professionally speaking | Asking for an Opportunity

Live Like a Local : Beer
Live Like a Local : Theater
Live Like a Local : Food-Carts
One afternoon on my lunch break, I read Jordan's Advice for a Creative Life on Oh Happy Day.
She said ...

"Rule #1 Ask for things. No one is going to hand you the perfect life on a platter. You have to ask for things. The worst they can say is no. From that internship to that class that is already full, make yourself be the exception and ask for things. Once you figure that out life is so much better" 

It just so happened, later that day I had a meeting for the launch of the summer marketing campaign for my hotel. At the time, I had only been working upstairs for about 3 months, and my position was primarily administrative. Jordan's words (with a little help from the three diet cokes I had a lunch) inspired me to be brave and ... well ... ask for things. So, I volunteered myself to take pictures for the campaign. They appeared on our facebook page and in our elelvators all summer.  It was something so simple, but it's really made a difference in the kind of creative opportunities that have opened up here for me with our company.

I always believed that to succeed one should work hard, and then wait to be recognized. Part of it has to do with being a woman - to be ambitious goes against a lot of the most highly held feminine values like agreeability and team work . And of course, all these things are so important to accomplishing any goal. But it's not enough just to put yourself out there. You have to go after what you want!

Have you ever been brave and asked for something at work? What was the outcome?  



(1, 2, 3) film photos with my Pentax k1000 - from our the Live Like a Local summer campaign. used without text. (p.s) my appearance, as the local coffee expert 

7 comments:

  1. Congrats! This is wonderful. Just recently I was brave enough to ask for a grade boost because I am at an 88% right now. And you know what? She is now doing grade boosts for students who qualify! (Not sure if that is me yet, but I like to think I had a say in it)

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  2. Congratulations on being brave and asking! I definitely have a hard time asking, and even feel as though I need to have something to show before I do. I have to remind myself I need to start somewhere!

    When I have asked for more independence or freedom at work, my boss is more than happy to oblige. It's just remembering that...

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  3. Love this post!! It's so true -- I live by this maxim. I'm currently trying it out on getting Bears tickets for Sunday -- I'll let you know how it turns out.

    And SUCH cute photos! Not that'd I'd expect any less :)

    So excited for your guest post!!

    xx Alessia
    www.byalessia.com

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  4. This could not have come at a more perfect time. About a week ago, I got up the nerve to ask for a raise at work based on all of my accomplishments. I was more than pleasantly surprised that my boss agreed with all the points of my highly-agonized-over speech and my raise (more than I was hoping for!) kicks in next paycheck. It's really made me think about the dynamics of being a woman in today's business world.

    So fascinating. And so important to make sure we get what we can handle, what we're worth, and what we deserve.

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  5. myislandnights : I was totally in the same mind-set. I thought up a whole list of reasons to convince my boss why I could take it on ... and before I even got one out he just said "sure".

    It was such an important thing to experience, because I always think the conversation is going to start with "why do you think you deserve that?" We have to know our worth!

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  6. I love this Sam! Just what I needed for a little push toward a new opportunity.

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  7. I needed someone to remind me of this! Thanks Sam! I have many goals for the next coming year, and they'll only be accomplished with this mind set =)

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