Turning Points Video
Here is a look at my turning point video:
Times can be difficult, but Gary Vaynerchuk once said, “When you stay in your lane and speak about things you’ve lived and done, it tends to work out.” So here we go. I grew up with a happy yet challenging upbringing. My parents worked tirelessly in low-paying jobs—my mother, a devoted special education teacher, and my father, a committed salesman striving to support the family. Despite their efforts, the pressures of life led to frequent arguments and, ultimately, their divorce. There was always an unspoken weight on me to be the first in my family to graduate college. My parents constantly reminded me of their financial struggles and warned me that if I didn’t pursue higher education, I might end up with similar hardships.
Inspired by Robert Greene’s teachings in Mastery, I learned to let go of the past and adapt. In sixth grade, like many others, I was asking myself: Who am I? I explored basketball, Boy Scouts, choir, and theater. It was acting that sparked something unique within me—what Greene calls the “perfect niche.” In high school, I pursued this passion through acting competitions and joined a national acting society. Knowing my father had followed a path not of his choosing, I felt empowered to follow my own. This excitement carried into college where I discovered a deep purpose in storytelling—highlighting not just joy, but the dark times we overcome.
While in college, a dual credit instructor nominated me for National Honor Society due to my writing, though I didn’t accept. Still, her belief in me made an impact. I added a degree in journalism and eventually gravitated to photojournalism. I graduated from the University of North Texas with a double major in photojournalism and theater, plus a minor in social sciences. Though I wasn’t top of the class, I was proud of my five-year journey—interning at the school newspaper and later leading the student photo agency.
After college, I worked at places like Subway and Walmart while volunteering with various publications, writing over 50 articles. One of my proudest moments was seeing my quote on the back of the 2020 film Infamous and interviewing stars like Sky Katz from Raven’s Home and Ailia McCarthy from Disney’s Zombies. Even when working just to pay the bills, I pursued my passions. Eventually, I joined Holland America Line and Carnival Corporation as a cruise ship photographer, traveling to places like Alaska, the Caribbean, New Zealand, and Australia. When COVID hit, I came back home and returned to Walmart. I was promoted three times in under two years, eventually reaching the role of Coach—nearly equivalent to Assistant Store Manager. While the $55K salary and $6K bonus were nice, I realized I wasn’t fulfilled.
This was what Greene would call avoiding the “false path.” Then I found a remote marketing role with the Harrow Home Team. It blended everything I loved: writing, photography, and presentation skills honed through acting. I fell in love with marketing and asked myself—how can I do this full-time? I applied persistently and landed a role at Azpen Innovation, bringing me full circle. This was Greene’s fifth key: “Find your way back.” My calling may have been postponed, but it was always there. It took time, but I’ve realized I want to become a Social Media Marketing Manager.
Now, I’m pursuing my M.S. in Digital Marketing at Full Sail University. I’m ready to land a full-time salaried role doing what I love. This is my turning point. To kickstart my journey to mastery, I’ve set two SMART goals: First, I’ll network with everyone in my class this week by connecting on LinkedIn. Second, I’ll create a dream board filled with inspirational quotes, five successful figures in marketing, and the top three actions they took to succeed. Thank you for being part of my journey.
(Video Transcript Above Generated by YouTube)
Gary Vee Research Paper
This is a extensive research paper over someone in my area of mastery. Given that there are so many well accomplished people it was a hard choice, especially from Neil Patel or Gary Vee. Eventually I made the decision, I had to choose Gary.
Brainstorming & Research Framework
Digging into the industry this is a reflection of: coursework, trends, companies, leaders, technical requirements, training/education enhancements, and SWOT for my chosen mastery field
Mastery Timeline
This is a multimedia presentation over my overarching goals and personal development plan.
