Greg Sits Down with Fellow Certified Resume Strategist, Mariah Mitsilios, to Talk Resume Strategy

I recently sat down with another very talented Certified Resume Strategist, Mariah Mitsilios, to get another expert’s perspective on the world of resume writing and it was illuminating. Mariah and I have been working alongside each other as resume writers for quite some time and it was great to hear her perspective and great advice!

Here’s the interview… lightly edited for brevity (we can easily talk about resumes for hours on end… and we often do)

Greg: All right, Mariah, let's kick things off. Could you tell us about how you got started in the realm of resume writing?

Mariah: Absolutely, Greg. It all began during the pandemic and lockdown measures when I found myself without a job. After updating my resume and not getting the desired results, a fortunate connection through my fiancé led me to participate in your Job Search Institute program. As I progressed through the program, I found my passion for crafting effective resumes (and your confidence in my ability inspired me to become a Certified Resume Strategist (CRS).

Greg: That was quite an inspiring journey, Mariah. I was flabbergasted by how well you wrote your own resume. Now, my first resume question… in your opinion, what are the top three crucial elements that define a strong resume?

Mariah: Well, Greg, there are three key elements that I believe every effective resume should have.

1. Impeccable grammar and spelling are essential to create a positive impression.

2. The layout and format should enhance scannability, allowing readers to quickly locate pertinent information.

3. Incorporating a touch of personal branding at the top of the resume can make it more engaging and encourage readers to delve into your experience.

Greg: I completely agree, Mariah. Moving on, considering your extensive experience, what's the most common mistake you see people making on their resumes?

Mariah: Greg, a common mistake is including irrelevant information. Many individuals tend to overcrowd their resumes with details that don't align with the job they're applying for. Tailoring your resume to showcase relevant skills and experiences is crucial. Remember, a resume is a marketing tool, and every piece of information should contribute to your desired narrative.

Greg: You've mentioned that ATS scanners play a significant role in today's hiring process. What advice would you offer to ensure resumes get past these scanners effectively?

Mariah: Absolutely, Greg. One crucial tip is to avoid using templates that might not be ATS-friendly. Using Microsoft Word is a reliable choice, and it's important to create a template that is easy to read in plain text. You can preview this by converting your resume and ensuring it remains legible even to the automated systems.

Greg: Outstanding advice, Mariah. I know you’re also really great at picking out the right keywords for our clients. Now, let's explore a concern many people have—how to effectively sell themselves in a resume. What would you say to those struggling to showcase their strengths?

Mariah: It can be really challenging to highlight your own strengths. My suggestion is to view your resume as an extension of yourself, a marketing tool that communicates your capabilities. Seek input from friends or colleagues on your past accomplishments, then translate those insights into compelling bullet points on your resume. This approach can help alleviate the pressure and present a more accurate image of your capabilities.

Greg: Well put, Mariah. Lastly, let's get to know you a bit better. What do you enjoy doing outside of your work in resume writing?

Mariah: When I'm not connecting with clients and writing resumes, I absolutely love reading, going to the movies (especially the drive-in) and I also like to stay active by going for evening walks with my husband.

Greg: That sounds like a well-rounded way to relax, Mariah. And thank you for introducing Ariana and I to the drive-in theatre. We love it now too! Also, thank you for sharing your valuable insights and experiences with us. It's been a pleasure having you here!

Mariah: Thank you, Greg. It's been a pleasure discussing the art of resume writing with you. I hope our conversation helps aspiring job seekers enhance their resumes and achieve their career goals.

And there you have it! Mariah's journey from a pandemic job loss to becoming a Certified Resume Strategist has brought to light the significance of a well-crafted resume. Remember, it's not just about listing your experiences, but also effectively presenting them in a way that resonates with potential employers. So, next time you're updating your resume, keep Mariah's expert tips in mind to stand out in the competitive job market.

Learn more about working with Mariah and Greg on your resume here:
Mariah Mitsilios, Certified Resume Strategist

Say this to hiring managers if you're changing careers!

Are you on the hunt for a new career? Changing jobs can be both exciting and nerve-wracking, but one thing is for sure: you need a standout resume and cover letter to land that dream job.

But what if you're switching careers? Don't panic, it's not uncommon to change paths in your career journey. In fact, most people will make a significant career change at some point in their lives. Just ask me… I earned a master’s degree that I only used for 5.5 years and will never need again!

When it comes to writing your cover letter, you want to make sure you stand out from the other applicants. One way to do this is by acknowledging that you don't have direct experience in the industry/role you're applying for, but highlighting your transferable skills instead.

Start off your cover letter with "Dear Hiring Manager," and express your enthusiasm for the position and company. Then, mention that while you haven't worked directly in the industry/role, you're excited to showcase your transferable skills that make you uniquely qualified for the job.

What are transferable skills, you ask? These are skills that you've gained in your previous experiences that can be applied to a new role or industry. For example, if you're transitioning from a marketing role to a project management position, you can highlight your communication and organizational skills, as well as your ability to work under tight deadlines.

But don't just list your transferable skills in your cover letter. Provide examples of how you've utilized these skills in your previous roles. Did you coordinate a successful project launch? Have you trained and mentored new team members? These are all valuable experiences that showcase your abilities beyond your current job title.

And don't forget to express your willingness to learn and grow in the new role. Show the hiring manager that you're committed to quickly learning new systems and developing new skill sets.

Now, let's talk about your resume. It's essential to have a well-crafted resume that highlights your skills, experiences, and achievements. But where do you start?

There are countless resume templates available online, but it's important to choose one that best showcases your skills and experiences. Look for templates that are clean, easy to read, and highlight your most relevant information.

When crafting your resume, remember to quantify your accomplishments. Instead of simply stating that you "managed a project," provide specific details, such as the project's budget, timeline, and the number of team members you supervised.

And if you're feeling overwhelmed by the job search process, don't worry. There are plenty of resources available to help you navigate this journey.

My Ultimate Resume & Cover Letter Bundle is an excellent resource that provides word-for-word scripts you can use to craft a standout cover letter, as well as templates and tips to create a winning resume.

In conclusion, changing careers can be a daunting task, but with a strong cover letter and resume, you can land your dream job. Don't be afraid to highlight your transferable skills and express your willingness to learn and grow in the new role. And remember, there are resources available to help you along the way. Good luck on your job search!

2 Years Since I Quit My Full Time Job - What A Wild Ride!

Holy freakin’ smokes, my friends! 

I cannot believe I’m saying this but it has been 2 FULL YEARS since I quit my safe, full-time job mid-pandemic to fully commit to entrepreneurship and wow… what a good decision.

I want to take some time to celebrate the accomplishments I have achieved since that fateful day, but first, I think it behooves us to discuss why on earth I made the big bold move in the first place.

As with many origin stories, there were a few inciting incidents:

1. Realizing the power of a good resume - October 2011: My step-mom, Karen, helped me write the best resume I had ever seen for grad school applications and I suddenly felt hopeful about getting accepted, which I did. Wow, resumes are powerful.

2. An extremely painful job search - February 2014 to October 2014: Determined to stay in the States to work after grad school (I’m Canadian, fyi), I applied to 116 jobs but no matter how far I got in the process, once I told them I needed a work visa, the answer was ”no”. It was a great learning experience as far as job searching goes, but omg… that sucked.

3. A fascination with business/personal finance - December 2016: I woke up in a cold sweat. I’m nearly 29 and I know nothing about money. I read 14 personal finance and business books in the next 3 months, build a personal budget, payoff my last $12,000 in student loans in 6 months, start investing, and set my sights on launching a “side hustle” to add to my income.

4. The side hustle begins - January 2018: on the cusp of turning 30, I invest $144 carefully budgeted dollars to set up a website and I launch my resume writing and interview coaching business! Thanks to support from my Facebook friends, I start pulling in 4-5 clients per month. Not bad!

5. A string of professional disappointments - May 2019 to October 2019: My work gives me an “Emerging Leader Award'' and then proceeds to turn me down for 3 different promotions. Each time, the person promoted was well deserving of the role, but nonetheless, I’m devastated. My side hustle is making enough to cover about half my monthly expenses, so I forge a 9-month exit strategy including budget, forecasted revenue growth, and cash flow estimations. I present it to Ariana, she approves. We’re good to go!

6. It’s Go-Time - July 31st, 2020: I’m working remotely from Ariana’s parents’ cottage. I finish my final meeting at 4:30pm and close Microsoft Teams for the last time. Let’s build this business for real!

It’s so crazy/awesome that all that happened the way it did and I’m so grateful it lined up perfectly as it did. Speaking of which, I’ve been through so much since that 2020 transition and I wanted to just recap (please note, these are not fully formatted resume bullet points LOL):

• Built a TikTok audience of 415,000 followers (what the heck??? How?)

• Built an Instagram audience of 84,000 followers

• Created and launched my Job Search Institute Program which has helped 100’s of people 

• Wrote and published 2 ebooks 

• Built an email list of over 30,000 subscribers (thanks friends!)

• Served over 500 amazing clients 

• Became a social media influencer (not the cool kind, but still 🤓)

• Incorporated the business as a legal entity

• Grew enough for Ariana to quit her job and work with me full time.

• Helped millions of people with bite-sized job search advice 

• Enjoyed the heck out of it all!

It feels weird listing all my accomplishments like this but in a business where I do this all day, everyday, I guess I had better get comfortable doing this for myself too!

I want to just end this little celebration blog by saying thank you! For everyone who’s watched or shared one of my videos, and everyone who is on my email list, and of course to all my wonderful clients… thank you!!!

I couldn’t / wouldn’t do all this if it weren’t for you! 

And one last thing… there’s one goal I’ve yet to achieve and you can help me do it. I’ve always wanted to be recognized out in public and it’s yet to happen. So if you ever see me walking down the street, please stop me and say hello!

How My Tiny Side Hustle Grew to a $12,000+ / Month Business

Friends, family, well-wishers…

A lot has changed.

In 2018 when I started this side hustle, sure, I had dreams of this happening. But I don’t know if I ever pictured myself getting here.

When I quit my stable $78K/year job last July, I certainly didn’t think I’d get here so soon.

Things didn’t start off all that great after I quit.

In August 2020, I only made $1,800 (about half of what I needed to survive).

But if you know anything about me, you know, I had been saving up for a while in anticipation of a slow start.

I knew I needed about $2,800 to cover my basic expenses and about $4,000 if I wanted to live a semi-comfortable life and continue contributing to my long-term savings.

In my master financial plan, I anticipated it taking about a year to get to that level and I was okay with it.

Wow…

I was wrong.

Before I did anything right, I did something massively wrong.

I had committed to taking this business very seriously. And according to the research and beliefs I held at the time, that meant spending money on advertising.

On September 30th, 2020, I launched my big online course, Job Search Institute, and I was determined to sell that with a perfectly designed sales funnel.

The plan was this:

1.       Use Facebook Ads to drive random people who didn’t know me to a quiz I created

2.       Use the Quiz to help people find out what was wrong with their resume

3.       Use those Quiz Results to sell people on taking Job Search Institute to fix their resume, etc

There were a few problems with this…

-          Random people who you don’t know will not buy anything from you online

-          Facebook Ads were costing me about $900/month (a huge chunk of my income)

-          I was panicked by how much money was flying out of my account every day

Then something changed… Then everything changed…

I had been dabbling with the idea of posting on TikTok to promote myself as a resume writer.

