The Tipping Point
I fucking love it.
Excuse me while I enjoy the waves of pleasure coursing through my body inch by inch, setting fire to my spirit and awakening me in a way that proves that I have only been half awake before this very moment.
I get it.
I’ve been trying to run away.
This new position and place in my life has presented multiple challenges and my immediate reaction is to say, “Forget it, I’m gone. I can make it on my own. I don’t need their input or advice, no one but God can move me anyway.”
But they’ve been patient with me.
In the past, at every company that I have been with, my goal was to stay and learn and grow and become an asset to the company simply because I like serving others and helping them grow but each time I presented a new marketing plan or a new outline of my job description I was rewarded with, “You’re fired.”
So this time when I settled in, I made sure to give my Director exactly what she wanted but I decided to expand that and give more. I didn’t ask permission this time, I just did it. Imagine my surprise when instead of hearing, “You’re fired.” I heard, “Good job.”
Huh? I’m not fired?
Aiight. If you didn’t say anything about that then watch me do THIS without asking!
~Ta, daaa!~
“Excellent, Tee!”
Huh? I can do that too? ~scratching head~ Are you sure?
~raising eyebrow~
It’s about to be on! They’re giving me creative freedom to flex and have as much fun as I want. My Director told me, “I trust you.”
For real? Damn…
Let me explain what is that I do.
When we have advertisers who order campaigns on our site, my job is to make sure that there is sufficient content to support their campaign so that our page view goals are met. In order to do that I have to sit down and think about who the advertiser is and what kind of stories would entice the target audience of the advertiser.
In addition to gathering content from our content sharing partners, my goal is for the content to be so fresh and specific to our audience that they can’t keep themselves from clicking and reading.
This is where I set the vision for the campaign and make a detailed list of topics I’d like to read about that support the vision. I have to make sure that there is enough fresh content to “roll out” the entire time the campaign is active which may be a month or a few months, depending on the contract. I also have to present my vision to the designers who will usually design a fresh page to meet my vision for the type of content I want to present. I also have to be mindful of incorporating the ads into the page design and also ensuring that my content is featured on the homepage in a variety of ways so that people will know it’s there.
Then I have to assess what writers I have working with me and decide who may be best to write each type of story because some of the stories are more research oriented while others are more flirty and fun.
In order to gather a group of writers I had to put ads out in different writing groups and ask for suggestions from bloggers I know. If you know a writer, tell them to contact me. I will give everyone an opportunity to show what they can do.
Every writer comes with a specific skill set that I am becoming more familiar with but they all have one thing in common; they’re hungry. They’re just like I was a year ago. I knew I had a gift and I wanted to use that gift, but I had no medium to put it out there. A writer without clips is not really a writer, at least that’s the gatekeeper into the journalism profession.
My goal is to allow brand new writers with little to no experience to have an opportunity to learn and grow with me as I become an even better editor. This experience has been rewarding for me because I love to coach writers but I’m also learning a lot about how to manage writers. I managed writers in Atlanta and they hated me for the most part because I challenged them. I was too rough with them. I eventually learned how to talk to them without offending them but ALL writers are sensitive about their work so it’s a hard cross to bear.
These writers are special because they come with so many rough edges and I have to remember that they may or may not have studied journalism like I have and I have to have compassion. But at the same time, I don’t want to coddle them or over edit their stories because if they take their clips to another publication, they won’t be able to deliver or deal with even more demanding editors like I have.
There’s a couple of shining stars in my armory of writers but one stands out among the rest. I’m kinda hard on her because I see what she can be. Her writing is so good that when she gave me her first story I had to ask her, “Did you really write this?”
The reason I love her so much is the fact that she’s dependable, she meets deadlines and when I give her an assignment, she puts her own spin on it and it turns out better than what I envisioned it to be. But the MAIN reason I love her is the fact that she offers herself to me. She’s hungry. When I was in Atlanta, she wrote me telling me that she wanted to write and could I please give her a chance.
I did give her a chance to contribute but her writing wasn’t ready yet. Or maybe the publication wasn’t a good match for what she could do. I didn’t publish her. When she learned that I had moved on to the website, she emailed me saying, “If there is any opportunity for me to write, please let me know.”
With other writers I have to go after them and present them with the opportunity because they’re not paying attention but SHE went after the opportunity herself and if there is any chance for advancement, she will be the first person I consider. Imagine where I’ll be in 5 years and guess who will be right there with me as we continue to trust each other and work well together.
If you see someone who is doing what you want to do, REACH OUT TO THEM. Ask them for advice or see if they could use your help. I’m not perfect and I continue to develop my leadership style but I WILL GET THERE.
Tonight I made a point to call the website’s Managing Editor and we chatted about her career, her philosophies on managing writers and what her ultimate vision for her life was. I asked for advice about different aspects of shaping content and we discussed how important it is to feed and empower Black people with the stories of their lives.
