When I left my dream job last summer, I knew what I wanted to do, and I was scared to go for it. That’s why I’m excited, and a little bit queasy, to now introduce you to my new dream job: Occasionally Epic Communications, a strategic communications consultancy, founded by me!
Using what I’ve learned in my 20-year career, I’m partnering with nonprofits, universities, and businesses to provide leadership in strategic communications, scalable process and system (re)design, and content development. Through Occasionally Epic Communications, I strive to amplify business outcomes by adding clarity, transparency, scalable-processes, and accountability to deliver on strategic goals. Or, in plain speak: I hope to provide people-power where it’s needed most, enhancing how leaders think about their communications through innovative, community/customer-centric ways.
You might be asking yourself, how did we get here? Please join me on a little journey:
A high risk endeavor
Aside from navigating two layoffs in my 20’s – one devastating, one glorious – I’ve worked consistently since the age of 14. Leaving my dream job last summer was my first voluntary step into unemployment. I made the decision with a supportive spouse and a reasonable chance of finding a new job, but walking away from a stable (and beloved) job was still a huge risk.
I jumped anyway. Sometimes you do it scared.
After taking a deep breath, I came to you – my incredible network of supporters – to ask for help finding my next dream job. And boy did you deliver! So many of you – from my marching band friends to former colleagues to fellow run club enthusiasts – shared topnotch job listings. I felt humbled by the depth and breadth of professional endeavors for which you saw me capable. Thank you.
I applied to 23 jobs. And let me tell you friends, the job market is brutal right now. My application process was thorough. I customized my cover letter and resume (including aligning my colors to those of the company, #brandingnerd), found internal referrals, and sought out informational interviews whenever possible. When I received the third rejection email authored by AI in less than 24-hours, I knew it was time to refocus. The whole process felt impersonal and further reinforced my desire to work with people, not robots.
Laying the breadcrumbs
Having confirmed for myself that I wanted to develop my own business, the logical next question was: how? I haven’t seen a playbook for how to start your own consulting company. I didn’t know how to position myself – a generalist who loves to think strategically and act tactically – in a market that only seems to value specialization. And frankly, it’s scary to put yourself out there as an ‘expert’ who can ‘add value’ when you haven’t yet proven yourself on your own. I felt a distinct sense of imposter syndrome imagining myself as a business owner.
Luckily, I’d laid just enough breadcrumbs to attract attention and keep momentum moving in my favor.
If you go back and read my job search blog, you might notice that I mentioned my interest in taking up ad-hoc projects. That little nugget positioned me as a potential resource for a few readers.
I used similar language when emailing folks in my network with requests for informational interviews and advice. As I got bolder in my outreach, so, too, did my subject lines. I’m proud to share that the email titled “Shameless Self Promotion” garnered a particularly high response.
When preparation meets opportunity
Soon, all of the pieces started coming together. A few months ago, a former colleague called to ask if I could do a language and usability audit for her nonprofit’s website. She’d seen my job search blog and thought a website overhaul perfectly fit with my skills.
I was excited by the opportunity to try consulting within a well-defined scope. The work was gratifying and affirming. I loved the independence and excitement of something new, and I especially enjoyed delighting her with a website transformation plan to meet the growing needs of the community.
Then, another former colleague called to see if I’d be interested in interim communications director work with a nonprofit going through transition. I thanked my lucky stars. Doubly so when I learned that a shared professional contact let her know I was looking. All of my networking (aka shameless self-promotion) was paying off.
The momentum continued. While wrapping up the website project and getting my footing with the interim role, I received a professional referral, then a social media reconnection request, leading to two other opportunities. Of course not everything turns into a contract, but I am delighted to now also be working for one of my favorite authors and groundbreaking historians.
Introducing My New Dream Job: Occasionally Epic Communications
Which brings me here to introduce, officially, Occasionally Epic Communications. I know it sounds cheesy, but I feel like this is where I belong. I get to work with people I respect, on projects I enjoy, while using my skills and further sharpening others all in the name of supporting your professional endeavors. Truly, this is a dream come true.
I am so grateful to this community for your ongoing support. I appreciate you acting as ambassadors in my job search journey and now my business launch. It truly takes a village, and I am honored by the many ways you continue to show up for me.
Let’s build this dream job, together
I’d love to work with you! I am available for longer-term engagements, short projects, and ad-hoc strategic conversations with nonprofits, universities, and businesses. Together, we can develop strategies, processes, and content to help you share more engaging stories, capitalize on new efficiencies, and achieve your business goals. Please get in touch to start a conversation to elevate your strategic impact together.
Thank you for reading and for your tireless support. I cannot wait to see how this next chapter unfolds.
More about my skills & expertise
My biggest strength is building transparent communications and support systems that engage and empower. I have deep experience in content development, relationship building, mentorship, change advocacy and implementation, public speaking/event MC’ing, board governance, and project management. I’ve gained fluency in earned and paid media, website usability design, search engine optimization (SEO) best practices, CRM implementation, survey building and analysis, human resources, equity and belonging, and data-driven decision making.
Since writing about yourself is hard (yes, even for me), I asked a colleague and mentor to articulate my biggest strengths. Here’s what he said:
Professional Expertise:
- Developing firm-wide strategy to meet intermediate milestones and associated measures, ensuring proper progress-vs.-plan and early interventions when there’s deviation from the glide path.
- Designing operating models through thinking strategically about how work gets done—how processes, people, infrastructure, and governance all interact to fulfill the organization’s goals while creating collaborative, transparent structures to facilitate efficient operations.
- (Re)Designing processes optimized to leverage technology-enablers, current talent, and budget constraints to deliver the optimal outcome, which includes process transparency and accountability across and within the process.
- Storytelling/positioning using a variety of content types to engage audiences and drive toward action while positioning the brand/product in a favorable way to garner long-term allegiance.
Differentiating skills:
- Expert communicator in written, visual, and verbal media, to audiences ranging in size from 2 to 200,000.
- Agile leader with specialty skills in adjusting to changed contexts and unplanned disruptions to the plan.
- High EQ to quickly read people, rooms, audiences, and organizational cultures and adjust your approach to achieve the collective goals using strategic listening, empathy, and how to find common organizing visions across disparate groups.
- Execution that delivers outcomes through direct, dotted line, and influential management of diverse teams of stakeholders to achieve expected outcomes on-time, on-budget, and at-quality.
Huge thanks to Daniel for his thought-partnership on this post, and for being an all around great human. And a big thank you to you again, dear reader, for reading all the way to the end. ⭐You get a gold star⭐. I hope we have the opportunity to collaborate together soon.
