Start Me Up, DC!

When I was a little girl, I wanted to be a ballerina. Well, maybe not so much a ballerina, but I remember specifically telling my mother that I wanted to be a dancer. At 5 years of age, I was told that “I didn’t have the figure to be a dancer” by a family member, which as you might guess, made a large impression on me if I’m relaying this story at just shy of 30 years old. Needless to say, although I still love to dance, I never became a dancer, and funnier still, I’m a very petite little thing. (This isn’t a pretty moment that I’m relaying from childhood, but there’s a point here. I promise.)

The point being: Unlike what seems like an unnaturally large portion of my girlfriends, which my guess may all fall within a the amorphously defined Generation Y demographic, I wasn’t the kid who was told I could do anything. And, I’m not saying this for a pity party. Truly. My parents were plenty supportive, but they raised a very sensitive child to be almost horrifically practical, and who I might add became a very responsible, caring adult (if I do say so myself). And heck, there’s nothing wrong with making practical or logical decisions at any point in life, except when they become paralyzing, limiting, or actually surprisingly impractical personally.

So, with that primer, let’s fast-forward to the present. Shall we?

The MBA: I started business school a year and half ago because it was a practical degree (shocker). And honestly, I think that’s what graduate degrees should be unless you have gobs of money. I had worked in two very different and yet strikingly similar businesses, entertainment and politics, and was frustrated at the lateral move that a career change had landed me with. Graduate school simply provided leverage. I toyed with the idea of law school. Didn’t want to be a lawyer. Toyed with policy. It was too limiting for a communications hack. But, management. Good management and leadership was needed everywhere.

I think I had convinced myself I knew what I wanted to do when I applied to business school. I was all about green business and corporate social responsibility. The talking points were really sexy and pretty idealistic:  I was going to go private to go public. And, hey, in the end it was part of the reason why I chose The George Washington University School of Business over a higher ranked competing DC business school I was accepted to (which on an off day I find myself wondering about).

You probably would’ve laughed if you had seen the shear horror on my face in my very first accounting class. Now, a year and half into my part-time pursuit of this MBA, I’m far from a CPA, but I feel more comfortable in a business school class than I did in some of my film-school classes (and I’m a pretty artsy kid). Actually, it’s been a very strange year and a half both personally and professionally, and it’s really school that has *always* been my constant.

Because Everyone Loves a Good Transition: I’ve never been a big believer in “fate” (probably a whole other blog/blog post). I frankly hate the idea that some high power has already decided things for you. Pure crap. However, sometimes I do believe that the universe is conspiring. Sometimes. It’s the whole concept of you get back what you put out, karma, you get the point. That combined with dumb freaking luck. That said, I took a instrumental class this January called Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership (which I’m still currently in), and my world shifted. I know that sounds dramatic, but really. There are a number of pieces of this shift here but to simplify it comes down to three main things: a toxic work environment, an incredible professor, and asking for help.

Now, the story doesn’t end here. It’s actually, oddly enough where it all begins. You’ve caught me mid-transition. And I think it’s a big one. Yes. It’s the fact finding, soul searching kind of transition that leads one to put their big girl entrepreneur pants on and jump.

I think you’ll enjoy the ride.