I've Left On a Mission

Sliced, Seared, Scabbed at the Heels

It took three years to master using chef's knives without cutting myself, not to mention the process of building calluses where you pinch the base of the blade. Some restaurants have deep ovens with many racks on which to burn yourself, and I've went through periods of being marked on all sides across the length of my arm.

Whenever my schedule went past bus hours, I would walk over two and a half hours every night to get home, until my heels and toes blistered and hurt with every step I took.

In my ways, I considered these perks of the job.

I've always been down for a little pain, especially when well compensated, but there also comes a time when enough is enough.

Especially when the pay no longer covers today's living costs.

More on that later in the article.

Five years in the food industry have gone quickly, but I'm ready to move on.

And time is of the essence! This piece will speak of my journey up until now, where it’s going, plus a bit on how the LinkedIn community has supported me along the way.

Enjoy!

An Unexpected Pleasure

Who knew one could feel ecstasy on LinkedIn?

I didn't.

It surprised me to find real human life at all, when I found my sweet redemption in The Break Room, a private group dedicated to retail workers.

What a joyous surprise it was!

My gratitude to Rob Knott for inviting me there, also later for inviting me to the Getting Out of Retail Community. Among other admirable qualities, he's an observant and actionable fellow.

Now, it doesn't matter how weird or antisocial you label yourself, there's a special feeling in receiving community support.

Especially with our chaotic state of the world.

I've been setting myself up to break out of the service industry for a while, but there was something most recently holding me back.

Well, it was more than one thing, but let's focus for the story.

Point is, I needed help.

Because I couldn't figure out the perfect LinkedIn profile picture.

Just scroll past to 'On My Struggles With Switching Industries'.

The Original Profile Picture

The first step was easy: stop using the picture of me as a cook. Not only was it from two restaurants ago, but it now represented the wrong expertise.

Notes On The Old Photo

The cropped version hid the flour spots from my jacket.

Mainly, I enjoyed the pans hanging out in the background. Think: 'book filled shelves behind a life coach'.

It offers visual proof of my credibility.

"This person wears the uniform and they're surrounded by evidence of their position?" employers thought to themselves gaspingly, "I don't even need to think about it!"

"Indeed," they grasped, "he's a perfect fit."

To be fair, I don't think I've ever been hired in a kitchen over my LinkedIn profile picture. The real trick is to order food when the manager isn't busy, talk to them —be friendly— and mention you're looking for work in the industry.

In my experience, you'll walk out with a job. And that was before all restaurants were manically hiring.

Update v1.0

Trust; you matter, and so does your image.

It was settled then. If I'm going to be a professional writer, then I needed a new profile picture to reflect that. I don't normally take selfies to begin with, so this was going to be a challenge.

Two options came immediately to my attention:

1. A minimalist photo of me smiling against a plain background.
2. A picture of me working outdoors on my laptop, perhaps looking all cool and suave about it.

My first attempt wasn't an immediate success. ????

Something felt off.

Namely, my head might have been too tilted, and so I sought a second opinion. Please excuse the up-to-date screenshot. I never anticipated writing this piece about the original poll.

I believe the latter two options won me some extra engagement. Jennifer Hawkins was one of nine commenters who made my day.

No wait, one of eight.

Another just questioned my meaning and moved on; I accepted their confusion with an open heart, answered their question, then never heard from them again. Maybe they didn't believe my sincerity?

This is life.

To the rest, if you're reading this, and in which ever direction you leaned, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

I think The Breakroom was the right place to poll; it's where many of the real humans on the platform seem to be. Perhaps you'd like to contest this theory? This article is posted openly for all to see. Let me hear your mind!

But the best answers were definitely in the comments section.

Namely, were a few mentions that the tree in the background was throwing people off. I'd expected it, but wanted to see if anyone would say anything.

Oh yes— I love to experiment. And again, my heart did burst over these results!

Fine, I actually lie about experimenting with the tree.

It had gone right over my head! I appreciate being told it didn't work out.

The rest were providing constructive feedback or praising my decision to smile, tilt of the head and all.

My favourite comment suggested it reminded them of "Lifetouch senior photos".

If you haven't already, you might enjoy having a look at the rest of the comments.