My first couple videos were total flops because…

I thought that TikTok videos had to be funny / quirky, and I came up with what I thought was a solid comedic skit about job searching:

You can see that video here

It got 300 views and I got… slightly discouraged.

A month or so later, toward the end of October, I decided to try TikTok again and this time, just talk to the camera and give some genuine job searching advice.

And my life has not been the same since.

That first successful video garnered 250,000 views and about 2,000 new followers in a week.

Needless to say, I started creating TikTok content at a furious pace.

Within a month, I was up to about 15,000 followers and now, 6 months after that first successful video, I have over 127,000 Followers!

Here’s where it gets really cool

Unlike the random people who were taking the Quiz that I paid Facebook to show them, these TikTok followers were actually getting to know me and trust me through my videos.

And then they started asking me for help.

So I posted my courses and services and everything on my TikTok profile and suddenly, the clients and course sales were rolling in… literally every day!

By December, I had surpassed the salary I was making at my old job…

Then in January, I made $10,531 (I had never made more than about $6,000 in a month before).

In February, I made $9,160,

In March, I made $14,218

And in April, I made $13,256

Here’s a breakdown of what that March income looked like:

Resume / Cover Letter / LinkedIn Services: $9,601.05

Interview / Job Search Coaching: $2,013.52

Selling Resume & Cover Letter Templates: $1,418.81

Video Course Sales: $1,184.64

And since then, I have added 2 more sources of income:

• Influencer Marketing: Brands have started to reach out to me to ask me to talk about their products on my TikTok videos which is really cool!

• Entrepreneurial Coaching: I now have clients who I am helping to building service / coaching-based businesses just like me. Speaking of which…

My Next Big Venture

I’m not 100% sure where this is going yet. I’m leaning toward creating a course and expanding on the 1-on-1 entrepreneurship coaching that I’ve been doing. I just know I want to share my path to success because it is very replicable!

To Learn More…

If you want to see how I found success and/or you’re interested in learning how you can do the same for yourself (which you absolutely can), I’d highly encourage you to check out my latest FREE e-book!

3 Years Ago, I Started a Side-Hustle that Changed My Life

What up Squad!!!

It is time to celebrate for this dude! It’s been THREE-FULL-YEARS since I launched my resume writing side-hustle and holy smokes, did I think I’d be where I am now when it all started? I genuinely don’t recall.

I don’t recall if I ever even thought this far ahead… but here I am :)

Where is that exactly (aside from at home like everyone else fortunate enough to have a desk job)?

I’m so very glad you asked.

The Dreaded 2020 brought about some major milestones for me in my business:

1. I Quit My Job!

I am literally holding myself up on my own with no safety net or salary to fall back on. It feels very very cool. It feels freeing and exhilarating to know that I’m fully responsible for generating my own income. It’s like a digital version of living off the land (in my mind at least).

I’m also loving this because… although I like to think of myself as a good collaborator… I finally feel free admitting this… I don’t really like to collaborate unless I’m in charge (with the occasional exceptions).

My mantra is, as my mom or Ariana can tell you, “Don’t tell me what to do”… of course they both still do.

2. I became (moderately) TikTok Famous!

I posted 4 videos on TikTok over the course of October. After the 3rd video, I had 8 followers…

The 4th video received nearly 300,000 views and generated about 1,800 followers in 3 days.

Since then, the views and followers have continued rolling in.

I now have 31,000 followers and what’s even crazier (and more helpful) is that about 60% of my clients come in through TikTok.

Check out my TikTok profile

3. I Launched Job Search Institute

As you may know, I had been dabbling in video courses for some time. I had generated some decent traffic on royalty-based sites like Skillshare, but those places have their limitations.

I wanted to create a HUGE, ALL-INCLUSIVE course that I could use to teach everything. Resume Writing, Cover Letter Writing, LinkedIn Profile Optimization, Online Networking, and Interview Prep.

The whole thing took me several months to prepare (shout out to Ariana for helping me out with the branding), and when it was finally ready, wowie, I was excited.

The initial launch went pretty well. I sold 5 spots in the first week! Things have tapered off a little since then, but I’m excited to say that I have now had 35 students enrol in the program and we’re still growing :)

Check out Job Search Institute

4. I Threw Too Much Money into Facebook Ads

After I launched Job Search Institute, I built a sales funnel that looked like this:

Facebook Ads > Resume Self-Assessment Quiz > Email Subscription > Job Search Institute Promotion

The problem with this is, you need to put a fairly substantial amount of money into Facebook Ads to get people to look at whatever your next step is (in my case, my FREE Resume Killer Quiz (still active btw if you want to check it out)).

So I was putting about $30 per day into these ads with the goal of getting people to take my quiz and then join my email list in exchange for their quiz results. This was yielding me about 6-10 new subscribers per day.

After 2 months and about $2,000 of that experiment, I was saved by TikTok.

With my TikTok videos, I’m now able to drive 10-50 people to my email list everyday for exactly $0.

I learned a lot about Facebook Ads during that time, but the most important lesson was to not use them.

5. I “Hired” a “Staff”

To be clear, I’m technically no one’s boss (except my own), but I do now have some contractors helping me out with some stuff.

• I have 2 very talented resume writers who are helping me with this fast-and-furious wave of TikTok clients that are coming in every day.

• Ariana is freelancing for me with marketing, branding, and business strategy support (she’s very gifted and conveniently located so it was an easy decision).

• I’ve also had some really kind help from a few other friends around accounting, email marketing, and sales. I’m a lucky dude, what can I say :)

So What’s on for Year Four?

I don’t know.

I mean, I have set some goals for sure…

I’ve doubled my business income the past 2 years and with no other source of income, and all my time and energy to dedicate towards this, we’re going to shoot for doubling 3 years in a row!

Here how:

• Scaling up the Job Search Institute sales: I’m still trying to find the ideal product offering and price point, so once that lands, I feel very good about how this will go.

• Ramp up client work: With the help of my Senior Resume Writers, I’ve been able to take on more clients which eases the bottleneck that one faces when operating alone.

• New Revenue Streams: I have resume templates for sale now which are selling at a reasonable rate. I’m also looking into doing some live (pay-to-attend webinars) that would be a fun way to scale how I can help you. I’m also hoping as my TikTok following grows, I can start to attract some influencer marketing opportunities.

• Other ideas: Honestly, if you have any other ideas, let me know :)

For the past 3 years, I have spent an unbelievable amount of time writing resumes, talking to random people on the phone, and figuring out how to make money on the internet. I’m finally seeing that impact actual changes on my life and it feels pretty good :)

Thank you to all of your for being a part of the journey. Your support, compliments, and encouragement mean a lot.

xoxo Gossip Girl… I mean Greg

(I never actually watched Gossip Girl, I was more of a Pretty Little Liars fan, but that tagline is too catchy)

1 Year After the Hardest Month of My Life... A Message of Hope

On Friday, November 1st, 2019, around 10:30am, I saw Liam Hemsworth in my condo gym.

He was sprinting on the treadmill… fast enough that the machine was shaking and I was concerned for it’s well-being.

We later spoke briefly…

“Are you using this?” I asked, pointing at a rope on the ground near his feet. I was 90% sure he wasn’t using it…

“Nah,” he replied shaking his head.

“Thanks,” I said.

It. Was. Magical.

Apparently he was in town shooting something and he was staying in my building on a short-term basis.

Why am I telling you this?

Well, from my perspective, the important part of this story is that I was not at work on a pre-COVID Friday morning.

The reason is that I had just finished up the single most challenging month of my life and I simply could not handle going into work.

Thank god for Liam. Without him (and my best dude Mike who dropped everything to spend the afternoon with me) I don’t know how I would have recovered.

RECAPPING OCTOBER 2019

I just reread the blog post I wrote last year: How the Hardest Month of My Life Made Me Believe in Myself and Follow My Dreams and I must say… I’m re-exhausted just reading the recap.

If you have a minute, check out the full post, but just to recap, that month involved:

• 2 deaths

• 2 funerals

• 1 award

• 1 overwhelming professional rejection

• 1 vacation

• 1 pirate costume

• A lot of other exhausting stuff

And through all that, my resume writing business did surprisingly well.

That was also the month that I decided to quit my job and take the entrepreneurial life full-time. So wherever I end up… I owe it, in part, to that struggle.

AND THEN THERE WAS COVID

Knowing what we know now, it’s very weird to look back at pre-COVID month and say it was the hardest month of my life… if only I knew what we were all about to go through.

I would love to go back and tell myself to enjoy that I at least could go to the gym… or work… or hug my friends and family at funerals.

Would I still call that the hardest month of my life, knowing what I know now?

I’m not sure… maybe…

I don’t see value in comparing apples to oranges in this case… lots of things are hard in very different ways.

PLANS WERE MADE… AND THEY KIND OF WORKED

I don’t mind admitting that I’m really proud of myself, looking back on that post.

There were things that I said I wanted for my future, back when I was going through a really dark time… and despite all the COVID-related challenges, I went through with those plans.

1. In October 2019, my then-side-hustle generated enough money to cover over half my monthly expenses and I asked, “What could I do if I actually dedicated myself to this thing?”

   Well… in my 3rd month as a full-time entrepreneur, I have (for the first time ever) surpassed my monthly expenses with my business income. And I’m looking at starting to contribute to my retirement savings again in the near future.

2. I mentioned formulating an exit strategy from my current job that I hoped to organize before the December break… and I did that too!

   And the exit strategy went beautifully.

   I took a 6-month contract in another department and used that time to save up and prepare for the leap… and I freakin did it!

   I wish depressed last-year me could have known how well his plan was going to work. It might not have been so hard to get through the hardest of times :)

THE LESSON LEARNED HERE

If you find yourself struggling (and lots of us are right now, of course), just think about the version of you in the future who wishes they could come back to this moment and tell you how well things are going to work out.

Those ambitions you have… the goals in the back of your head… if you put in the time and effort, you can make them happen.

AM I ABSOLUTELY KILLING IT RIGHT NOW?

No.

Nope.

Definitely not.

I’m still going through daily struggles, self-doubt, and fear.

Yesterday was the 25th of the month. I used to have a big fat paycheck come in on that day. And yesterday, I thought about that. And all my friends / former colleagues who still receive that paycheck.

And still… once in a while, I ask myself if I made a mistake.

But that feeling never lasts, because I’m so damn happy that every day, I get to decide what I’m doing, what I’m working on, and when I’m doing it.

And that’s the most important thing to me.

The money… well I planned for that. And as I said, I’m not making as much as I used to yet, but I’m making more than I thought I would be 3-months into this journey.

THE BIGGEST DOUBTS AND FEARS

Whenever I do something new in my business…

Like launch my online course: Job Search Institute: Everything You Need to Get Hired in 5 Days, or start paying for Facebook Ads, or using my mailing list…

There is a lot of:

• Failure

• Mistakes

• Self-doubt

• Anxiety

• Learning

And as long as that learning keeps happening… I feel okay.

(But seriously… paying for Facebook Ads had caused a lot of anxiety because for the first time, I’m shelling out substantial money to advance my business and it takes a lot of tweaking and learning to turn advertising into revenue but damnit, me and my Excel brain I’m determined to make this work).

