How to turn your dream job into a reality

“What do you want to be when you grow up?” My answer was a teacher, maybe a princess on some days. At nine, I distinctly remember a conversation with my mom about how cool it would be to work at the American Girl store. That became my DREAM job. I wanted to dress the dolls, set up their scenes, take their pictures. The idea stuck: how cool would it be if playing with my favorite dolls every day was my job?

Fifteen years later, I’m standing on the set of Good Morning America orchestrating a fashion show of six 10-year-old girls holding their look alike American Girl dolls to unveil the newest historical characters, twins from the 1990s. Talk about a full circle moment.

The journey to get here wasn’t linear. And while I received great advice, it felt like no one understood the struggle of figuring out what you want to do with your life and making it happen. So, I want to pay my lessons learned forward.

Here are three pieces of advice I got at the start of my career that helped turned my DREAM job fantasy into a reality.

1. Apply to everything. Getting your first job is really hard. After graduating college, I knew I wanted to do something in marketing, but I had a History degree, less experience than my peers and lacked any sort of calling. Then I was told to apply to everything. So I did. I applied to every entry level, full-time role or internship that sounded relevant and interesting despite experience or skillset requirements. I knew that if I was just given the opportunity, I could learn on the job. Turns out, if I let the requirements in a job description hold me back from applying, I wouldn’t be writing this article. After interviewing with Weber Shandwick for a winter internship, I thought, “I have no PR experience and what really is PR?” But when I heard I’d be working on commercials for the Big Game, I knew I had to get the job. I did get the job and eventually got hired full-time. But I felt like an imposter. Seriously, how did I get this job? Now working on a spirits brand, tracking millions of impressions as we launched a Christmas tree made out of whiskey bottles. I questioned myself every day and was terrified to make a mistake and prove my deepest fears right.
2. Trust you belong. My second piece of advice that I didn’t always remember: trust that you belong where you are. While I am lucky to work in an industry with smart and talented people, it’s easy to feel like an imposter as someone who’s in their first ‘real’ job. Remind yourself that you are good and smart enough. Everything you do isn’t going to be perfect. You’re going to make mistakes and you won’t shine every day. But if you work hard and truly try, you’ll gain the confidence.
3. Share your opinions. My third piece of advice: don’t shy away from sharing your opinions. People want to hear from you. In fact, almost every brand I work with has looked directly at me for my thoughts as a token Gen Zer. Because we have a fresh take, a new perspective and we’re the next big group of consumers that brands are targeting. So speak up. It helps you stand out in a group, shows you’re willing and care enough about your work to be vulnerable – and it makes people remember you.

As an almost 25-year-old, I’m still learning. I still feel like an imposter, lack confidence and sometimes I’m still afraid to speak up. But guess what? I’ve learned almost everyone feels the exact same way. We’re all just trying our best -- and that’s the most liberating realization of all.