It's heart-warming stuff.

Update v2.0

It was time to try again.

And did I ever try!

I lumbered around the house for ten straight minutes, equipped with the wide grin of a fool, looking for good lighting from angles that wouldn't glare out my glasses. It was sunny out, but finding an empty wall facing a window proved to be a challenge.

Things worked out in the end.

One commenter suggested I use the timer on my phone to pose more naturally in my photo. I loved this ideas, but wasn't equipped for it. Next time, perhaps!

And 'bottom-right' won the final challenge.

To all who voted, thank you warmly.

Each the quality and volume of your response took me off guard and created a moment I'll never forget.

On My Struggles With Switching Industries

Cooking and washing dishes professionally leaves me with mixed feelings and opinions about the restaurant industry. If you can find semi-respectable employers, then it's a great job.

For this reason, I was rather attached to my last location at M&M Bar and Grill.

There was a nice atmosphere, my days passed by quickly, and they fed me without limitations.

Starting the shift was my favourite part of the day.

Anywhere else, I wouldn't have taken a break; it was never worth getting out of the zone. But here, I could arrive and eat straight away. I made myself humongous meat and vegetable salads topped with fried eggs, feta and Greek dressing, or triple decker grilled cheese burgers, hot turkey wraps, chicken fingers...

I had my own secret menu.

Then I'd snack throughout the shift.

For a while, I struggled to quit sugar, because they always had pie.

By the end of every night, I was frying myself off two pounds of wings to take home. It was glorious. All that free food, and I never had to enter a grocery store or to make a mess at home.

Plus, they're one of the few places left who still use lard in their fryers.

It tasted so good.

Too good.

We were paid 18$/h plus 60$/week in tips, which was above average in my area when I received the raise.

Then minimum wage went up, followed by the rent of all the unclaimed homes, and there was a severe staff shortage.

Suddenly, everyone was paying in this range, but it didn't matter, because it no longer payed the bills. I was stuck in a sketchy and illegal basement apartment I still couldn't afford, and shortly had to move back home.

My commute became twenty-five hours a week, and I soon started thinking about alternative work options.

I'd long sworn never to work an office IT job; few entry-level jobs would cover my move; some places won't hire me because I choose not to drive; and in all cases, there was another path I wanted to take as a writer.

This is where I must publicly thank my family for being so supportive. My mother's on LinkedIn. Imagine me, but more skilled and successful.

Seriously, check out these qualifications.

Retraining

Since quitting my last kitchen job, I've focused on setting myself up for writing and marketing work.

Already starting in 2018, I've learned obsessively about the brain, psychology, and copywriting from a variety of reliable sources. The Brain Academy with Gregory Caremans was the first major step, directly followed by a slew of neuroscience based books and audiobooks, all of which I'll write about soon.

The following link is my first recommendation, because it's the one I started with, and I loved it. ??Except for the parts outlining animal experimentation that's no longer allowed today.

That made me sad.

I'm grateful for the discoveries, but it's good we don't do this anymore.

I'm working on summaries for all the books, in case you'll be interested in pursuing a similar path.

By Audible standards, I've become a scholar! Forty-one hours left before I'm a master. It's not precisely a reputable institution of learning, but I have an excellent collection, so I'll take it!

In 2020, I also decided to try out Jason Capital's material.

It wasn't cheap, and everyone told me I was going to get scammed, but all the negative results about him online were fishy in the way they didn't match up with one another, so I followed my initial instinct and sent him 1500$ for his Money Boss system.

To be fair, I was scammed later that year over apartment fraud. They used the "no viewings during Covid" trick.

I should have gone to see it anyway.

But Jason Capital over-delivered! The worst thing about him, realistically, is he dabbles in ethical grey zones.

And no, of course "Jason Capital" isn't his real name.

But some of his courses were pure gold, I'd even say materials that should be taught in schools — but obviously aren't. His Higher Status video course alone helped me get in touch with my feeling of purpose, taught me practical methods for state-control, and all around improved how I carry and feel about myself.

Since then, I've also discovered Brian Kurtz, Boardroom, and Titans Marketing.

That's a whole other level.