SO WHAT’S NEXT?

I’m continuing to work with clients, writing resumes and cover letters, creating LinkedIn profiles and all that fun stuff.

And meanwhile, I’m working on getting the word out to as many people as possible about Job Search Institute because that is the best and fastest way I know to help as many people as possible.

FOR ANYONE ELSE WHO IS STRUGGLING

I’m sorry you aren’t doing well. You are not alone. And you will get through this :)

If you’re in Ontario, I recently enrolled in a digital therapy program called Beacon which is completely free for Ontarians (cost covered by the Government of Ontario). I’d highly recommend at least checking it out to see if it’s for you!

Are You or Someone You Love Job Searching?

Want to make that process a whole lot easier?

Check out my FREE e-book!

Race, Hiring, and Reflections on My Own White Privilege

I just read 8 different articles covering the same topic:

It’s harder to get a job if your resume contains evidence that you are a person of colour.

And according to the research in these articles, if you are a person of colour, the best way to get hired, sadly in a lot of cases, is to “act white”.

Despite anti-discrimination laws, despite diversity and inclusion policies, despite everything, there is still a significant barrier to employment facing BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Colour) applicants.

Several of the studies I read cited a 50% higher callback rate for applicants with “white-sounding” names.

As a result, job seekers of colour are left with a difficult decision to either “bleach” there resumes to remove any evidence of their ethnicity (including changing their names), or expose themselves to discriminatory hiring practices.

How can employers still discriminate despite laws and policies?

Any selection process is centered largely around making decisions to “eliminate” candidates from consideration. I’ve spent 11 years as a hiring manager and 2 years as a recruiter and I can tell you that when you receive 241 applications to fill 2 positions, you move through those resumes pretty quickly making snap judgments in order to get your candidate pool to a manageable size.

Because you need to get your options from 241 to maybe 5-6 to invite for interviews, no one is going to hold you accountable for identifying why each individual candidate is not being selected to move onto the interview phase.

And with no accountability, there’s nothing to stop someone in the screening process from making those snap decisions (whether consciously or subconsciously) based on racial hints on the candidate’s resume.

And it gets worse (the snowball effect)

Because people who are being discriminated against based on race/ethnicity are getting hired at lower rates at entry levels, these people are less likely to gain advanced experience that will support their transitions into leadership roles. Which has a number of it’s own drawbacks including a lack of racial representation at the executive levels (depriving us of potentially great leaders and lessening the likelihood of attracting high-quality racialized job seekers for other positions in the organization); and a decrease in racialized voices involved in the hiring processes (which, theoretically would aid in moving away from racial discrimination in hiring decisions).

How can we solve this?

Honestly on the deepest level, it will take generations of hard work, reflection, educating ourselves about racial issues, biases, and challenges facing BIPOC in the job market (and in general). Having more people of colour in senior leadership roles certainly wouldn’t hurt either. This is the hard road and we need to get to work on this.

On a systemic level, I’ve seen some great suggestions around enforcing minimum percentages of BIPOC candidates to be interviewed as compared to the applicants pool. I’ve also seen suggestions around a “blind” resume review process, which removes potential racially identifying information from the resumes prior to review (such as name, email address, cultural references within experience).

These suggested systemic solutions are band-aids; but, when facing an issue this deep-seated with so much room to improve, we often need the band-aid solution to bridge the gap while we address the root cause.

If you are a hiring manager

Recognize your biases (whether conscious or subconscious) and don’t let them into your hiring decisions.

• If you’re not sure how to pronounce their name, you can start your first conversation by saying, “It’s nice to meet you. Do you mind if I ask how to pronounce your name?” It’s that easy.

• If you’re worried about their English language proficiency, look at their education and experience? Did they earn credentials or do jobs they would have been able to do without speaking English well? If you’re still unsure, inviting this person to an interview (even a 15-minute phone screen) will certainly help you answer that question.

• If you’re worried they won’t fit in with the office culture, or they won’t be trustworthy on the job… ask yourself, “Would I be worried about the same thing if their name was Steve?”

Let’s talk PRIVILEGE

Last time I saw one of those check your privilege surveys, there were 9 boxes. I checked 8 of them. White, male, straight, cis-gender, able-body, parents with university degrees… so on. I could have checked all 9, but I don’t necessarily identify as Christian (despite my family historically being Christian and me doing the whole Christmas and Easter thing).

So when I say I’m privileged, what does that mean to me?

Honestly, it just means that I’ve got some advantages in life that I’ve done nothing really to earn. People inherently trust me (I get stopped for directions like 5-10 times a week by complete strangers). Every interaction I’ve had with police has been strictly business-like and non-scary (even when I’ve gotten the odd speeding ticket), and getting a job has never been all that difficult (so long as I didn’t need a work visa).

I know that a lot of other people haven’t had life that easy. People of colour, especially black people, deal with a lot more obstacles and stressors than I do.

That doesn’t make me a bad person.

It just means I have a responsibility to understand my privilege, and do the best I can to not wield that privilege to harm anyone who doesn’t have it. And better yet, wield that privilege to influence others with privilege to learn, appreciate, and decline to wield said privilege.

This is all very layered so take time to think about if you need to.

Process how you need to

We all have different things to process and different ways to process it. As you well know, whenever I’m going through something, I typically have two coping responses. Either make an Excel spreadsheet, or blog about it.

However you need to process, whether you’re talking, writing, thinking, or dancing, do what you need to do and take care of yourself.

Talk to you soon!

Greg

How I Could Afford to Quit My $78k Job and Move to a Nicer Place During the Pandemic

First thing’s first. I’m like 12/10 lucky. I’m privileged in every way imaginable and I will never deny that. None of this is possible without the advantages I started life with.

---

During this pandemic, there has been an unprecedented amount of uncertainty.

If you’ve been following for a while, you’ll know I’ve been planning to quit my job and focus on my business for a loooong time. Long before COVID came into play. 

And despite this, when my boss repeatedly offered me a contract extension to help me out during the circumstances (an incredibly kind act), I seriously struggled with my decision…

A) Do I play it safe and take the guaranteed income (and do something I’m not crazy about with people that I do really like)…

OR

B) Stick with the plan, give up my guaranteed income, and go all-in (and do something I absolutely love)

Ultimately, the decision wasn’t a decision at all… I had to leave…

Now normally… pandemic + career change = enough challenge…

Not this time!

We decided to move too! Now you might be thinking, Greg, you’re crazy! You’ve got enough going on… well… here’s how it came together:

1. This summer was beautiful and we didn’t have a balcony (and our windows barely opened), so Ariana and I would only be able to get fresh air like twice a day. The balcony itch was real.

2. Rental prices plummeted in the city due to COVID.

3. Our landlord wanted to raise our rent again despite said price plummeting.

4. A new condo building opened up down the street from us that we absolutely loved.

It was the perfect storm for moving and not wanting to miss the opportunity, I decided to add this additional mental and financial burden on myself in addition to quitting my job.

And yet, I knew everything was going to be okay. Here’s why:

1. I’ve been saving like a madman

Since I launched my side hustle in 2018, I barely spent a dime of that money. It had been accumulating for this exact purpose. For 2.5 years I told myself I was buying time. Time in which I could supplement my income while committing all my time to my business. When I got a raise for my new job in February, I took all the additional income (above my previous paycheck) and put that aside too. I saved over $40,000 (not including my pension or TFSA investment portfolio) so I’m covered for a few years while I build up my business income.

2. My expenses have plummeted

Things I don’t pay for anymore due to COVID: metropass ($150/month), improv class ($180/month), haircuts ($30/month) **Ariana has gotten really good at cutting my hair FYI**, going out with friends ($100~/month), vacation savings fund contributions ($200/month). That’s over $650 deducted from my monthly expenses. Makes life much more affordable.

3. Ariana

First, as the common law partner of someone with a full-time unionized job, I’m covered for health insurance and such. Second, we split the cost of everything (except plants, I tapped out on funding her plant obsession). Also, just having someone around who believes in me has really helped with morale <3

4. Business income ain’t too shabby

I’m already hitting anywhere from 70% to 90% of my living/business expenses between my resume writing, interview coaching, and video courses. That’s going to stretch that $40k even further. 

5. Hawaii money :(

Ariana and I spent over a year saving up for our dream vacation to Hawaii. It was scheduled for March 29… obviously, we could not go. We saved up over $7,000 for that trip, budgeted down to the penny. We were so excited…

We were obviously devastated to cancel. And we held onto that money for months but as time marches on, it’s becoming less hopeful that transpacific flights will be an option inside of the next couple years… so we’ve used that money for both the fun and annoying moving costs (elevator rentals, uhaul, new TV, dumbbells etc.). We’ve still got a fair amount in that account, so maybe we’ll have a trip to Hawaii… one day.

As with basically everything I do… these decisions were carefully measured and backed by Excel spreadsheets and long talks with Ariana.

I’m so excited and grateful to be working on my business full-time and live in this great new place. Pictures attached below :)

Thanks for reading

Check out some photos of our new digs!

Ready to Land Your Dream Job?

Or would you at least like to know how for when the time comes?

Check out my FREE eBook!

I've Been a Full-Time Entrepreneur for 1 Month: What the Heck Have I Been Doing???

One month ago today, I took a step that I had been dreaming/stressing/giddy about for a long time. It didn’t look all that different on the outside. As always, I woke up around 6:30am, shuffled blurry-eyed over to my den, and fired up my laptop to check my online course earnings from the previous day before launching into a couple hours of focused, uninterrupted work.

What was different was that… at 9:00am, instead of begrudgingly stopping my exciting, fulfilling business work and logging into my morning team check-in at work, I just kept working on my business…

…and I haven’t stopped since.

I’m not going to say I’ve been working all day and all night, because Ariana and the NBA Playoffs have both been pulling their weight in making sure I’m taking my breaks… but I have been working A LOT.

And I have no complaints at all. In fact, I genuinely love it.

I get to do what I want, when I want. If I want to try something new or crazy, I can.

What’s mind blowing is how fast things move when your attention isn’t divided between two things and you’re working completely on your own. I remember at York, I could have a big project that was stressing me out, and then as soon as I was about to start, I’d realize I needed like 6 pieces of information from 6 different people before I could do anything….

Soooo frustrating, right?

Now… whatever it is… I just do it. I am ripping through my to-do lists. I’m gladly working 10+ hours a day, and I’m just so happy.

Of course… there have been some challenges…

Bye Bye income… soooooo, August has historically been one of my lowest earning months of the year. This year is no exception. The first month I don’t have that fat York U cheque auto-depositing on the 25th and it’s also the least clients I’ve seen for a month since last August…

However, I planned for this. Oh boy, did I plan for this. As I mentioned in a previous post, I’ve been stock piling savings in a “rainy day account” for years so I’ve got enough to supplement my income for quite some time (although I have to constantly remind myself of this when the tiny waves of panic come).

Plus, I’m still experiencing record-high income from my video courses each month, so that has made the slowing in clients all-the-less painful.

Also, September is always one of my biggest months and I have a few clients lined up already so I’m going to be jussssst fine. But thank you for caring.

So, if I haven’t had a ton of clients, what have I been working on?

I’m glad you asked.

