Why I left a decade-long career in the mainstream media to start my own business.

AS somebody who tells stories about other people, it’s interesting to find myself sharing my own story - not least because it includes a chapter on entrepreneurship, something that my five-year plan did not see coming.

But a plan is just a story that you haven’t written yet. So before I get into it, I suppose the lesson here is that your plan - your story - can change.

And what a beautiful thing it is, to never know how your story ends, and give yourself permission to say, “I change my mind.”

The Early Years

It’s not easy to leave TV. As hard as it can be to peel yourself away from your television screen in an evening, it is even harder to peel out of an industry that has cultivated and curated you, taught you almost every skill within your creative armoury, and connected you with everyone you know professionally.

The not-quite corporate overtone adds to the industry’s allure; there is a place for everyone here: creatives, writers, filmmakers, accountants, managers, presenters, coordinators, visionaries. It is a fast and fertile space which can quickly become your home if you let it.

Which is why, after my first taste of work experience at the BBC during university, I thought I had found it.

While some of my friends were still soul searching in their early twenties, I was resolute that my decision to become a journalist as a teenager had been the right one. Instead of chasing A-grades, I could now chase stories.

I fell in love with journalism, excited that I had found a career path that combined my strong ambition with my interests in learning and storytelling.

The ‘Big Break’

After graduating, I moved to London with my best friends to start my first ‘proper’ job as a digital content producer. In true capital cliché, we had next to no money, but the best time of our lives, carving out our early careers.?

I grafted and learned everything I could at my place of work: from scripting, to researching, producing, editing, and audience engagement - all to the backdrop of North London pubs and partying.?

Then the ‘big break’ came, when I landed a dream job at the BBC back up North, in their factual & documentaries department.

As a freelancer, I thought I had it made - proudly working myself to the bone during contract time, and then taking travel breaks in between jobs.

Disillusioned

But several years in, and halfway up the editorial ladder, something changed.

I started to feel like something was missing from my work - that maybe the conversations I was starting on screen weren’t always the right ones.

What value was I adding to people’s lives, really? This answer would vary, depending on whatever project I was producing at the time.

But even if they were important stories - were these ever worth working myself to exhaustion?

As personal development and wellbeing became increasingly prominent figures in my life, so too did my disillusionment in the ‘work hard, play hard’ mentality that surrounded me every day.

"In between the Inca Ruins, hostel-hopping, pasteis de nata, walking tours and Californian hikes, I kept running into small business owners everywhere I went."

A New Direction

At first, I tried to ignore it - I kept working hard on different media projects.

But although I was proud of my work, I couldn’t shake this nagging feeling that there were more important messages to share - which wouldn’t be at the compromise of my mental health.

The paradoxical boredom and burnout was real. “Is this it?” I asked myself, repeatedly. When I got bored of that, I turned to the most millennial of problem-solvers: air travel.

The only thing I knew at this stage, was that I wanted something new (and also that it would probably be quite nice to see Machu Picchu after being stuck inside for two years).?

And then it happened - or kept happening, I should say.

In between the Inca Ruins, hostel-hopping, pasteis de nata, walking tours and Californian hikes, I kept running into small business owners everywhere I went.

Suddenly I was in conversations that I actually cared about, with people who valued the same things as me.

I finally knew what I wanted to do - and most importantly, who I wanted to help.

Taking the Leap

Back in the UK at my old media job, I worked behind the scenes to build my business, and started helping other small business owners with their own marketing.

It was tough, having a day job and a side hustle at the same time - but so rewarding to have a sense of meaning again, and help others create their own meaningful conversations on everything from health, to spirituality, creativity and entrepreneurship.?

Then when my place of work announced a mass redundancy, I knew this was a make-or-break moment.

Do I get another job in my old industry and keep helping people behind the curtain - or finally take the leap (the pay cut, the uncertainty, the new chapter) and go all in on my brand storytelling business??

I took the leap, and so far it’s been a real page-turner.

I’m now so fortunate to spend every day creating (and consuming!) content that actually feels purposeful, and help other business owners to do the same.

And my 19-year-old self - so keen to make her career about sharing truth with her audience - will be pleased to know that some parts of the story never change.

The Beginning.?

If you're interested in learning how to show up more authentically in your business and marketing, take my free quiz to learn your Authenticity Archetype: https://consciouscommunicationschool.com/free-quiz