My Career Journey + Creating Your Own Opportunities

This post isn’t an excuse nor is it me looking to explain myself out of fear of being judged. Everyone’s lives are different and everyone’s budgets are different. To put it simply, I just don’t have the means to do what other sustainable fashion bloggers are doing at the moment. I’m still living at home and working in retail is tough sometimes. With me saying all of this, that doesn’t mean I don’t want to make that change, because at some point, I do want to. Slow fashion is something I feel very passionately about and want to support in the far off future. I never really thought that I’d find myself in the position I’m in now with this blog and I know my audience is small, but I’m content with that. I’m not looking to become famous or anything because all I want is to make an impact.

When I first started this blog, I only saw it as a hobby. It was a side interest I had as I wanted to write down things that would come to mind, but my main job was working in a grocery store. I stayed with that job for 3 and a half years, and then I got the opportunity to work in an elementary school cafeteria. The work there was a little more demanding and it did pose some challenges for me, but I do feel like it was a good learning experience in some ways. Once I left that place after staying there for half a year, I decided to take a little bit of a break. And even though my first two jobs left me with a lot of experience, I still just felt lost and kind of doubtful in my own abilities. When I decided to go to this job training school last year, I didn’t know what I was getting myself into; I just wanted to stop feeling down on myself. When I came out, I felt a lot more confident in my skills and in my ability to maintain a job.

This job I have now as a cashier has its perks, especially since I’m working in a thrift store. Sometimes, being there makes me feel excited and happy, and other days, being there makes me feel frustrated or stressed out. Overall though, I do enjoy what I’m doing and I like the people that I’m working with. I feel like there’s enough variety with the job I have now because whenever I’m not helping other customers, I’m either processing new or used clothing or sorting the big piles of donations that people drop off.

One thing I’m starting to believe in now is creating your own opportunities, because sometimes, the world will not give that to you freely. One has to be willing to put in the effort and work hard in order to achieve your goals. Sometimes, people like to be cliche and say things like “the world is your oyster” and whatnot, but from my perspective and experiences at least, I believe in the opposite. I enjoy hard work, even if it that work proves to be difficult or challenging sometimes. Now of course, I realize that I may be a little more privileged than others, but I’m grateful for what I have and the experiences that come along with that.