I’m very excited to give you a sneak peak of my newest project:

Job Search Institute is a 5-Day Huge Super Course I’ve been building that’s designed to take job seekers from start-to-finish, navigating the entire job search process with inside secrets from a former hiring manager (yours truly).

I’ve been working my butt off on putting the course together using a platform called Teachable. I’ve got a whole marketing funnel for it and everything.

I’ve been thinking about building this thing for like 2+ years, and now that my livelihood depends on it, it has been (more-or-less) my sole focus… side note: having no safety net is by-far the best motivator I’ve ever experienced.

I’m going to be releasing a sneak peak next week and I’m hoping to launch the week after that!!!

AhhHHHhh so excited!

Anywho… just to throw another wrench in everything…

I’m also MOVING!!!

Ariana and I had been eyeing this nice condo down the street from us for a while. We started talking about how much we wanted to live there, and then we starting talking about how we were going to live there, and then next thing we knew, we had our move-in date.

It wasn’t my first instance of “manifesting” something into existence (the Raptors did win the championship last year after all), but it was a pretty cool example of how putting your thoughts into something can go a long way toward making it happen.

The new place is great. It has two bathrooms (not sure what we’ll use the other one for but, cool though) and a balcony, and it’s right on the water, so we’re very excited.

But also… moving in the middle of COVID plus trying to launch Job Search Institute plus stressing a tinsy bit about my income… it’s a lot all at once.

But Ariana is awesome, I am awesome, and the new place is awesome, so we’re making it happen.

In summary

I know this blog has been a bit all over the place but that’s kind of how I’m feeling right now so that’s what you get.

I also feel strangely calm and okay, amidst all the change and chaos. Hopefully that means I’ve made the right decision.

More to come soon.

xoxo

Greg

I’m About to Risk Everything to Go All-in on Pursuing My Dream, and I Feel… Fine?

Friends and well-wishers… my life is about to take a drastic, albeit thoroughly planned, turn into the unknown.

At 10:00am on July 4, 2004, a nervous, pimple-faced, rail-thin, 16-year-old me stepped foot into the Americana Resort & Spa’s brand new indoor waterpark in Niagara Falls, Ontario, equipped my whistle, sunglasses, and flip-flops to start my first day on the job as a lifeguard.

And ever since that moment… I’ve had a job.

Sure, there was that 8 week stretch after my 5th year or university where I “took a little break”, and of course my infamous 5-month unemployment spell when I was trying to get a U.S. work visa after grad school, but these were always short-term, temporary gaps in employment.

As of 3:30pm on Friday, July 31, 2020, I’m leaving my job for real… on purpose… forever.

The Decision to Leave

If you’ve been following for a while, you may remember that I had a pretty rough October of 2019. I documented that shit-show in this post entitled How the Hardest Month of My Life Made Me Believe in Myself and Follow My Dreams.

For those who don’t have time to read the whole story, a quick recap… I attended multiple funerals, my best friend moved across the ocean, and I narrowly missed out on a promotion I had been dreaming of for over a year.

That missed opportunity was the push I needed.

To be honest, I had been thinking about departing for about 2 years prior, but I was kind of addicted to the comfort of having a routine and working with people I was familiar with so I stayed.

Thankfully, after that major let down (the no-promotion), a few of my bosses and co-workers had conspired to help me out, and the moment I was denied that job, I was offered a “consolation” job which was a 6-month contract in another department.

It was by no means my dream job (although it was working for my dream boss), but it was my opening… take this job… 6 months… then I’m out! Go full-time on my resume-writing / interview coaching business.

But What About Money? Please, Don’t Starve to Death

As I detailed in my blog post, I Quit! Why, When, and How I’m Leaving My Steady Job to Run My Business Full-Time, my first reaction to not getting that promotion was to hit the spreadsheets… hard.

At 5:00am, the morning after I got that bad news, I generated 8 different financial models for different timelines that outlined when I could safely afford to leave my job according to my personal/business expenses and cash-flow projections for my business.

As you may know, I’ve been saving just about every penny from my side-hustle since the day it started, and as I explained in my post, How I live in a Luxury Downtown Highrise Condo on a $65,000 Salary while Putting Away $20,000+ Per Year in Savings/Investments, I’ve been aggressively contributing to my Tax-Free Savings Account, my pension, and what I like to call my “Rainy Day Fund” for 3 years (5+ years on the pension)… pretty much since the moment I finally paid off those pesky student loans.

In addition to all my savings, during this 6-month job I was paid a fair amount more than my last job… so I’ve been dumping 25% of my paycheck directly into my Rainy Day Fund for the past 6 months on top of the years of saving before hand.

Aside from my home and my vacations… I’m not much of a money spender. In my mind, I’ve spent these past few years imagining that I’m buying time as opposed to things. The more money I saved, the longer I could afford to run my business full-time without earning enough to cover my monthly expenses.

At this point, according to my most conservative cash-flow predictions (which would have me making a fair amount less than I’ve made the past few months), I can support myself for about 18-months on my Rainy Day Fund alone before I need to start “breaking-even” or dipping into my long-term savings.

Now… do I plan on taking 18-months to break even? Hell no!

In May, I was only $197 short of “breaking even” to cover my monthly expenses and in June, I was only $329 short. That gave me a lot of hope.

Bottom line… I won’t be starving to death… but thank you for caring.

My Biggest Fear and How I’m Combating It

The biggest perceived obstacle for me when leaving the known world of having a full-time job is definitely the loneliness. I am a self-proclaimed hyper-extrovert… not that I’m hyper like you would call a child… okay, sometimes I am… what I mean is that I’m just extremely extroverted and I really really like to be around people.

Working on my own full-time… it won’t be conducive to social interaction. I fear the loneliness will sap my energy and that’s where I’ll flame out.

However, I am not one to ignore a challenge… I’ve got a plan… actually… I’ve got several plans.

Please allow me to explain.

1. COVID-19 Means Ariana Works from Home

I’ve got the love of my life within literal arms reach (our den is very small and we’ve crammed two desks in here), so for the first 5-or-more months (who freakin’ knows…), I literally will not be alone.

Is it annoying / distracting being that close to someone all day long every day? Duh! But it’s worth it because she’s cute / hilarious / excellent / reading this blog post.

2. I’ve Joined 2 Entrepreneurial Communities

As if by magic, I received two applications for brand new online entrepreneurial communities hosted by my 2 favourite entrepreneurs / heroes, Pat Flynn and Chris Guillebeau within 2 days of each other back at the end of June.

I applied to both, was accepted to both, and joined both groups. Now, I’ve got all these people in my network who are at various stages of doing the same sort of online business type stuff that I’m doing. We’ve had Zoom meetings, shared messages, ideas, feedback, encouragement and all that great stuff.

Once we’re allowed, I’m hoping to find and/or create another Mastermind group that meets physically… but I’ll cross that bridge when it is safe.

3. Lunch Dates… Lunch Dates… Lunch Dates

Luckily, I’ve got a solid list of friends who work downtown near my condo. When the day comes that everyone is back at their offices, I’ll have a wide roster of candidates with whom to break bread over their designated lunch hours. I’m also looking forward to subwaying back up to York U to visit with my old co-workers on the regular... I love those peeps.

4. Co-Working

I’ve got some really great friends who are with a) self-employed, or b) work remotely, who I’m planning to get together with on a recurring basis to quietly pursue our independent goals in the presence of other living beings. I’m not really thinking about paying for an office in one of those nice co-working spaces yet (gotta keep the business lean at the moment), but having this arrangement with friends to break up the alone days will be nice :)

I think I’m going to be a-okay for this one as well :)

What am I Most Excited About?

God… there are a LOT of things!

I genuinely don’t know where to start. I’ve got butterflies in my stomach thinking about this (like the kind you get when you see your crush walk into a room in high school).

Let me just try a quick list of things I’m excited about for you:

1. No more boss: The ironic part is… I’ve had a line up of probably the greatest bosses the world has ever seen. Level-headed, caring, people-first professionals who I dearly love. But still… having no one in the world to tell me what to do (except Ariana) is all I’ve ever wanted.

2. Performance-based income: I always felt frustrated that no matter how well or poorly I performed at work, my paycheck was always the same. I know a lot of people like that stability (for good reason), but it’s never felt right for me. I believe in myself to thrive and I want my income tied to that.

3. Exponential income growth: At York, I would get like a 1.5% income bump every year. When I took on the temporary contract, I got a 15% raise. In contrast, running a business, I can grow my income a lot faster. My first year, I earned about $8,000, my second year, $15,000, this year, I’ve already surpassed last year’s earnings.

4. Location freedom: This is mostly a post-covid thing because I’m fairly confined at the moment, but long-term, I’ll be able to work from anywhere. If I want to spend time with my parents, take an extended trip, or even just hop on the ferry and work from the island for a day… I can.

5. Having 100% control over my own vision: I have a LOT of ideas for new projects, new income streams (I’m going to announce a BIG ONE in the next couple weeks), new marketing tactics. And now I will have the time, energy, and freedom to take those in whatever direction I want.

6. No safety net… and complete commitment: I can’t count the number of times I’ve delayed writing blog post or recording a video course because I knew my York U paycheck was coming in on the 25th of the month. Without that, the fire under my butt is lit, and I am READY. TO. ROCK!!!

There are dozens more things I’m excited for, but you get the gist ;)

Do I feel any sadness, regret, nostalgia leaving York after 12 years?

I left York once before to go to grad school in Florida. That was really, really hard. I cried… bawled actually… like a pulsing, weeping mess. It was my whole life for 6 years and I left. 2.5 years later, I was back… and I stayed for 6 more years.

Now I’m leaving again.

I feel a lot of things right now. A very mixed bag of emotions.

It’s obviously super weird because we’ve been working from home for 4+ months now and I haven’t seen the campus since March… so it doesn’t really feel the same.

Plus, being in this new job the past 6 months has meant that I don’t really see the people I used to work with (with a couple exceptions of friends I’ve taken the time to call for the sake of catching up).

There’s no regret. I’m proud of the things I accomplished there and I’m absolutely ready to leave. I’m sure I’ll miss the people because I already do.

As far as leaving York goes… COVID’s got the whole thing feeling a bit anti-climactic.

So Where Am I Headed on My Entrepreneurial Journey?

At the moment, I’m still making the majority of my income from working directly with clients. They reach out to me, we talk on the phone, I write their resume, cover letter, LinkedIn profile, etc. And yes, that work has substantially picked up and that income is a big reason by I’m feeling so confident about leaving my stable job;

however…

My goal is not to spend the rest of my life trying to write enough resumes to pay all my bills and save for my future. Yes, I do plan to keep doing that, but it’s not the end game, by any means.

The client work is enjoyable and rewarding but it’s limited by my own personal availability. Even if my marketing game was at 110% and I had enough clients for a 2-month wait list, I still could only serve as many people as I had time to serve in a given week/month, etc.

So the plan is, continue the client work, of course (gotta get that bread), and in the meantime…

Continue developing my online course library because that’s where the exponential growth is possible!

As you may know, I launched my first online course “How to Write a Winning Resume and Land Your Dream Job” about a year and a half ago on Skillshare and I’ve now had over 1,800 students take that specific course. I’ve created 6 other courses that have amassed over 900 students between them.