Brian is one of my favourite people on the face of this Earth, plus he worked directly with many of the greatest copywriters who've ever lived, from Gene M. Schwartz, to Clayton Makepeace, to Joe Sugarman, to Gary Halbert, to Mel Martin...

The list goes on.

I save all of his emails in my Roam graph, and interlink everything!

He also responds to your replies himself. I don't feel worthy of his attention, but I love it, and it inspires me to improve.

We had a short conversation one day as I discovered The Book of Secrets — published in the 80s — was something he'd personally been a part of, years after I found a copy at a thrift store.

Now I'm re-studying SEO from LinkedIn Learning.

I'd first watched the SEMrush courses, but wasn't well focused at the time and some key facts failed to stick. Their course is also free, because they really want you to use their fantastic — but hyper expensive — software.

I've also read SEO Mastery 2021 a couple of times and practice it lightly in my writing. Something about manipulating Google results for personal gain feels off to me.

Unless I believe entirely in my cause.

You might say I like to engage in anti-SEO.

Either way, it's all very exciting, and I'll continue updating my knowledge for as long as I live.

Writing Practice

Medium has been my primary practice ground since 2019, but most of my work is from the last year.

That process involved much... getting ?? out of my system.

I also needed to get over my fear of opening up online. But more importantly, I needed to forge new productivity habits.

Somehow, I even became a poet.

Every step has been worth it. But more than half my work is probably useless to represent my "professionality" as a writer. Plus, I've never earned more than 20$ in a single month on the platform.

Consequence of writing mostly for yourself, or avoiding the most popular topics— which are mostly clickbait on "how to get rich writing on Medium".

Not to mention I don't engage in outrage for clicks.

My Publications + Margie Willis

I eventually started The Ineclectic Publications for when I didn't care to wait for someone else to publish my work.

Now I invite other writers to contribute.

Btw, all present Medium links to my stories are FREE access. I can't, however, offer you the same for the following link by Margie Willis in the paragraph below.        

I'm grateful for my small base of loyal fans and/or people who are perplexed by me. Margie is one of my favourites; we occasionally like to banter and analyse one another in the comments of each other's pieces.

But since I've been exploring LinkedIn, I've slowed down from publishing on Medium to allow some of my less favourable writing habits to die off.

I was continuously discrediting myself, which wasn't healthy.

Instead, I've been focused on writing ten headlines a day as part of my new publication, The Prompt Headlines.

This purely started as practice for writing headlines until I realized it's such a fun way to serve writing prompts for other Medium writers.

It's a unique system. The prompts are more specific than normal, and writers are expected to rewrite the headlines before using them.

The process of creating ten headlines equally forces me to go over my library of knowledge while learning new things in the morning to fill in the gaps, something I've come to look forward to when I wake up every day.

I've now added over 530 headline prompts to the pub with no intention of slowing down.

Check it out, in case you'd like to join.

A LinkedIn Professional?

I'm gradually gaining comfort in this environment.

Polls are fun. Plus, they give me a chance to meet new people without having to get into a long conversation with all of them to get an idea of who they are. Sometimes it'll lead to a closer relationship.

There's still much to develop.

Many of these online job descriptions appear outside my comfort zone, so I know to push myself a little harder.

Getting the first bit of experience will probably be the hardest. I haven't applied to any writing jobs yet.

If I don't do it soon, I'll run out of money!

That wouldn't be good.

See how it goes.

One Final Moment Of Appreciation

I don't usually thank people this much, but today it feels right.

So, thank you for reading. I hope I could offer you some real value in the process. If you'd like to witness my journey moving forward, feel free to follow me here and anywhere else you can find me!

To make it easier for you, here's my website with all the links.

The content is different on every platform, so consider shopping around to see what you like.

I also offer free help with resumes and a couple of other services.

Seriously, if you get me to write you a free story, then use it to make a multi-million dollar movie without accreditation, I won't be mad.

Sounds ridiculous?

Try it.

Only one of each free service can be ordered at a time, so it's first come, first serve.

You're appreciated, take care.

Sincerely,

Lee G. Dupont

P.S. Seriously, let's connect if you feel it would be right for you. We're all in this together; don't forget it.