The Rock Star Squad is back y’all! And our newest member is the delightful Whitney Oppenhuizen. I met Whitney earlier this year on Twitter and she has since been such an avid supporter of Polka Dot Coaching. She recently made some very big, very powerful changes in her life so that she can live out her dream of doing PR in the big city. I think you’ll enjoy her inspirational journey.
Tell us a little bit about yourself
I have been in the “real world” for a year now, having graduated with a bachelor’s in Public Relations in May of 2010. I grew up in a small town in Michigan and was blessed to be able to actualize all of my little girl dreams. EVEN getting a pony – yes, I was one lucky girl. Then, as I got older I started to realize dreams were “hard” to achieve, slowly psyching myself out of bigger adult dreams.
Did you go through a quarter life crisis? How was your transition into the “real world?”
By February 2010 I had settled into a full on “quarter life crisis” (even though I was a couple year’s short of the big 25.) I didn’t have any leads on a full time job. I was terrified of moving back to my hometown and not realizing my dream of moving to Chicago to work at a PR firm. I was paralyzed by fear of not being good enough to find the kind of career I wanted.
Then, after graduation I did the scariest thing, I moved home. Through determination and massive amounts of “self check-ins” (blogging, journaling, meditating…) I found an internship that moved me out to Wyoming AND a remote internship in based in Chicago. It was a wonderful experience, I was motivated and challenged. The move led me to find love too. Like most women that was one of those dreams I couldn’t wait to realize and that often fought for attention with my professional dreams.
You recently made one of your big dreams a reality – can you tell us more about it? What helped propel you forward to accomplish your big goal?
While working and living in Wyoming I met a guy, who quickly became my best friend and significant other. While starting things with him I was getting antsy with my internship. I had grown but saw that I wasn’t going to be able to continue to grow and move toward my ultimate dream of moving to Chicago to work at a mid-sized PR / marketing firm. I found a job near the boyfriend, who lived on the other side of the state, and continued to grow. In this new position I started learning about the business world. Eight months later I was antsy again. I knew it was a now or never time to get to Chicago and realize my professional dream. The propeller, was dropping the fear and having an amazing boyfriend. He refused to let me forget what I knew in my heart was my passion and goal. He never once said “If you love me you’ll…” He would only say “You need to follow your life’s path and we’ll figure out a way to make it work.” And we sure have!
What false belief did you have to get rid of in order to really move forward?
The false belief I dropped was “But I’m comfortable here, I know this world.” It would have been so easy to stay in my nice office job, where I was respected and kicked butt as an executive assistant. Yes it was comfortable, but it wasn’t fulfilling. I wasted away my days quickly running through work and having bitch sessions at the local bar about the 40 hours a week I spent in a meaningless job. (By the way I never wanted to be that person.)
How are you now living life on your own terms?
By moving to this wonderful place and finding my dream job, I am living life on my own terms. I refuse to let myself settle. It’s very easy to get comfortable and settle in for the long haul but I believe that you can’t be truly happy if you aren’t challenging yourself to grow. I refuse to let any doubt in my head or doubtful words from others stop me from giving this dream the old college try.
What’s the hardest part about following your dream? What was the easiest?
The hardest part about following my dream was actualizing it. When I was offered a job at a small start up marketing agency I was so excited. That excitement quickly turned into fear as I thought of about 10,000 “what-ifs.” It could so easily fall apart, why would I want to risk what I had already started building for the unknown that just sounded good. What made it easy was having support and the realization that if you don’t try you’ll never know. If this job doesn’t work out or I turn out to not be a city girl after all, at least I tried. I know I can move back to Wyoming or “worse,” go home and re-boot.
Do you have any advice for anyone who has a big goal but is unsure of how to go about achieving it?
The advice I have is advice I was given at summer camp years and years ago. My counselor told me “Suck the marrow out of life.” I was that painfully shy nervous camper who passed up on all the cool day trips and events because I was scared. DON’T BE SCARED. Just ask yourself “what’s the worst that could happen?” Yes it might sound scary; the worst that could happen to me now is I get let go or leave my job because it’s just not a good fit. Then I would have to find something else here in the city or move home. But really, I’m 24 years old. I have time to bounce back. That’s not that bad at all!
Anything else?
The scariest thing you could do is to not take that chance. Imagine yourself 40 years from now, you’re in your mid 60’s or 70’s and you look back on your life. Imagine what you might be thinking if you didn’t follow your passion. Would you be thinking “I should have just taken that job or made that move just to see what would have happened.” Or would you be thinking “I’m so glad I found the gumption and took that leap, look at how different my life is!” Heck even if that 70 something year old you is thinking “Well at least I tried, it’s better to have tried and failed then to be thinking ‘what-if.’”
Thanks so much for sharing your story, Whitney! I absolutely love her advice on ‘Sucking the marrow out of life’ – what an excellent metaphor for living life to the absolute fullest. Keep up to date on Whitney’s adventures on her blog. Or you can rub shoulders with her on LinkedIn or on Twitter.
Are you taking your life by the reins and living on your own terms? Then I want to feature YOU! Email me – nblades[at]gmail[dot]com – if you’d like to be the next Rock Star in our Squad.