I’ve also licenced these courses to a number of other platform (including a Taiwanese company that is currently translating the course content), so income in starting to trickle in from those other sources as well and I’m very excited to see where all that goes :)

Currently, my online course income is making up about 25% of my monthly income, but I’d like to get that up substantially and I’ve got some big ideas for doing so… one of which is a Super Course which I’ll be officially announcing in a couple of weeks!!!

In Summary, I’m Feeling…

A lot. I’m feeling nerves, I’m feeling extremely excited, very motivated, a little sad, slightly scared, very free, eager, happy, stressed, relieved… a whole love of everything… except doubt. I feel completely 100% comfortable with this decision.

To all those who have supported me along the way through offering encouragement, sending clients my way, watching my video courses, sharing my social media content, checking in on me, thank you! I really appreciate it :)

More updates to come!

DOES YOUR RESUME NEED AN uPGRADE?
DOWNLOADMY FREE e-bOOK!

Land Interviews
and Get Hired!

Enter your email and I'll send you the FREE e-book!

Send me the
FREE ebook

We won't send you spam. Unsubscribe at any time.

Powered By ConvertKit

How COVID-19 Has Affected My Business, My Mood, and My Life Plans

Hot damn, you guys! This pandemic has been MESSED UP!

I know my mental health has taken a hit from various levels of stress.

Think about all ways this is hitting us…

1. On the broadest scale: there’s the mass illness and death around the world that’s weighing on all of us like a heavy, heavy weight (wow, super weak analogy, sorry! It’s all I’ve got right now)

2. Then there’s the new, fun anxiety dreams we get to have the night before we go grocery shopping. I looove those. Being afraid to do normal things sucks.

3. And then not seeing the people we love. And the people we like. And even the people we aren’t huge fans of. Ariana is, of course, the best, but anyone besides her would be overwhelmingly interesting to have a face-to-face conversation with for me.

4. We’re all on a spectrum somewhere between bored and stark-raving-stir-crazy-mad from being stuck in our houses 99% of the time, pining for when we get to go on our precious “walk”.

5. Then, perhaps one of the hardest things to swallow (aside from all the other stuff)… no NBA. Which really sucks because whenever I’ve been going through a tough time in the past, basketball was always the place I turned to for distraction. Even the NBA players are in the same boat as us.

 Of course, I frequently check my privilege in this situation.

• I’m healthy

• I’m lower-risk

• I’m employed, and

• I’ve got this nice lady living in my apartment who gives me hugs sometimes

But overall… this sucks.

What I’m really Trying to Say…

As a side-hustler and soon-to-be full-time entrepreneur, I thought I’d share my unique perspective on how COVID-19 is affecting me.

1. My Emotions are ALL OVER the place

I’m up. I’m down. I’m shaking all around. Anyone else?

It’s like… one minute I’m perfectly happy watching Ozark and five minutes later I’m in a pit of despair, never to emerge again.

I realized that one of the ways I was coping was to console myself with unhealthy snacks (chocolate, cookies, chips… anything really). I’ve been trying to cut that stuff out the last few days and to be honest, it seems to be making my mood worse. I don’t know, maybe I need to get over the hump or something.

Anyway, I think keeping a level-head is a bit too much to ask, but for mine and Ariana’s sake, I try to be “up” more often than “down”. Sometimes it works.

2.  Doing everything all in one place is hard/weird/hard

I’m very lucky to have a job that transitioned nicely into work-from-home, so my income has been stable.

I’m happy to report that my side hustle is also holding steady. Resume clients are coming in at the typical rate and video course viewership has actually gone up, believe it or not. So that’s awesome.

What’s hard is sitting at the same desk hustling in the early morning, working hard during the day, moving 8 feet to the kitchen to have lunch and dinner, then back at the desk to hustle in the evenings.

I miss the flow of hustling at my desk, writing on the subway, doing my day job at my office, then coming home to do the rest of the work here.

The physical separation of tasks was really helpful.

Now it all blends together and frankly, it’s harder to focus on anything really.

3. I’m worried about… I donno… everything!!!

I’m worried about my health.

I’m worried about my friends and family.

I’m worried about the fate of the world.

I’m worried if Ariana and I will ever go on that Hawaiian vacation we’ve been planning and saving for over the past 14 months.

I’m also worried about my income. ..

I’ve got 3 months left that I know I’m bringing in a paycheck and although I’m still super, super excited to go full time on my business… the circumstances are not ideal.

To be honest, they suck.

I’m worried that if the world is still in shambles come August, the clients will slow down and I’ll have trouble supporting myself.

I’m worried I’m making a mistake by leaving a stable job… but no… I’ve been preparing for this for a really long time and I’m financially prepared to subsidize a slow start anyway (but you can see how my mind wavers easily on the topic.

But alas, I’m coping…

My only friend… a gentle duck

There are a few things that have been helping a lot throughout the process.

1. I’m journaling: just 15 minutes a day to put my thoughts on paper is really nice.
   

2. I’m reading a lot! I’ve gotten through 4.5 books in the last 6 weeks.

3. I’m trying new things: I’ve been participating in Ariana’s virtual fitness classes. Boxing is so hard, man!

4. I’m staying in touch with people: I’ve been having 1-2 virtual games nights per week with friends. And lots of FaceTimes with my loved ones as well.

5. Fresh air helps a lot, and I’m very lucky to be able to walk by the lake whenever I want.

We’re all going through a lot right now. But this will end… and we will be okay.

Good luck out there, friends!

P.S. I know this blog wasn’t about resume writing but, hey, you all know what I do… so if you’re in need of some help, or even just curious, download my free e-book!

Land Interviews
and Get Hired!

Enter your email and I'll send you the FREE e-book!

Send me the
FREE ebook

We won't send you spam. Unsubscribe at any time.

Powered By ConvertKit

LIFE HACK: How I Made the WORST Month of the Year AWESOME… And How You Can Too!

October 2019 was one of the hardest months of my life. I wrote a blog about it, and many of you were kind enough to read it and then personally reach out to check if I was okay. This is why I love blogging and all of you :)

It was really cool to have probably 100+ people (from my dad, to my students, to friends I hadn’t seen in years) get in touch and make sure I was okay.

In case you missed it, here’s that blog post: How the Hardest Month of My Life Made Me Believe in Myself and Follow My Dreams.

For all the people who checked in to see if I was okay, and anyone who was feeling concerned and thought of me during that time… and anyone who just needs to hear some good news right now…

this one’s for you!

You probably know where I’m going with this because of the title of the blog but I let me shout it out loud:

My February was freaking AWESOME!

I usually hate February… who doesn’t?

It’s cold (when you live in Canada as least), it’s dark… it generally sucks.

But not this year!

Of course, many of you read about how damn tired I was feeling earlier in the month when I started a new job in my last blog post: The 4 Hardest Parts of Transitioning to a New Job… And Some Major Benefits Too!

So you know that I was feeling pretty drained earlier in the month.

But another reason I was feeling so drained is that I had A LOT of great things going on!

Just like I did in October, I’m going to run you through a day-by-day of all the notable things that happened in February…

except…

This time, instead of it just being a continuous shit-storm of death, failure, and sadness (with the occasional joyous evening here and there), it’s pretty much all good, baby!

Just Before We Start…

I want to talk about the power of positive news.

We’ve had a lot of negative things happening in 2020 thus far and they’ve dominated the news cycle. I personally feel like that’s been a huge dark cloud hanging over me.

I can’t blame the news outlets, because fear and bad news definitely help with their audience engagement.

My goal here is to just cut through that a little bit with a sprinkle of good news…

News that guy who wasn’t doing so great a few months ago, had a really amazing month full of little things that made him smile!

Let’s get rockin!

Feb 1 - CHANGES! It’s a Saturday, but it’s also the first day after leaving the job I held for the past 5.2 years. I feel a bit sad, but also relieved and excited to be moving on!

Feb 2 - Ariana and I host my Dad, Step-mom, and her parents and brother for our Second Annual Super Bowl Party at our condo. I love all these people and bringing them together for great food and an exciting half-time show is always a blast. Yay to new traditions!

Feb 3 - I have the Monday off so I “pretend” I’m already a full-time Entrepreneur. I head over to my self-employed friends’ house and spend a wholesome day co-working in the bliss of my imagined future.

Feb 4 - New job baby! It’s a long, draining day… but very very exciting and energizing too! Funny how purpose can do that.

Feb 5 - We take Ariana’s parents out to a Raptors Game! It’s a blast… we win on a huge comeback and a last-second three from Mr. Scarf Energy, Serge Ibaka. Great day!

Feb 6 - I attend a Change Leadership training with my new job and we come up with a change project that we’re actually actioning. Not just theoretical. I’m starting to see the opportunity for high-level impact in this job. Very cool. Also, it’s Thursday, so I have improv class… Always fun.

Feb 10 - I take my Dad to our annual Raptors game. We have a fun dinner and then the Raptors win their franchise-record 15th straight game! Another great day!

Feb 12 - My Mom comes into town and we have dinner with Ariana at my fav restaurant and then my mom and I see the Second City Main Stage show, If I Could Throwback Time. Sooooooooo funny. Highly recommend!

Feb 13 - I perform with my improv class for our end-of-term show at Second City. Making stuff up (and singing) on stage in front of dozens of strangers… my favourite. Once again, another great day :)

Feb 14 - Valentine’s Day!!! Woo!!! Ariana and I make a nice dinner and spend some quality time together :)

Feb 15 - Ariana and I head down to Niagara to see my mom. And we take the newly expanded GO Train route that saves us like an hour on the trip. Bonus! Also, solid dunk contest that night at NBA All-Star Weekend :)

Feb 16 - My mom, Ariana and I take advantage of the unseasonably not-horrible weather and go down to the actual Niagara Falls (something we locals don’t often do) and take in the sights. Also on this day, the NBA All-Star Game is good for the first time in forever… so you know that’s got me excited!

Feb 19 - Ariana and I celebrate our 4 YEAR ANNIVERSARY! Wowie! I’m surprised it’s been 4 years already but also soooo happy and lucky to be with this amazing woman. We have a nice Italian dinner at Eataly. Very delicious and they’re great about allergies so that’s nice for me too :)

Feb 20 - Improv class… awesome as always.

Feb 21 - Pirate-themed Escape Room! Ariana and I, along with a couple of our favourite friends take on (and defeat) a very interesting escape room. Winning feels good!

Feb 23 - Ariana’s Mom comes into town for an afternoon of skating. It’s almost spring-like weather but not too hot for ice skating… kind of perfect. We have a very nice, enjoyable day :)

Feb 25 - Monster payday! I get paid out for all my vacation from my old job, plus my first paycheck (with increased salary) at my new job. It’s a lot of dough, which I added to my cushion that I will be using to supplement my income for the first few months after I leave my job to go full-time entrepreneur.

Feb 27 - My first officially sanctioned “work from home” day at my new job. It’s relaxing… it’s productive… why don’t we do this more often?

Feb 28 - We head out to Oshawa to spend the evening at Ariana’s family’s house before…

Feb 29 - We get up first thing in the morning and go up to their cottage for an awesome and fun weekend full of sledding, bonfires, outdoors, and family time.

It was only part-way through the month that I realized how awesome of a time I was having but I’m so glad I did because it really helped me enjoy every single moment.

As I said, I usually dread February. But when you fill it with new challenges, and lots of fun with family and friends… it can actually be pretty great!

