Meetup Everywhere Event called Crowdsource Your Career. Ryan Paugh, Brazen’s community director, reached out to me last week and invited me to participate in the new project, and I jumped at the chance to actually, you know, host and organize something that speaks to me. Brazen Careerist is a social network for Generation Y professionals to build their resumes and share ideas, and mold-shattering is encouraged.

Come brainstorm (no brainfarting!) with Brazen and miz!

The point of Crowdsource Your Career is to bring together a community of people who are like-minded in that we are forward-thinking go-getters who aren’t held down by conventions or societal norms. Hello, story of my life.

I often say the most important thing in the world is to build relationships, but it goes beyond simply raging with your friends. As a freelance writer, I often read books and blogs about marketing and advertising, and the same concept holds true for entrepreneurs and professionals. You want to gain clients? Build relationships. Want to meet someone who has a career you want? Build relationships and your connections will eventually get you there. Want a simple freakin’ job? BUILD RELATIONSHIPS.

We’ll be meeting at Twisted Spoke tonight at the same time as groups all over the world to have discussions, a good beer or two, and answer the question: What does it mean to be in the driver’s seat of your career and your life? I’ll be taking video footage of the discussion and send it to Brazen HQ, where they’ll create a video montage video of what we, as a worldwide community, created through having intelligent conversations with one another.

The meetup starts at 6:30 and goes ’til whenever we get sick of each other, or the patio closes. Twisted Spoke is located at 501 N. Ogden Ave. in Chicago, and we’ll be meeting on the rooftop patio/beer garden. Bring people! Your friends, your coworkers, your wife, your dog, your grandma. Everybody!

(p.s.: I suggest paying for each drink you get individually, rather than us having a giant tab at the end of the night to figure out who ordered what. That’s always a mess with more than five people.)

Click this link for the Meetup Everywhere RSVP page for more details, and join us tonight!

*****

I’ve held many jobs in my decade in the workforce– some for long periods of time, others for shorter; several overlapping (I’ve had five or six sources of simultaneous income at one point). My career history is diverse– I’ve worked everywhere from teacher supply retail shops, to grocery stores, to musical instrument suppliers, to  restaurants and bars. Even within all the dissimilar fields, however, BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS has always been a common thread.

I’ve never gotten a job by responding to a Craigslist ad, a Monster posting, or a Help Wanted board. Sending out cold resumes and applications hoping to be hired is proving to be increasingly difficult, especially in “these times,” as we like to say nowadays. Penelope Trunk, founder of Brazen Careerist, blogged two days ago about just this. Read: A Note From Penelope: How to Get a Job Without Applying.

*****

True cliche alert: It’s not what you know; it’s who you know.

When I look at the overarching theme of my diverse career history, I’ve found one common thread: I’ve gotten ALL of my jobs because I knew somebody.

I grew up in Chicago’s northwest suburbs, and my second job ever was cashiering at the Jewel-Osco grocery store in Palatine. My best friend Jessie worked there first and encouraged me to apply when she heard they were hiring. I worked there over two and a half years (a long time for a 16-year-old). At Sam Ash Music Store, I made my presence known by spending hours in the acoustic guitar room and talking to the manager (and my now dear friend) Chris, who hired me.

I was there so much, I figured I may as well get paid for it.

My best friend Allie, whom I met at Sam Ash, told me I could be a model despite my height. She started me off by helping me get bookings through her various agents and helping with my self-confidence (which may have blossomed into narcissism, but I digress). Years later, Allie would also introduce me to a neurotic Naperville-based author for whom I was a ghostwriter for a number of years.

In Chicago, I ended up working at Morgan’s because my Angelique, my best friend and roommate at the time, worked at the Caribou across the street and noticed the new bar being built. She and I were among the first employees at the bar’s inception. One of my Morgan’s coworkers named Tillie gave me contact information to get into the United Center for Bulls and Blackhawks games; a seasonal job I still retain six years later. Tillie also told me about the bartending opportunities at Soldier Field’s private club for Bears football games; a job I decided to leave because the people who run that show are out of their minds.

With regard to my freelance work, the seed was planted years ago by me writing album reviews for a Sam Ash coworker who owned his own record label. It branched into me getting paid to writing biographies for musician friends, writing final papers for college friends (you can run and tell that), writing resumes for professors, and grew from there.

One of my recent clients (and a fascinating woman whom I interviewed for my book), Chef Aleta S. Williams, owner of Loquacious Catering, invited me to an event hosted by  OnJaLee the Connector back in the Spring. Three months later, OnJaLee and I are budding business partners, combining my writing with her event planning, adding a graphic designer and marketing manager to the mix, creating Olashay Strategic Marketing Solutions (coming soon)!

A dear friend of mine, personal trainer Cori Safe, referred me to one of her clients who happens to be a Chicago editor for The Huffington Post. Once again, a friend hooks it up!

A couple weekends ago, I met a powerful woman on a total fluke. She and her husband and son came to my bar and I was taking care of them. The new Chicagoans were asking me about cool places to hang in the city, and we started a conversation about the various neighborhoods here and exchanged information. It wasn’t until I Googled her later that I realize that she was the editor-in-chief of Ebony Magazine and a published author– someone I WANT TO BE in five years.

To this day, almost all of the writing jobs I get come from people I know. They may be acquaintances I’ve met through a networking event, or through someone who knows someone else who needs a writer for whatever. As many entrepreneurs will attest, word of mouth is the best form of marketing and advertising, and that has held true for me over the years.

*****

Whether you’re sick of your 9-5, are tired of dead-end internships, are interested in entrepreneurship, own a business, love your current career, or are looking for fresh ideas to take your life to the next level, the Crowdsource Your Career meetup can be great for you!

I’ve obviously demonstrated above that building relationships is what takes you places, so get off your ass, join us for a brewski, and talk about the new potential developments in what “work” means to our generation!

As Penelope Trunk said, “the real way to get a job is to crowdsource it. Meet a lot of people and work together to support each other in the quest for work that helps them grow.”

What are you waiting for?