Welcome to Pep Talk!

My first piece of “published” writing was a poem I wrote about running in the third grade. It was one of the winners of my school’s young authors contest and, reader, it was awful! There were poorly constructed rhymes, weird word placements, and a cheesy ending.

Although, looking back on the paths my life has taken since 1989, the running part of that poem was quite prescient.

I entered my undergrad years at Ball State University without a solid idea of what I wanted to do for a career. I began as a biology major, which lasted all of one semester. I settled on History after that with a minor in Anthropology. I had a vague idea that I could use a history degree to work in a museum. After graduation, I struggled to find a job doing much of anything, especially working in a museum. I took the best option I could find – working at a hospitality supply company. Somehow, I lasted there for a little over five years. It was enough to teach me that the corporate world was not for me.

During the decade after I left that job, I reinvented my career one tiny step at a time. I went back to school and earned an MA and MFA in writing. I worked in higher education admin and then as an adjunct writing and communications professor. I loved my job teaching at the Milwaukee School of Engineering, but adjunct life was stressful. I had the opportunity to take a full-time teaching gig with Gateway Technical College, so I did. I quickly discovered that the adjunct life at MSOE was far superior to full-time life at Gateway. 

The COVID pandemic gave me the opportunity to step away from teaching and into freelance writing for the first time. I loved the freedom to work from home and set my own schedule. Then an opportunity to work as a contractor with the CDC came up and I settled into almost three years of contracted work with the agency while still doing some writing on the side. I also got certified as a running coach and picked up work coaching runners.

I ramble through all this background to demonstrate that there is no “right” way to have a career. This is not to say that I understood this for a long time. In fact, I spent my twenties and most of my thirties worrying that I wasn’t where I should be professionally. I wasn’t making as much money as I thought I should be, I wasn’t progressing up some imagined ladder of success. It wasn’t until I was working as a contractor for the CDC that I realized that it didn’t matter what path I had taken to get here – I was doing just fine career-wise. Even more importantly, I was happy with the work I was doing during the time I had at the CDC. I knew it was a temporary role – the contract was up for renewal annually so I always knew it wasn't a forever job.

I also knew that it was likely my husband and I would be moving away from the U.S. at some point. We had wanted to live in Europe for a long time and explored more options than I can remember. The knowledge that our plan was always to leave helped me feel less stressed about moving on from the CDC when my contract ended.

A series of events led to us choosing the Netherlands as our European destination. We timed our move with the end of my CDC contract and set off for a whole new adventure.

Obviously, I’m glossing over many details here. In reality, it was much more difficult and complicated to pack up our whole life and start over in a new country – but that’s a story for a different day. Long story short, we moved to the Netherlands, and I started my own freelance writing company. Of all the different careers I’ve had, writing has been the only one that I truly love and, to be honest, the only thing I’m good at.

Earning money as a writer often requires writing for other people. I write for businesses, typically blog posts, web copy, and other content. I pitch stories and essays to publications. This allows for more creative space. I enjoy these different types of writing, but I still want an outlet where I can write exactly what I want to write when I want to write it.

Which leads to Pep Talk!

Pep Talk is my brand-new weekly newsletter which will feature inspiring stories about doing your best, learning from failure, and accepting yourself. This newsletter is for all the eldest daughters, youngest sons, and anyone else who has always struggled to feel like you are enough.

We all sometimes need a reminder that trying to do our best is enough. It took me ages to understand that I didn’t have to excel at everything (or anything!) to be successful. I constantly put unsustainable pressure on myself to reach unrealistic expectations which only set me up for disappointment. In Pep Talk, I want to embrace best efforts, even if the process looks a little messy or imperfect.

I also want to create a dialogue about why there is so much pressure to constantly achieve. I’ll touch on the role social media plays in this and how to spot misinformation and stay out of the comparison trap. As I’ve gotten older, I find myself thinking more about what it means to have a good life. I know that constantly worrying about being enough or doing enough is not part of that definition. I know I’m not alone in my experiences, so my hope is to create a supportive community.

Pep Talk will be published every Monday with the potential for additional issues if it makes sense to add more. You can subscribe for free or choose to become a paid subscriber – I appreciate both types of support! Free subscribers will receive one or two full issues per month while paid subscribers will receive at least one full issue per week.

Every issue of Pep Talk will feature a piece of writing from me and some other stuff such as book things, cat things, running things – whatever happens to be one my mind.

Thank you for being here and please subscribe to help support my work and receive Pep Talk in your inbox.