I’d recommend you do the same whenever you have a month coming up that usually drags you down. We all have the power to make ourselves happy! We just have to be proactive about it sometimes!

I hope this little rundown reassured you that I’m doing much better now, and lifted your spirits a bit too!

Oh yeah! And…

Another thing I did in February that I was super proud of was LAUNCH MY E-BOOK!

I has allowed me to help a lot more people in a whole different way! Check it out!

Land Interviews
and Get Hired!

Enter your email and I'll send you the FREE e-book!

Send me the
FREE ebook

We won't send you spam. Unsubscribe at any time.

Powered By ConvertKit

The 4 Hardest Parts of Transitioning to a New Job… And Some Major Benefits Too!

An exhausted man tries to smile for a photo during the first week of his new job…

Between my resume writing services and my video courses I have helped hundreds of people transition into new jobs… however, it had been 5+ years since I did anything like that myself…until now

...and let me tell you, this shit is hard.

If you’ve been following along for a while, you’ll know that I recently resigned from my stable, permanent, long-term job to take on a 6-month contract in a department across the hall from my old job (before leaving to take this business full-time… July 31st, baby!).

My old job was absolutely awesome and fun and full of great people, but after 5-years and a devastating missed promotion, it was well-past-time to move on.

On February 4th, I started my new job. 

Process Evaluation and Service Delivery Analyst… 

which is a cool job but it’s all very new and there are many unfamiliar feelings. 

Don’t get me wrong, I love feeling feelings.

I love feeling nervous, out-of-place, and generally uncomfortable… it reminds me that I’m alive, and those feelings usually come when something awesome is happening (or is about to happen)…

P.S., on a related note… I’ve taken up musical improv and let me tell you… I am, what my retired-music-teacher-mother would call, “Not good at singing”… but I love that discomfort… and I’m getting good at rhyming… but that’s not why you’re here… hahaha sorry… let’s get back on topic :)

All that considered…

Now that I’m living this transition experience, I want to share what I’ve found as the hardest parts of transitioning jobs.

My hope is that if you’re going through something like this, or you’re scared about your own transition… you’ll at least know that you’re not alone.

We’re in this together :)

1. I Miss (Almost) Everything About My Old Job

The day I moved to the U.S. for grad school, I immediately became this uber-proud Canadian and started doing Canadian things I had never done before. I hung a flag in my residence room, I started following the Toronto Blue Jays religiously, and I would take every opportunity I could to blast my Canadian-only playlist to anyone who would listen.

It’s so funny how you leave somewhere you’re comfortable with and then suddenly you relate so strongly to how things used to be. What was once annoying becomes endearing and you miss the little things that you took for granted.

I miss a lot of little things…

Like at the end of the day at my old job, each of my colleagues had a designated sign-off for each other… kind of like a “verbal secret handshake”.

I miss annoying my cubicle neighbours by eating baby carrots at a volume that I thought was completely reasonable… ;)

I miss the smell of the kitchen. It wasn’t good… but it was home… the new kitchen is fine… but it doesn’t smell like home.

2. Learning is Hard / Self-Doubt is Exhausting

When you’re in a job for a long-ass time… you generally get pretty good at it. And I don’t mind bragging (I rarely do, hahaha), I got really damn good at my old job.

You had a question… I had an answer.

A problem came up… I knew how to solve it.

A decision had to be made… I’m your guy.

But now…

I know nothing.

I’m a total beginner. I don’t know names, I don’t know acronyms, I don’t know processes, I don’t know anything.

So all day… every day… I’m just asking people to explain stuff to me. I’m reading, I’m watching videos, and I’m eavesdropping a lot.

Luckily for me, my boss has designated these first few weeks as “listening time”. So I’m very grateful there is no pressure to deliver anything yet, but damn… it’s just so hard / different to go from having all the answers to having none at all.

3. Meeting People is Draining

I’m an extrovert. In fact, I’d call myself the extrovert’s extrovert. When I’m all out of energy after a long day, I usually want to find some people I like and just talk things out and chill.

But wow...

In the past 8 days, I’m sure I’ve met over 100 people and it has been draining.

What’s hard is that this energy I use to engage with these people is the same energy that drives me to excel and achieve things. So without that, I feel my wheels spinning a bit.

Even doing little things like writing this blog are hard. I’m sitting here on a Sunday afternoon, only able to write after literally doing nothing at all for my whole Saturday.

The good news is…

I don’t think I’ve got a ton more people to meet in the role.

The bad news is…

Now I have to interact with a bunch of people who “know” me but I can’t remember their names because I met so many people so close together.

That’s okay though, I'm still within the window of time where I can sheepishly ask, “Sorry, what was your name again?”… although that question alone takes up a lot of social energy.

Long story short… I’m tired.

4. My Precious Routine… Rest in Peace

Last week, for the first time since New Years, I fell short of my gym goal for the week. I also didn’t eat my healthy breakfast (bowl of oatmeal with blueberries and a hard boiled egg) that typically fuels my mornings.

I’m also dead when I get home because of the previously mentioned energy drainers, which annoys Ariana because I’m no fun at all.

I feel confident that this is temporary and I’ll settle in before too long, but it kind of sucks that during a time of uncertainty and transition, I can’t count on the things that used to keep me stable.

Patience young Langstaff… the routine shall return to it’s mighty glory.

Of course… there are lots of good parts too!

Every personality test I’ve ever taken has accused me of being overly positive… so let’s embrace that for a moment and share the 4 Best Parts of Starting a New Job to balance things out.

1. I’m being challenged again!

As I stated… I got really good at my old job. Perhaps too good. It all sort of became automatic. In the last week I’ve said the phrase, “I feel like my brain is turned back on” several times. 

For that... I’m grateful :)

2. Salary bump, baby!

As with most career moves, a part of the motivation was financial. And because this job is a short contract, it’s all cash (as in, no money going into pension or benefits or union dues or anything) which is great for my current situation since I’m saving up cash so I can supplement my income temporarily when I go full-time entrepreneur (also, I’m enrolled in Ariana’s benefits so health-wise, I’m covered).

3. I’m diversifying my experience

Of all people, a Professional Resume Writer should know the value of adding a different job with new responsibilities to my experience. Although I’m not planning on leveraging this experience for a new job, the value of working with different people and having some new, analysis-and-process-focused experience under my belt will be immensely valuable.

4. I’m proud of myself!

You want to see the people you love succeed, learn, and grow. And I maintain a healthy level of love for myself, so mathematically speaking… how can I not be happy for myself?

When people would ask me what I was “up-to” in the past couple years, I would be excited to tell them about the Career Services business, but when the full-time job came up, I was using the word “still” with some disdain…  “I’m still in the same job”, not very proud, you know?

Now… I feel great about what I do and I’m proud of myself :)

To Summarize…

The challenges are temporary… the benefits will help me for the rest of my career. All this stress will be well worth it in the end :)

Thinking About Making a Career Change?

Check out my eBook!

Land Interviews
and Get Hired!

Send me the
FREE ebook

We respect your privacy. Unsubscribe at anytime.

Powered By ConvertKit

2 Years Since Launch! A Look Back at the “F-IT” Moment that Led Me to Start a Business, Take Control of My Own Destiny, and Change My Life Forever

December 2017… I was less than 4 months from my 30th birthday and having one of those typical “What Am I Supposed to Do With My Life?” conversations with myself while lying in bed around 6:30am on a Sunday morning (I have no trouble falling asleep at night but in the twilight hours, my mind starts to motor with these big questions and there’s often no falling back asleep). 

Things were… fine.

I had a steady, unionized job with a good salary and amazing benefits. I was working with great people and doing things that I, for the most part, enjoyed. But the challenge and uncertainty that I thrive on had faded from the job after 3 years and I was stuck facing the prospect of being overly comfortable. I had a lot of energy and drive and really no outlet for it. 

To be honest…

I had spent over a year thinking about starting a business. I wanted the challenge, I wanted the extra income, and I wanted “entrepreneur” to be a part of my identity. I had gone as far as making a workback plan of all the things that I needed to accomplish before any sort of business would be ready to launch. That plan was over 6 months long… I was hiding beneath a list of to-do’s like a scared little puppy. 

Until…

On that fateful Sunday morning in December, when I realized I had been hiding, I had what some might call an “F-IT” moment. The next day, I booked the first week of January off from work and committed to spending that week (and what was left of December) doing as much as I could and then just launching with whatever I had. 

Sure, I could have spent the next 6 months meticulously pre-writing blogs, building my website, getting a logo designed, writing perfect sales copy, getting my Certified Resume Strategist designation (I didn’t get this until 18 months later), creating a marketing calendar and on and on… but I knew that if I launched now and figured that stuff out as I went, I was probably going to learn a lot more through real world feedback and maybe even make some money during the learning process (which I did). The only reason I wasn’t launching before everything was “perfect” was that I was scared!

→ Sidebar: “HOT DAMN! As I’m writing this, I realized that the procrastinating and fear I was describing is exactly why I haven’t launched my email marketing program that I’ve been coveting (and paying for) since September. Time to kick it into gear, Langstaff! ← 

So I busted my butt throughout the rest of that December and then spent the first week of January working full-time to get everything ready… and on that fateful day: Monday, January 8th, 2018, I launched! Was everything perfect? Absolutely not. But I got the damn ball rolling!

Good for me! 

Accomplishments Since Launching

I’m soooo glad I launched when I did because I learned so much from actually being live (so launch your damn email list, man!). Here’s a quick list of the stuff I was able to accomplish since the business launched which I probably would be nowhere near if I had decided to wait those six months (which could have turned into a year and so on...): 

• I’ve earned over $24,000 and counting

• I’ve served 126 clients (as of writing this)

• I’ve produced and launched 5 video courses on SkillShare.com which have amassed 550 students to date (earning over $1,100 and picking up serious steam)

• I got my Certified Resume Strategist designation from the Career Professionals of Canada (the Executive Director of the organization called my sample resumes “exceptionally strong”)

• I’ve published 36 blog posts (that seems low now that I think about it… might have to step that one up) 

• My website has had over 5,700 unique visitors (with December 2019 hitting an all-time high of 627)

And perhaps more importantly than all these small (and big) victories, is the feeling that has come with doing all this. I’ve put in an ungodly amount of hours into marketing, working with clients, writing, and just learning how this is all supposed to work. And sure it feels like work sometimes, but it also doesn’t feel like an option. This is just who I am and it’s what I do.

End of discussion :)

All those feelings of not being challenged and the lack of uncertainty that I crave… gone. And not only that, I just feel more in control of my life… especially at work. 

• Whenever we talk about government funding cuts that might affect jobs at work… I’m not really worried because I know I have this other income source (and a substantial amount of savings) from this business to fall back on.

• When I didn’t get that Manager job I had my heart set on, the idea of having more time to focus on this business was the first thing that comforted me (followed closely by my special lady and rock, Ariana). 

• When I’m frustrated by “the system” or “the hierarchy” or anything else that comes with working at a large organization (which is increasingly often these days), I can escape to a fantasy of running this business full-time. 

The way I feel about my life is so much better with this Career Services business in it.  

Moving Forward

I know, I know, the blog title said I was going to change my life forever… let me explain: 

I’ve got some big plans for year 3. I think I have enough evidence that this is something that I want to invest more time into, so year 3 is certainly a big year for expansion. 

