Superstition and Why Persistence Literally Pays Off

There's been a lot of radio silence from me in the past two months, and there are a lot of reasons for that (like a three-week Seattle hiatus, and a pesky case of writer's block trying to write this article), but the biggest reason is superstition. I am a scientist, by nature, by education, and until recently, by profession, so superstition is not a sandbox I play in much. But when it comes to exciting new things, I get very superstitious. An exciting thing happened, and all could think was DON'T TALK ABOUT IT OR IT WILL DISAPPEAR. 

This superstition exists for reasons I'm sure most of us can relate to. You meet someone you really like, go on a few dates, tell all your friends how excited you are about this new person, and then she tells you she just wants to be friends. Or you apply to a job, get an interview, and then another, and feel excited, tell everyone how excited you are, and, whoosh, sorry, we went with another candidate. Failure is a part of life, but it's extra bitter when those people you told inevitably ask how things turned out and you have to tell them they didn't. In my life, it began to feel like when I opened my mouth to talk about something exciting that hadn't happened yet, it would, POOF, turn into a cloud of dust and float away in the breeze. 

So I've been quiet on here, because everything I had to say felt like it was too soon to say it, felt like if I talked about it as if it were real, it would slip away. Cautious optimism is my comfort zone. 

Two months ago I had an informational interview that led to today, my first day as a paid copywriter (What! Is this real life?). In the past two months, I've tried as hard as I can to not talk about it too much. Or if I did, to make sure to include the caveat, "but anything can happen!", or "it's not real until it is!", or "lots can happen in two months!". It made me feel better, like I was sacrificing some of my hopes to the fates so that they wouldn't be too high if things fell through, so the fall wouldn't kill me, only break a bone or two. It felt dangerous to act like it was real before it was. 

When I got the job offer via my email, I was sitting in my neighborhood library, writing, working on a project. My inbox lit up with a new email and as my eyes skimmed the content, the breath left my lungs. One of the few times in my life a bit of news has literally taken my breath away. A curious cocktail of emotions flushed through my body, and I teared up. Without self-restraint I would have screamed, channeling an eagle, or a jungle gorilla, turning the heads of every man woman and child in the quiet library. Everything I'd been working towards, coming to fruition. My big gamble, my giant leap, my all-my-eggs-in-one basket approach, succeeding. Triumph! 

As I thought about it, and my mind traced back the series of events that led to my actual job making actual money selecting actual words to go in actual ads, it dawned on me how amazing the journey so far has been, and I wanted to share it with you, in hopes that maybe it will inspire you, give you hope, or put a fire under your ass. I've shortened or omitted names to preserve anonymity (I am superstitious after all, it's still early enough that if I tell you too much it might POOF and go away). 

1. Four years ago, living in Indianapolis, a designer friend told me he thought I'd be a good copywriter. Back then I didn't know what a copywriter was, but I knew I liked writing and being creative. 
2. When I moved to Seattle, as I became less content with my career path, I looked up copywriting and took a class at the School of Visual Concepts. I loved the work and loved the creative process.
3. I took another class, this time on creative concepts. The teacher was great and the assignments were fun. In this class, I met a woman that told me that a great way to network, and maybe get a job, was to ask for informational interviews. I'd never heard of an informational interview. "You never know, someone might like you," she told me. 
4. That weekend I canvassed most Seattle agencies via email, telling them that I was interested in the industry, and wanted to know more about their agency.
5. I got only one response from all the emails, and set up an informational interview. I met a guy named A. He was very nice. 
6. From that informational interview, I was given four more names of people he thought I should meet. One of them was a guy named T. He was very real. He gave me three more names, and said I should always walk away from an informational interview with three more people to meet. 
7. One of the names he gave me was a woman named B. She was very sharp. She gave me three more names.
8. From one of those three names, I got an informational interview with M at the agency I am now employed at. I didn't ask for a position, didn't expect one, am still shocked that I have one. 

There are a lot of other moving parts involved, like taking on summer projects, and the countless informational interviews that were purely that. But it's incredible, the chain of events. I can't think about it without feeling the same sense of wonder and bafflement. 

I wrote previously about networking like a detective and I can't stress it enough. Be persistent, follow all leads, and never stop pursuing. My only caution is to keep exciting new things close to your chest, lest you tempt fate to steal them from your grasp. But hey, maybe I'm just being superstitious.