Redefining the "professional me"

The other day, I was having a conversation with a friend about our graduation ceremony. It has been a while since this wonderful celebration occurred (2021 seems so far away now!) and despite being blissfully young in our minds, we suddenly felt quite old, reminiscing how easy life seemed back then.

Our careers, our lives, our friendships have changed a lot in the last few years and we are now "adulting" for real... meaning we can't see each other unless we've planned it weeks in advance, we have one glass of wine instead of three because we have to work the next day and we talk about mortgages and investment options as if they were the most interesting topics around (no offense to anyone who works in that field, they are just a tad less glamorous topics to discuss in my world??).

When I took the metaphorical entrepreneurial plunge last year, resigning from my amazingly interesting role at a digital marketing agency named Katanya , I shook up everything I'd known about my professional life. I suddenly had to reinvent my entire identity, find a career and business pathway that would suit my big dreams and struggle to build something from the ground up all on my own.

I had to redefine who I was as a professional, what I stood for, what my strengths and weaknesses were (realistically, without all the fluff) and then work tirelessly to get to a point where my brain would accept this new reality.

Hi, if you haven't met me, my name is Laetitia ? (pronounced La-ti-sha in Aussie English). I'm a French Digital Marketer living in Brisbane, Australia, and I am the owner of Digitally LC , the Brisbane-based digital marketing agency for mission-driven businesses.

Most of my life has been spent searching for my ONE TRUE VOCATION, the passion that I would be able to capitalise on, the cause that would make me get out of bed enthusiastically every morning, just like all the other marketers out there seem to do. After working as a freelancer/business owner for a year, I now must face this undeniable fact: my one true passion is being curious and staying open to new experiences.

Do I want to learn how to use a platform I'll never use in my day job? Yes, please. Do I want to pursue a role in an industry I don't have any experience in? Sign me up. Do I want to start a newsletter on Linkedin to share the chaotic ups and downs of my professional soul searching? Yes, yes, yes! ??

In my humble opinion, curiosity is the essence of personal and professional growth. The ability to try new things, explore new perspectives and challenge your current beliefs every day is such a strength to possess. It will prepare anyone to accept the new realities they are creating for themselves, in a much more flexible way. Pair that with a penchant for eternal optimism and spontaneity and you possess the no-regrets trifecta.

Curiosity + Optimism + Spontaneity = No regrets forever

That is why redefining who I am as a professional has been both a very rewarding task and a daunting nightmare. Once you find yourself working on your own, without a team to validate you or give you constructive feedback regularly, your perception of your own decisions becomes biased. You are the only one who can confirm that you are heading down the right path and that you are exactly who you are meant to be.

You set your own expectations, your own daily routine, your own processes that work best for you. Today, I'm happy to announce that despite the creeping doubt that lives in my brain rent-free, I can affirm that I am one year closer to being the thriving professional I want to be.

So I guess this is it. This is what the "Digitally Smart" newsletter will procure you with. A bit of happy news, a smidge of inspiration and a whole lot of honest advice on how to navigate the ups and downs of defining what your career can and will look like, whether you are a marketer or not. We will obviously discuss marketing-related topics as well, because it is an absolutely fascinating world. However, there is more to existence than this tiny corner of marketing paradise and I am so excited to deep dive into it with you.

I shall leave you with this bit of advice to start redefining the "professional you" today (or at least start reflecting on it, if you are questioning your current responsibilities).

Take some paper ?? (if you're a bit of a nerd like me) or your laptop ??(if you're way more modern and oh so 2024) and create a master to-do list of things you want to achieve in your career. It can be anything from completing a typo-less report this week to writing 20 books on a topic you are passionate about. The more bullet points you have, the more you'll see patterns emerge. You will be able to use these to direct your career towards roles and jobs you are actually meant to be in.

Dream big and keep curious my friends, see you next week!?