“And What Did You Learn?”

The 5 words that would change my life. 

A couple of years ago, I was going through a career crisis. 

I’d been working since I was 14 - when I got my first job at Baskin Robbins. 

For many years, I took whatever job I could get to make money.

But once I had my journalism degree, things were different. 

It gave me the confidence to pursue my career. I had put in the time and effort to learn something and had become an expert…at least I felt like I was!

“I felt” is the key. 

I realize now, that the feeling of confidence as I exited university is what I was missing so many years later, when it came time to decide what’s next.

Like everyone else in television, after a near lifetime of being a producer, I was considering my next career move - not because I wanted to leave the industry but because it was leaving me.

When the phone stopped ringing, I took it personally. I felt like I wasn’t good enough. Did I make someone angry? Will I ever work again? Have I failed? 

I really thought it was me. My confidence was shot. 

I’m naturally a very positive, can-do creative problem-solver who wakes up with tons of energy and ideas and rarely stops moving. 

Perfect attributes for a producer. 

But I wasn’t producing anything. And I felt scattered and unsure. 

So I hired a career coach. 

“Let’s start from the top. What was your first career job…and more importantly what did you learn?” he asked. 

Over the next three days, I went through each job, one by one, describing the position, the company, the show, my experiences working on it and always ending with a rundown of “what did you learn.” 

I sat there and talked…

and talked…

and talked…

and he took a lot of notes.

It was fun - and sometimes difficult - to recount each experience, so many years later, but I found my mood improving each day. 

He sent me a summary of that conversation, along with a long list of skills he had compiled for me and we used that to create a brand new resume and I started my job search - but that’s not important.

What IS important is how I FELT after that exercise. 

My coach had taken the time to walk me through my entire career, forcing me to remember the good and the bad, the highs and lows, and he always brought it back around to “so what did you learn from that job.”

He helped me to realize that I had amassed a huge amount of knowledge and wisdom and experience about my craft and about people. 

And somehow, saying it out loud was exactly what I needed to drill it in.

That’s how I got my confidence back. 

I wanted to share this story because with confidence, you can do just about anything. 

But sometimes you lose it…and you don’t know you lost it…until you get it back! 

Strange, huh?  

Thank you, Scott Santa Maria. 

You’re more than just a coach, you’re a lifesaver and now a good friend! 

#confidence #newbeginnings #justtalk