SMART GOALS LIFE TIMELINE
Overarching Career Goal (Long Term Goal): My career goal is to lead a team in social media management, through creatives, paid and organic strategies, driving engagement, making meaningful conversations, and driving purpose to an audience. I am seeking to find my place in a successful salary long-term career in the digital marketing field where I can bring value, create a difference and make meaningful data-driven measurable results for a company, or agency. I am not looking for just a job. I am looking for a career. One of the keys to achieving this is staying motivated. According to the 2022 academic study “How and when goal-oriented self-regulation improves college students’ well-being: A weekly diary study,” by Wang, Yang, and Li, “Results showed that the indirect effect of goal-oriented self-regulation behaviors on psychological well-being through academic performance is stronger when college students are more optimistic and gain more social support.” (Wang, Yang, Li, 2022)
Goal to accomplish upon graduation: When I graduate Full Sail University my goal is to be strongly connected with my peers and instructors, be well rounded in digital marketing, from organic to paid, have a portfolio to show, understand the concepts confidently and be able to have a career lined up for the start of my future. I am seeking a salary position in an agency when I can learn more, have strong contributions, growth opportunities, offer knowledge exchanges with my peers, and be a part of a company I enjoy working for. My goal is to land this career in either the paid or organic sector but upon graduation have this lined up.
Deconstructed Steps to accomplish these goals:
-MONTH 1: By the end of the first class, I put together a brainstorming framework with some analysis of the digital marketing field. At the end of this class, I want to make sure to get this put on my mastery journal, along with my research essay that showcases Gary Vaynerchuk, a true inspiration to the field. Having these two items on my mastery journal can inspire me and push me in the right direction. I also created two dream boards as part of one of my goals for this class and I want to make sure to take images of these then put them on my mastery journal as well for continued reflections
-EVERY MONTH: At the end of every class I take throughout the semesters I want to try to connect individually with each of my professors on LinkedIn, along with connect with several of my peers on LinkedIn.
-MONTH 2: By my the end of my second class I am planning to have a portfolio that showcases the elements of social media that I can offer clients when working for a company.
-MONTH 3: By the end of my third class I want to see if there is any opportunities with some of Full Sail’s social media, and become more familiar with Career Development on Full Sail One.
-MONTH 6: By my halfway point, at the start of Month 6, I want to make sure that I deeply understand the agencies that are near me that I might be able to work for, along with this I want to have put together a list of the agencies that I may be considering upon graduation.
-MONTH 7: At the start of Month 7: I may want to start putting in some applications for internships (based on length, pay and bio) and agencies. Such places can include Sabre, (Southlake,) Hearts & Science, (Dallas,) PMG (Dallas,) Dropbox (Remote,) and more.
-MONTH 8: At the start of Month 8: I want to try to follow up on some of these internships and if I do not hear back, apply for some more then reach out to them. I will continue to do this through Month 9.
-MONTH 9: On Month 9 I want to make sure that I understand paid social media marketing deeply.
-MONTH 10: At the start of Month 10: Re-evaluate my resume, portfolio, mastery journal, and internship opportunities
-MONTH 11: Month 11 from the get-go: re-access my situation, relook at my internship situation and complete any tasks that need to be done to secure that or a job in the field
-MONTH 12: Month 12: Reflect on Robert Greene`s book Mastery. (Greene, 2013) Look for a career in the field.
-GRADUATION: Fly to Florida to walk the stage. Secure the job. Next steps.
-POST GRAD: By one year after graduating I want to aim to move to Southlake, Texas. This would be ideal is a center point from Dallas, Fort Worth, Denton, Frisco and Arlington. This would make it much easier to aim for jobs in many different cities and provide a nice atmosphere of living. Within two years of graduating have my dream career. Make sure to thank whoever helped me get there, write thank you notes and send to them. (Either digitally or through the mail.)
Smart Goals Reminder:
SMART, MEASURABLE, ACHIEVABLE, RELEVANT, TIMEBOUND
Citations:
Wang, H., Yang, J., & Li, P. (2022). How and when goal-oriented self-regulation improves college students’ well-being: A weekly diary study. Current Psychology, 41(11), 7532–7543. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-020-01288-w. Referenced from EBSCO HOST.
Social Marketing With Rob 