By the end of the conversation, our tones were relaxed and even a couple of, “Hell yeah’s” were peppered into the dialogue. We work well together because we both come to the table with no feelings of competition. We both truly want to see others grow and we want to present the best work for ourselves and our company.
I love THE RADIO MAN. I just had to add that. I can’t believe he started all of this and now look what it has become and look what it will do for my future!
I sat down with my Director today. Now I mentioned before that she’s cute but that’s not the best thing about her. The best thing about her is her ability to speak to me and give me room to show what I can do.
My last publisher in Houston felt like she had to hold my hand the entire time and it caused me to doubt my ability to perform. After I left there I realized this truth: If you always treat a baby like a baby, they never grow. Sometimes you have to turn around and let them sit up for themselves, using their own method. And you have to appreciate them for who they are and the what they bring to the table.
I am DEFINITELY going to write a book about the lessons I’ve learned from working for so many different leaders. You can try to imitate the idea but it won’t sell as many copies as mine, I promise you. My insite is amazing and I go into any relationship with a boss, LOOKING for lessons and principles to carry with me to the day when I am the head honcho.
Anyway, I sat with my Director today and we spoke about my position in the company and my progress and she said, “I gave you a job description and what you are actually doing is far beyond what I asked you to do. You came in and crafted the position into something that we have never done before but I must say it is very much valued and appreciated. I see that you are having challenges but they have nothing to do with your work.”
~blushing~ I have social challenges.
She challenged me to sit still and overcome the hurdles that come with working in a corporate office. Those of you who have been following me for years KNOW that I have never been able to handle the social politics of an office because I don’t care about that. I don’t care about being invited to parties.
I don’t care about having a clique to eat lunch with or what the latest gossip is and who is lying on who and who is sleeping with who. I have so much going on in my own world and in my imaginary love life that I don’t have time to sit down and have a whole conversation about someone else when it doesn’t affect me directly.
It offends my soul when I hear negative gossip and people saying, “I don’t like her.” Whenever I hear that kind of gossip I stamp the person and remember to never tell them anything that I don’t want the whole office to know because if they gossipped WITH ME then they will surely gossip ABOUT ME in the same manner.
Let me tell ya, I have never had a problem with making friends. I have always been extremely popular and I believe there are several reasons why.
1. I don’t TRY to be friends with anyone. I allow the connections to be made naturally.
2. I look for the best in everyone I meet and I celebrate that by pointing it out to them.
3. I don’t judge harshly. Your lifestyle is your lifestyle and as long as you’re not disrespecting me, we can be cool.
4. I don’t try to sway others opinions in a negative way. Just because I didn’t connect with someone doesn’t mean they are horrible and I should run and tell everyone to hate them. We just didn’t have a connection. Anyone who interacts negatively with someone based on what someone ELSE told them instead of using their own judgement is a pure FOLLOWER and…you really need to get a new leader because a real leader won’t encourage you to hate others. Leaders lead toward PEACE.
5. I DO ME. I ain’t walking around worried about what people will say about what I wear or who I’m sleeping with.
6. I’m focused on my own goals so I don’t have time to worry about (or gossip about) what others are doing. I don’t care what they are doing. There are some who just watch and criticize others as they are living their lives while there are those who are being watched and criticized for living their lives. I prefer to be the latter.
7. I love people. Everyone is special to me. Each person’s flaws are divine markings in my eyes. I love to discover the different interests or personality quirks in people because I have so many and I would hope that people find them endearing as well.
8. I don’t believe everything I hear. People are liars sometimes and they may shape a story to benefit their objective. I do it too sometimes so I always take stories with a ~sigh~. Entertainment purposes only.
As far as feeling like I have to humble myself to be accepted socially in the workplace. That ain’t gonna work with my personality. My sorority experience was valuable and I encourage every Black woman to have that experience based on the lessons you learn about working with a wide variety of women and not being able to give up on them, but I frown on the whole, “You’re beneath me for 10 weeks and then one day we light a candle and sing a song together and now we’re best friends” deal.
Naw, shawty. I will never be true friends with someone who feels as though they have to make me earn their friendship because that is not God’s way and I only want God given friendships. If I have to go through a “process” to make friends at work, they will never be my friends. I give love freely to anyone who wants it and I expect to attract women who do the same.
I’m writing all this because I am so excited to learn from the professionals that God has placed in my life. My team is strong in personality and talent and regardless of how cold it is in the office, how loud the TV is or how many playlists that need to be coded at the last minute, we never let each other down. We do work well together.
This is the place that God has for me. I will not run from it, I will receive it all and endure the lessons that I am supposed to learn from being in such a different working environment. There are plenty of people to learn from and I’m open to allowing them to speak into my life, if they have something positive to say.
Thank you God for answering my prayer because I was almost outta there and I would have really missed out.
If you are a lover of success stories and intimate biographies, you may enjoy it. It has an easy to follow narrative flow that feels like Mama whispering in your ear. The reason I liked the book was because it held the keys to Kanye’s success and the belief system he was raised with which I believe could benefit anyone’s life, well anyone who has goals for their life.
