What Happens When You're Rejected From The Job Of Your Dreams?

It was September 2014. I graduated college and landed my first job as a publicist in Nashville. I spent my days building media lists, reaching out to local outlets, designing graphics and really immersing myself within the public relations industry in Nashville. It was a great beginning that really shaped my foundational knowledge in PR, but I constantly found myself dreaming of more.

With this feeling bursting inside of me, I decided to take a chance on myself. I loved entertainment and had helped shape a couple of major events in Nashville, so why not move to a city where there were even more opportunities to do what I loved? I spent a night searching Google to find the top public relations firms in the U.S. and ran across a list of the top 10 firms in Los Angels and NYC. I sent my resume to all of them and asked if they were currently accepting interns or hiring for any entry level positions. Only one firm got back to me and they offered me an unpaid internship.

Now this is when you'll likely call me crazy, but I took the unpaid internship. I moved to NYC the next month with only about $1,000 in savings. I had actually never even visited NYC until I stepped foot off the plane. Looking back on that, there was a vast amount of bravery inside of me - and quite frankly, immense naivety - that allowed me to take a leap like that. I paid my first month's rent of $800, pocketed the remaining $200, and put boots to the ground quick in order to secure some other form of compensation that would allow me to actually live out my dreams.

My initial thought - or at least what I told my parents so they'd have a bit of peace of mind - was that I'd only stay until December to get the experience I needed. However, as soon as I uttered the words I knew I was lying to everyone, especially myself. I wanted to stay. I was inspired. New York is the city of dreamers and it's where I firmly believed my dreams would come true, so why would I want to live anywhere else?

In order to survive, I went to my internship in Manhattan 3x a week. I took on a job as an after-school care associate at a program in the Bronx where I commuted and worked 3x a week. And, I freelanced from my apartment in Brooklyn Monday-Friday nights. It's safe to say, I was moving throughout the city.

I did this for 3 months - which can feel like years in NYC time. My internship was coming to a close at the end of December. I'd been reaching out to the internship coordinator about full-time opportunities and requesting that we meet to talk about what's available. My emails went unanswered, other interns were announcing that they were hired on full time, and after a couple of weeks of follow ups and no response I said to myself, "You're not going to get a full-time job here. It's time to move on."

Now you may ask, "Why do you think the coordinator never responded to you?" The answer is, I'm not sure. I had the basic skillset that the other interns were learning because I had already had a full time job in the industry. I was actually training the other interns on some of the basic tools. It's also important to now that at this point in my career I was a bit too young to really understand any of the racial or systemic issues that could've been at play. So, I chalked it up as a loss and kept it moving.

But at the end of the day, the rejection hurt. I had uprooted my life and was living well below the poverty line trying to make my dreams come true. At this point, I thought it was over and that I'd really be heading back to Nashville at the end of the month. In my eyes, I had failed.

I sulked for a bit. I felt all the feelings. And then I said to myself, you've got one more shot to make something happen. So once again, I put my boots to the ground and began applying for every entry-level role I could find at companies that focused on entertainment PR. In about a month's time, and countless interviews, I was accepting a new position at a new agency and had solidified my reason to stay in NYC. *applause, please!*

At the time I was 21 and this was my first real glimpse at what true rejection felt like. Rejection where I couldn't just fall back on my parents to help me out. I had to put on my big girl pants and make a way out of what seemed to be no way.

At the end of the day, I share my personal story to say these 3 things:

1. There's ALWAYS a way. A quote I live by is, "Passion produces perseverance." If you have your mind set on something, there are millions of ways to make that dream come true. It may not be how you initially planned and there will likely be plenty of ups and downs along the journey, but you'll get there.
2. Other people's opinions of you aren't truly reflective of your potential. I could've given up and headed back to Nashville. I wanted to give up actually. But, I felt like I had something more to prove with the rejection. I could still make my dreams happen without working under that coordinator and at that company, and I did.
3. It's okay to start over. This is only one part of my story. And, as most of you know, I don't even work in public relations nor live in NYC anymore. But, this experience shaped me. It taught me the real meaning of grit, endurance and bravery. It showed me what happens if I always bet on myself. And, it honestly was one of the first building blocks that led me to create my company now where I continually push for equal opportunities for diverse professionals.

Keep dreaming. Keep growing. And continue having unwavering grit.