Brooke Kelley steps out of the mainstream for new fulfillment
Risk or reward?
I completely changed the direction of my career after I lost my biggest fashion client, and I switched to a focus of spirituality and politics. I started my media business more than a decade ago, and for the longest time, I was working with mainstream media, mostly covering fashion and celebs. I got laid off one day from my nonmainstream tabloid gig, my biggest client at that time, next to Glamour magazine, and at the same time I had been doing a lot of research about the economy and bad legislation produced by the government.
For months, I was unable to recover a main source of income, and I had to take out loans from a family member.
By the time I had Life and Style ready to hire me, I decided to go in a totally different direction, and I started focusing on rights violations in politics. Even though I walked away from mainstream to write for alternative media, I find this to be much more rewarding, personally.
Past stories of Reinvention
LaVerne Adams lives life of her dreams
I have reinvented myself and my career numerous times. The most recent one happened last winter when I lost a freelance arts journalism gig. I started teaching music appreciation workshops based on the knowledged I gleaned as a journalist for the past 23 years.
I went from sitting behind a computer in my pajamas where I wrote my articles, to dressing more professionally and giving multimedia lectures at various places I might not have visited before. And now I witness the healing effects of music on the attendees and students that attend my workshops and presentations.
In a way, I have returned to performing, something I left manyyears ago.
By: pnwauthor on January 8, 2010
at 2:13 am