Act Like A Professional, But Think Like A Stripper

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My friend and I were having an in-depth conversation tonight about young people making power moves in their careers. As we bounced ideas and solutions from one dome to another, my friend interjected, “You’re more connected than you think. Use what you got to get what you want.”

Immediately catching her movie reference, my friend and I began booty-bouncing on the couch in laughter. After we got that out of our system, I really began to ponder how a quote from The Players Club movie correlated to being a career professional. Here’s how she broke it down [I'm also unpacking it with some of my thoughts as well]:

1. Use the network that’s around you to gather the information that you need. Never underestimate what your friends, family, or business associates know or who they know. A common mistake is to assume that just because you never had a discussion about how to enhance in the engineering industry with the guy at Starbucks, who makes your coffee every morning, doesn’t mean he wouldn’t know something about it. Everyone that you have built some type of positive relationship with knows something about SOMETHING. For examples, I am not a web designer, but if you ask me for recommendations on content display, design layout and navigation, I could spot you a few helpful pointers. Use what you got to get what you want!

2. Information is at your fingertips—it’s called the internet. There is just no excuse. There are thousands of blogs, websites, forums, webinars and everything in between out there related to whatever career move you are trying to make. If for some bizarre reason you can’t find what you need on the internet, then do the unthinkable: go to the LIBRARY! Again, use what you got to get what you want!

3. If you feel that your game is not tight, it’s probably not. Step it up. You can connect with all the people in the world or read informative articles until you’re blue in the face, but if you aren’t preparing for that opportune moment, then you’re just wasting time. Is your resume on point? How does your professional wardrobe look? Do you need to update your portfolio or start to create one? Where are your business cards? Have you updated your LinkedIn profile? (I LOVE LinkedIn by the way) It’s all about being ready when the door opens for you to walk in.

Thinking like a stripper as a professional is not about having sex with everyone you meet, sliding down the flag pole of every company that you want to work for, or getting in cat fights in 5-inch stilettos. The mind of a true stripper is the go-getter mentality. Nothing will stop them from reaching their goal and using the resources they have within reach to strive for their ultimate dream. Whatever that may be. Regardless, go get what you want.

GP

P.S. Thanks CrysKen!

Fresh Start, New Direction

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Nearly two years ago, I created a blog that captured my adventures in the DC Metro Area. I wrote about my dates, events I attended and promoted, and everything else in between. Surprisingly, I didn’t realize how many readers I had gained until I retired my blog after moving back to Michigan. My choice was an unfortunate decision, but needed to be made. Now that I no longer encounter dates of horror, fun tech parties, amazing happy hours, molester-looking masseurs, or issues on a metro––my life has become pretty dull.

It is time to reinvent.

I have been thinking a lot about my life: where I want to be, what I want to do, and how I am going to get there. I want to dedicate this blog to all the–I’m creating a new word right now–careerists. Wait, I just google’d the word to see if I am actually the sole proprietor of it–I’m not. However, I shall use it anyway.

[cue patriotic music in background]

This blog is dedicated to every careerist out there. The careerist who gets bored easily at their job; who asks the questions that people don’t want to answer; who caught the revelation that their company doesn’t have their best interest in cultivating their potential; who daydreams about truly making a difference, but not quiet sure how; who budgets excessively in order to have some type of engaging social life with other innovative thinkers; who seeks mentorship opportunities in order to expand their abilities; who travels the search engine highways seeking professional groups, networking functions, volunteer opportunities, and informative blogs in order to feel purposeful in some way because their company still functions in the stone age.

[abrupt pause of patriotic music]

Of course, I will talk about anything else going on in my world that is interesting, but I really want to share all that I have observed and learned while trying to survive in this realm called “the workforce”.

Enjoy!

GP

Side note: After reviewing my post, I am never going to use the term “careerist” again. Ever.