Have you ever had that feeling that you know you're meant to pursue a certain path, but you can't explain why? I've had that feeling as I've traversed along a journey from sports to fashion and beauty to tech, all with a degree in communication. With each experience preparing me for the next, I felt confident that I would excel on each new plateau. I'm a big believer in alignment and finding what you're passionate about but more importantly, in trusting the process and having faith that everything happens for a reason.
For me, it's always been about helping people feel good about themselves--whether through image consulting, positively influencing them through content creation or empowering them to pursue their passion. When the opportunity to pivot again presented itself, I did not hesitate to plunge in.
If you're considering a career change or pursuing a new opportunity, my best advice is to be patient, trust your instincts, and don't give up. It's not always easy, but it will be worth it in the end. In this blog post, I want to share my story of how I ended up in the technical side of beauty and in alignment with my personal mission.
Following my cocooning phase, as mentioned in my previous blog post: How to Use Your Cocooning Phase to Your Advantage, I have begun to truly spread my wings again in a familiar industry. As a model and entrepreneur, Modelpreneur, I learned that my passion lies behind the scenes. I've always found myself drawn to the business, marketing and production aspects of the visual fashion and beauty displays that we all love and adore.
In this new chapter of my life, I am now working on the tech side of beauty. By grabbing hold of the opportunity to reflect on my experience with The Modelpreneur Bootcamp and rebuild after the onset of the pandemic, I was able to increase my knowledge base in both business, project management and tech. I am now entering into the innovative world of beauty technology with an emphasis on optimizing the consumer and brand experience.
If you're wondering if I knew that this is where I wanted to end up, the answer is no. I had no idea where the journey was taking me, but I have learned to sit back and enjoy the ride. I am a firm believer that we can co-pilot the ship of our lives with our actions and intentions but ultimately, we have little choice other than to trust the process. Interestingly enough, although not surprising, things have worked out perfectly.
When the spirit led me to resume one of my first loves of technology during the pandemic, I was concerned that it would divert me from working in the industry I was already so passionate about. For a while, it seemed to do just that. My skill set and prior experience needed to be adapted to the tech sector, so I had to buckle down and really give it my all. For 6 months, I worked full-time in an apprenticeship and committed myself to learning Full Stack JAVA Software Development. With 9+ hours a day invested, I graduated with honors and was invited to join the company's application engineering team.
I had previously believed that software engineering was the path I was supposed to take, and I was overjoyed by my success, but my instincts were telling me that I was not meant to settle in that particular role. Deep in my spirit, I knew that increasing my technical know-how was only meant to pave the way to my ultimate goal. I knew that I wanted to grow in the tech industry but that I also wanted to make a difference in the world in a way that is unique to me. I had never before considered that there was an entire sector dedicated to beauty technology with my name on it until I was offered my current role as a program manager at a beauty technology company. I am now in a position to directly connect with the beauty brands that I know and love on a whole new level, providing innovative solutions, helping to enhance the consumer experience, building relationships and improving business processes. In an unorthodox way, many of the experiences that I've had previously have prepared me for this exact role.
Affirmation: "Every step taken, every lesson learned, every victory won has prepared me for such a time as this." - An Empowered Life
I think that God has a great sense of humor in how he demonstrates to us how much His plan is superior to our own. All that time, I was afraid of getting off track when, in reality, I was always right on time. My new position revealed to me why I needed to wait a little longer, and it showed me why every other door had previously been shut. I'm so grateful for the rejections that turned out to be a simple redirect.
What I've learned from all of this is that alignment, patience, and faith are key. When we are in alignment with our purpose, doors open, and the universe conspires to help us. Patience is required to walk through those doors and faith is required to know that even if the path isn't clear, everything will work out exactly as it is supposed to.
So, whatever you're going through, whatever challenges you're facing, know that there is a reason for it all. Trust that you are exactly where you're meant to be and have faith that everything will work out in the end. You might just find yourself taking flight in a familiar industry. or somewhere completely new. It will be beautiful in any case.
"Spread your wings and fly. You were meant to touch the sky"
Thanks for reading!
Cole