Mimosas and Manhattan | Taking A Leap… With A Lot of Faith & Prayers

Happy Friday! So – today is very monumental day and a huge turning point in my career. Honestly a day I have been dreaming about ever since starting this blog FIVE years ago with Kelly. To cut to this chase – today marks the last day at my corporate job @ Macy’s and come 1pm the first day of being an entrepreneur and taking the blog on Full Time! As many of you who follow, may know, there have been many turning points in my career that have lead me to this decision. You can find the past articles for catch up HERE and HERE. I knew after about 2 years that product development was not the correct path for me, but it paid well, I was able to find a balance there, and you just begin to remain complacent in those roles. I got up every Monday-Friday was into work by 9am (sometimes 9:30am, sorry Mara (my old boss lol)) and would work until 6pm. Hard work. Exciting work at times! I never hated it, and was never unhappy just knew I was made for something different. However in many of our lives those leaps will not happen unless we are pushed. Generally that push will  need to come from someone else.

Well that push came in the private label brand I work for getting dissolved. When this news came I thought at first – should I go full time blogging? But I was not ready, I didn’t think I could do it. So I stayed on working solo for the brand throughout the Summer. It was an amazing decision and I am extremely happy that I made it. It showed me when working alone, that you always have to be on. I was working crazy hours but it allowed me to easily transition out of the company. While not burning  bridges but as my current manager would say… I built bridges with Macy’s on my way out. And to anyone entering the fashion industry you must know… Never ever burn a bridge. The industry is way to small.

To be real and honest as we always try to be in these situations – I am unsure if I will succeed. There are so many bloggers that when writing these “I am going full time blogs” start with a detailed list of when you should know that it is time to take the leap – Well I am here to tell you I have no clue wtf is going to happen.  I have told my parents I think I am only going to do this for 2 months. Lol. I just moved into a brand new apartment in the city, I have rent and bills and in no way want to dig into my savings unless needed. I obviously believe in myself and want to make this work and into a career but having a business like minded brain, I have to be real with myself. I AM SCARED! This will be a huge change. Working a corporate job, I have the security that I will be getting paid twice every 2 months. In the blogging/entrepreneurial world, payments come and go. You sometimes get paid immediately, sometimes on Net 60 terms, sometimes never and have to literally track clients down. There is no manager or HR or CEO backing you or helping you. Kelly & I operate Mimosas and Manhattan completely on our own. We have no mgmt, assistant, intern, anything – except my Mom, she is our accountant and rocks! However I never want anyone reading this to think or get the wrong impression that bloggers make this leap and start earning 6 figures. It does not work that way and there is an incredible amount of hard work and determination that grounds us to be able to do what we do.

This is one of the biggest leaps of faith I have ever taken. As some of you know I am an incredibly planned out person. In college my roommate Sophomore year, Danka, we never once got in an argument except for about time. We were perfect roomies but she is a care free personality, flies by the seed of her pants, WHICH IS AMAZING. I, however, am like DANKA WE NEEDED TO BE AT THE DELTS PREGAME AT 10PM SHARP.  Everything in my life thus far has been planned. I committed to my college in August going into my senior year of High School. I committed to my full time job at Macy’s, August going into my senior year of College. Not knowing the unknown is unsettling for me. But it feels right and I am so excited to take you all on this journey with me.

As in please follow along on Instagram stories to see the highs and lows, and my true/honest opinions of what I think about this new career path.

In closing I want to thank all of my co-workers at Macy’s for an incredible past 3 years with the company. There is one thing in my early 20s that I will never regret and that would be taking this corporate job. I got placed on an incredible private label brand that allowed me to not only learn the ins and outs of product development, but I was able to spread my wings creatively and analytically. I know I am more than equipped with the tools to succeed. So to my Thalia gals I love you all and so happy/proud of all that we are now doing with our lives. We truly made sour lemons into sparkly/fierce/amazing lemonade.

Sincerely, Courtney.

Posted By: mimosasandmanhattan · In: Life