I do have visions (and perhaps an action plan) for taking this thing full-time. But it’s not quite time yet, so here’s what I’ve got planned for year 3 that I’m ready to share today:

• Launch my damn email marketing program (I’ll tell you what… right here, right now… I’m going to commit to launching in 4 weeks from today. February 6th, 2020, my email list will be live and I’ll start promoting it. There… done. F-it.)

• Publish MORE video courses to Skillshare on topics including creating an Amazing LinkedIn Profile (almost done filming this one), Career Exploration, Strategic Networking, and Personal Budgeting (I know this one’s a little outside of the Career Service lens but if you’ve been following me for long enough, you know I’ve been a bigtime budgeter for a long time). If you want to see what I’ve already got on Skillshare, check out my teacher profile here: Greg Langstaff Skillshare. 

• Launch a line of low-cost digital products including Resume and Cover Letter Templates, Career Exploration Worksheets and some others.

• Expand my marketing efforts to video to start reaching a wider audience and helping people in a different way. 

• Professionalize my marketing planning and materials because… let’s be honest, you all know my graphics are an artistically ill-equipped man struggling with Canva / PowerPoint. I’ve partnered up with a creative agency to help me with some major rebranding. 

Also… I know I’ve been teasing this topic a lot, so I promise to soon explain when and how I plan to transition this side hustle into a full-time gig! So excited!

Talk to you all soon!

How I live in a Luxury Downtown Highrise Condo on a $65,000 Salary while Putting Away $20,000+ Per Year in Savings/Investments

Look at me modeling my new couch. Not awkward at all ;)

I can’t write this blog post without an excessive amount of gratitude for the privilege and luck that has put me in a position for this to even be possible. I’m a very fortunate guy… and I understand and appreciate that. 

I also want to acknowledge that living in a fancy downtown condo is not everyone’s goal… but it was absolutely mine. Being a lifelong Raptors fan, I’ve always associated Union Station and the Harbourfront neighbourhood with such happiness, excitement and a certain… “coolness”. 

After living here for over a year, I still feel pretty damn cool about it.

The reason I’m sharing this story with you is, whatever your financial or life goals are, they might not be as far away as you think. 

Right now, I work a 9 to 5 job (actually 8:30 to 4:30… but you get it) which pays me $65K before taxes and I live in a beautiful downtown condo.

On top of that, I have no debt (details in my blog: How I Paid off $12,000 of Debt in 6 Months While Enjoying Guilt-Free Spending) and in 2019, I saved and invested over $20,000.

Here’s how I made it all work (and you’re going to want to pay special attention to number 3)…

Even our elevator is fancy.

1. My Special Lady, Ariana

The first and most important piece of the puzzle is that I get to cut almost all my expenses in half immediately. 

Rent = Half

Utilities = Half

Netflix, Crave, Disney+ = Half

Ariana is a strong, badass woman who makes more than enough to support her end of our expenses. She’s got a great job in Digital Marketing (which she’s killing!) and she’s also turning into a bit of a Facebook Marketplace Wizard (witch?). 

Without Ariana, could I afford to live where I live? Yes. But not if I wanted to continue to bolster my investment portfolio and long-term financial health. 

Our lobby… not our living room.

2. My Side Hustle

While Resume Writing and Interview Coaching is a big part of who I am… it’s not necessarily an essential piece of the puzzle. I don’t use that income for any of my living expenses, and even without it, I’d still be putting away over $14,000 per year from my day job. 

The Side Hustle income is more for piece-of-mind. Whenever I think about my expenses, I’m comforted knowing that I have that extra $1,000 - $2,000 coming in every month and that very little of it is required to actually run the business. 

Most of the money I have made from writing resumes is sitting in my Business Bank Account waiting to fund my next venture (more on that to come). 

What I’m saying is… if you want to make extra cash for yourself… you could start a business without quitting your day job… but you don’t have to in order to live a very comfortable lifestyle on a modest salary. 

The Pool Deck

3. My Almighty Budget

Though I’m comfortable with a degree of uncertainty (I am an amateur improvisor after all), financial uncertainty makes me very antsy. I deal with the antsiness using my good friend Microsoft Excel (Wow Greg, Improv and Excel… you’re just the coolest). 

When Ariana and I decided to move in together, and she was also trying to decide whether or not to take her new job, we made a budget… or rather, we made 3 budgets (a “conservative” version, a “moderate” version, and a “fun life” version). 

We listed all our potential expenses:

• Rent 

• Utilities

• Renter’s Insurance

• Internet

• Groceries

• Transit Passes

• Medication / Toiletries

• Vacation Fund

• Clothing / Shoes

• Gifts

• Phone Bill

• Bank Fees

• Entertainment

• Haircuts

• Dating

• Gym

• Miscellaneous 

Then we subtracted those costs from our income (after taxes), and then we adjusted the rent costs until we were comfortable with how much we’d have left over from our monthly paychecks (for me, I wanted to have at least $1,200 excess that I could put away). 

During this process, we realized that we could afford a much nicer place in a much better location if we didn’t have to pay for parking and other car-related expenses, so Ariana accepted the job offer (which was downtown) and sold her car. 

The other bonus of not owning a car (or a home… or really anything), is that we really don’t have any unexpected expenses to worry about. I’m not taking the subway car in for an oil change and then paying $2,000 to have my brakes replaced.

Thanks to the budget, we know how much we can afford for rent, how often we can go on vacation (we’re heading to Hawaii for 2 weeks in March), and how much we can put away each month.

Partial lake view, baby!

4. We Don’t Live Above Our Means

I might argue that, even though we live in a beautiful condo, we still live below our means. 

We cook most of our meals at home. Ariana’s a great cook and I… am good at cooking meat for the exact right amount of time (which is super important, btw, so… I’m useful ;)... ). 

We still have fun of course. 

We go out for dinner a few times a month, we usually make it to a Raptors game or concert monthly. Ariana goes to a really cool gym for boxing and fitness classes, I take improv classes at Second City, and we have a whole system for saving up for vacations (I might do a blog about that soon because it’s super fun and also it really helps).

Most of our fun though is free, or very cheap. 

We go skating a lot in the winter, we walk around the city or go to the island in the summer, and we spend a lot of time hanging out with friends :)

Not bad at all for a condo gym!

Closing Advice

Honestly people, the budgeting part is the key. If you know how much is coming in and how much is going out, you can make calm, confident, informed decisions, and pursue your personal and financial dreams without worry. 

I developed the skill a few years ago when I decided I wanted to pay off my student loan as fast as humanly possible. If you didn’t already click on the link above, you can check out that story here: How I Paid off $12,000 of Debt in 6 Months While Enjoying Guilt-Free Spending.

If I, just a regular dude who likes Excel, can live in my dream home on a $65,000 salary, while putting away over $20,000 in savings/investments every year… you can do whatever you set your mind (and budget) to!

The Bad Advice I Took that Caused My Revenue to Drop 89% from July to August, What I Learned, and How My Sister Saved My Business

On July 31st, I went to a John Mayer concert at Scotiabank Arena (floor seats!) with my good buddy, Guitar Andrew (he’s a big John Mayer fan… for obvious reasons). At the end of the night, as I sang out Slow Dancing in a Burning Room as loud as I could… I was on top of the world. 

July 2019 had been a fantastic month. In late June, I set myself a goal that I wanted to earn over $2,000/month with my resume writing side hustle at least once in the next year. Only 5 weeks later, I had achieved that goal. 

I made $2,208 in that July. It was awesome and it gave me hope that I could do this full-time one day…

Then August came.

It’s My Own Fault

As you can imagine, I was feeling pretty good about myself. I even posted this picture of me flexing in my elevator (no regrets here, but I wanted to give you a little insight into my mindset). 

And with my heart set on expanding this business, I decided to reach out to some colleagues of mine with the Career Professionals of Canada. This group is full of really great, impressive people who have been doing what I do for much longer than I have and many of them write resumes as their full-time job. 

So I set up a phone call with one of the leaders of the Career Professionals of Canada just to pick her brain. 

It was this phone call that derailed my seemingly unstoppable revenue train… and it was all my fault. 

The “Bad” Advice

First off, I want to say, the call was extremely well intentioned and very encouraging. I left feeling great. I had ideas, dreams, and an action plan. The problem was, my colleague had a very different approach to her business, and I didn’t consider how her advice would translate into my own circumstances. 

There was a lot of great advice about networking and website design and business development… all super useful, but the overarching message was… 

You need to charge more… like… way more. 

While I generally charge about $149 for a resume (with common upsells for cover letters and LinkedIn Profile optimization), my colleague was charging about 10x that. She even scawffed at the idea of working with someone who was only willing to pay $350 for a resume. 

I nearly fell out of my chair when I heard this information. Then I started to see the dollar signs flashing before my eyes… maybe that’s why I wasn’t thinking straight. 

When I Tried Following Her Advice

A few days later, I raised my prices, as advised, by a lot. I put together packages ranging from $395 all the way to $995. I altered my entire website to make it look more “professional”. And I took a course on writing sales copy so I could try to entice my audience to buy. 

Through one month, guess how many sales I got at these new prices… zero. None. Not a single person. 

The only money I made in August was from add-on sales with past clients at previously agreed upon pricing, and one single mom who happened to reach out before I changed the prices on my website. 

My total income was less than $250. 

However, we do not collapse and give up when we fail. We learn from our experience and come back stronger. Upon reflection, here are the major reasons that the advice of raising my prices just wasn’t right for me. 

1. The Clientel

My colleague has built up a business working with executives. Her clients have lots of money to spend and their ROI on landing a new job is huge so ~$1,500 isn’t as big of a deal. 

While I’ve worked with the odd CEO or VP of Sales here and there, but many of my clients are early in their careers, or unemployeed, or just generally in life circumstances where they don’t have 4-figures to spend on a resume. 

2. The Turn Around Time

She also told me that she had a turnaround time of 3 weeks and that she spent no less than 40 hours writing each resume. 

I… I don’t do that. My operations are a lot more quick and effective. I have one 60-minute phone call with my clients… then I get all their documents and things back to them in a week. It takes me 4-5 hours of work. 

I wish I had done this earlier, but after some quick math, I realized that her business model of $1495 for a 40-hour resume was earning her $37.38/hour and my $219 sale rate for a resume, cover letter, LinkedIn profile that takes 5 hours earns me $43.80/hour. 

Bro… what was I thinking? Should have left it alone, man. 

Snapping Out of It

I wasn’t ready to paint the experiment as a failure yet; however, a heated conversation with my sister, Michelle, about not being able to work with her friend because my prices had gotten “scary” made me realize that the new pricing structure didn’t align with the values of my business or who I was trying to serve. 

Thank god for Michelle. Always yelling at me at just the right times :)

It Wasn’t a Total Failure

Even though I lost out on a lot of clients and revenue during that experiment, I learned a valuable lesson about what my business is and who I am working for. Plus, it gave me an opportunity to upgrade my website and learn more about sales copy (which is a super fun skill in my opinion). 

And you know what? I tried something. And I’m never going to regret trying something because I obviously learned a ton and I’m excited for my next big, dumb failure and the lessons that follow.

How the Hardest Month of My Life Made Me Believe in Myself and Follow My Dreams

Hey everyone, this blog’s going to get really real. And very personal. So warning… if you don’t intend to get to know me MUCH better than you do, I’d stop reading now. 

October had to be one of the weirdest, hardest, most emotional months of my life. I felt grief, joy, defeat, fear, lost, honoured, comforted, empty, and at least a dozen other ways. October 2019 changed my life (for the better I’m assuming… might be too soon to tell but I feel pretty good about it at the moment). 

So let me run you through everything that happened and then we can talk through how life changing the month was and the new directions and all that.

Leading into October 2019

Three stressful/challenging things were going on leading up to October. 

• My Grandma, late in alzheimers, hadn’t eaten anything since the beginning of September (very sad, very stressful).

• I just found out I didn’t get a job I was really excited about running the Intramural Sports program at York University. 

• I was still dealing with the post-event depression that hits me every September after new student orientation is over and my sense of purpose is kind of gone.

Then October happened. Lots of good things happened and lots of really bad things happened… here’s the rundown. 

October 2019

Oct. 1st - I donated $500 of my earnings to Matthew House to support refugees settling in Canada because my mom’s friend had a lot of great experiences working with the organization and, frankly, I wasn’t using that $500 for anything else. 

Oct. 3rd - I got invited to interview for a promotion, Manager of Student Life, in my office. I had been looking forward to this opportunity since January when the office first announced this position was being created. Woohoo! Excitement :)

Oct. 9th - First round interview for the Manager job goes really well! I prepared as hard as possible and it paid off. I nailed that thing! Now I’m really excited and starting to picture myself in the job. 

Oct. 11th - My Grandma passes away. It hurts. I had lost my paternal Grandma back in June so I also felt very weird telling people that my Grandma died… again. 

Oct. 12th - My best friend tells me he’s moving to Spain… 6 hours before he takes off to Spain. I knew this would happen one day, but yet another shock to the system that it happened so soon and without warning. Despite everything that’s going on, I am happy for him.  

Oct. 12th-14th - I traveled to Niagara to see my mom and spend the next couple days doing those unpleasant errands that one has to do after a family member passes away (visit the crematorium, cleanout the nursing home, plan the funeral, etc.). 

Oct. 15th - I spend the day on my couch… literally couldn’t do anything else.

Oct. 16th - I return to work and get invited to a 2nd-round interview for the Manager job! Success! More excitement… but I’m tired. 

Oct. 16th (later that day) - Someone I care about (being vague for privacy’s sake) loses a young family member unexpectedly. Tragedy and heartbreak. Shit.

Oct. 17th-20th - I leave for a long weekend vacation to Montreal… exciting! I’ve been looking forward to this trip for a long time. Holy shit, though, I’ve got a lot on my mind and I’m so tired. 

Oct. 21st - Fresh off the Montreal Trip, Ariana and I commit to the Hawaiian vacation we’ve been talking about for 6 months and we buy our plane tickets! Wooo!!! 

Oct. 22nd - Everything I’ve ever wanted since I was 7 years old… Raptors Championship Ring Night! I go to watch the ceremony in Jurassic Park with thousands of fellow fans. I cry. They win. And my favourite thing… NBA basketball… is back. 

Oct. 23rd - I go to a breakfast to be honoured for an award I won at York University called the “Bryden Local Hero Award”. I eat breakfast with the university president, I make a speech, it’s great :) 

Oct. 23rd - I immediately leave the breakfast to drive to the funeral for the young family member of the person I mentioned earlier. It’s heavy. Funerals for young people are hard, man. 

Oct. 25th - It’s time for the 2nd round interview for this Manager position. I’ve been prepping hardcore for a while now (between all the other stuff, believe it or not). It goes really well and my hopes are high!

Oct. 25th - I go to a Halloween Party at the Ripley’s Aquarium… I’m a Dollarama Pirate. Very fun and much needed :)

Oct. 26th - I have my first counselling session in years. A very good idea considering the above. 

Oct. 28th - My Grandma’s funeral. Did you forget this happened? Yeah, what a month? I delivered the eulogy, I saw a LOT of people I loved, and I got some quality time in with my mom. All-in-all, a pretty nice day considering the circumstances. 

Oct. 29th - I trek back from Niagara to Toronto to attend a beloved co-worker’s going away party. She’s not leaving the university but she’s no longer sitting in ear shot after 4 years. Still a big deal. More emotions. My tank is empty. 

Oct. 31st - Remember that interview from a week ago. My boss pulls me into the office at the end of the day and tells me… we offered the job to someone else. I’m devastated. I feel like I’m falling into a pit of nothing. I fantasized about that job for so long… and now it’s someone else’s. It hurts really badly. I rushed out of work without having eaten anything all day. Luckily, Ariana (who I called instantly upon getting the news) thought ahead and rushed out of work to bring me a chicken bowl from Chipotle… with guac. My hero <3

Oct. 31st - I return to the Second City Training Centre for my first Improv class in 3.5 years. Thank god. Even though I’m distracted… devastated… and exhausted beyond belief… it was pure, untarnished happiness. I belong there.

So that was my month… it was nuts. Lots of happiness and excitement. Even more sadness and disappointment. And here’s why it helped me.

How All This Changed My Life

You read everything that just happened… well despite all that very time consuming, mentally, emotionally draining stuff, I still managed to produce $1,793 in profits in my resume writing / interview coaching business. Plus I missed out on another 3 clients (~$650) because I was too busy. 

I had no time to blog, no time to do any marketing, and barely even any time to do the work for my clients. 

If I can make nearly $1,800 (over half my monthly expenses) in a month where everything (good, bad, or horrific) is pulling me away from my business… what could I possibly do in regular month? What could I do if I actually dedicated myself to this thing? 

Honestly, this might sound a little corny, but doing so well in a month where so much went wrong… I inspired myself.

And not getting that manager job… probably a good thing, because who knows how long I would have stayed in that role and not pursued my business in a full-time capacity? Probably longer than I intend to now. 

So What’s Next?

To be honest, I’m still recovering. I’m formulating the pieces of an exit strategy from my current job (everyone at work is aware of this, so no need to start gossiping) and I hope to have a plan in place before the December break. 

I have spent years thinking about going full-time on my business and now, for the first time, I can see it in the horizon and it’s starting to feel real. 

Now I just need to bust my butt to prepare for that moment. 

Thanks for reading. If you want to help me recover, my best source of energy is compliments, so please comment here or wherever you found this blog. 

7 Business Books That Helped Me Start My $16,000 Side Hustle

If you’ve read any of my previous blog posts, I’m sure you know that I’m an avid reader (and rereader) of business books. For every book I’ve read, I make sure to take at least one major concept and integrate it into how I’m running my business.

In my first year, 2018, I made a little over $8,000 running my Resume Writing business and this year, as of July 21st, I have already surpassed $8,000. I owe a lot of that to reading and listening to podcasts. I’m going to do another post of my favourite business podcasts, but for now, let’s talk literature.

Tiny Disclaimer: I am a registered Amazon Affiliates member, so if you click through these links and purchase the book, I will get a (laughably small) commission. However, I’m only recommending books I have read and which have significantly helped me get this side hustle running and growing!

 

1. Rich Dad Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids about Money that the Poor and Middle-Class Do Not by Robert T. Kiyosaki

How it made me feel: This is the first business-related book I ever read and it got me FIRED UP! Rich Dad Poor Dad opened my eyes to the possibility that I was headed down a seriously wrong path if I wanted to gain any kind of financial independence. It also made me feel a little overwhelmed by how much work I had ahead of me, but that’s why I kept on reading more business books!

What it taught me: This book taught me many of the mistakes most people make when they think they’re building towards a sound financial future, and why most people work they’re whole lives only to live a modest retirement with frequent financial headaches.

When to read this: Read this if you’re starting to feel like the track you’re on might not lead to the life you’re dreaming about.

Times I’ve read it: 3

Check it out!

2. The 4-Hour Work Week: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Timothy Ferriss

How it made me feel: This is the Mecca of all business books for a budding entrepreneur. I still get butterflies when I see this on my bookshelf. Tim Ferriss has designed a blue print for not only creating financial freedom, but also creating a time-flexible lifestyle that I (and many others) so desperately want. Tim’s step-by-step guide also makes me think… I can do this!

What it taught me: Tim’s “Definition”, “Elimination”, “Automation”, “Liberation” formula helped me to craft a vision of what I want my life to be and craft a plan of how to get there.

This book taught me how to work smart and not hard and stop wasting the enormous amount of time when I thought I was being “productive”. It has also made me far more efficient in the workplace and a much higher-performing employee (bonus!).

When to read this: When you’ve decided you want to make a change in your work/financial situation but you don’t know where to start.

Times I’ve read it: 3

Check it out!

3. You Are a Badass at Making Money: Master the Mindset of Wealth by Jen Sincero

How it made me feel: This book gave me permission to pursue a better financial lifestyle. It talks about the limiting mindset many of us have around money and the psychological reason many of us have chosen to take a safe, timid financial path. This book oscillates between giving me that heavy feeling on my chest and energizing blasts of hope and empowerment.

What it taught me: Sincero helped me identify my negative relationship with money and put me on a path to re-examine my financial mindset and open me up to the possibilities which I am able to pursue.

It also empowered me to share exact dollar amounts when talking about money (see title of this blog) which has helped me to have much more meaningful discussions about money with more people.

When to read this: If you’ve ever felt a bit icky thinking about or talking about money.

Times I’ve read it: 3

Check it out!

4. The $100 Startup: Reinvent the Way You Make a Living, Do What You Love, and Create a New Future by Chris Guillebeau

How it made me feel: Chris Guillebeau has this innate gift to make the process of starting a business seem simple and possible. He fills this book with a dozens of real world examples of people who started a business, investing roughly $100, and grew it into something big. While other books made me feel excited (and occasionally overwhelmed) The $100 Start Up gave me my first sense of calm.

What it taught me: This book taught me where to start! Guillebeau walks you through defining your idea, crafting a one-page business plan, and how to start making money with a minimal investment (as a side, the initial investment in my business was about $220 for web hosting and an email service, so this definitely helped).

When to read this: When you’ve decided you want to start your own business but before you know exactly what you’re going to do.

Times I’ve read it: 1.5 (just skimmed it the second time)

Check it out!

5. The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg

How it made me feel: When you’re starting a business while still working a full-time job and trying to have a life, finding time, energy, and willpower to get things off the ground (or expand) can be daunting. Charles Duhigg breaks down the psychology of habit forming and how we can use that to construct a life where working towards our goals is automatic. For a more detailed look at how I’ve incorporated the lessons from this book, see my blog How I Make $1,000 per Month Riding the Subway.

What it taught me: Duhigg’s research taught me how to build time into my daily schedule for business development without needing to use up precious willpower to get to work. He helped me discover how to work, when to work, and how to reward myself so that I can handle all the clients I do (coming up on 100!) while still driving the business forward and not letting it take over my entire life!

When to read this: Read this if you’ve started a business and if you’re having trouble finding time and energy for the rest of the commitments in your life.

Times I’ve read it: 1… plus I listened to him walk through the concepts in a podcast.

Check it out!

6. Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook: How to Tell Your Story in a Noisy Social World by Gary Vaynerchuk

How it made me feel: Gary Vee (as the author likes to be known), is probably the most high energy public-figure/entrepreneur out there. I picked up this book during the third month of my business (March 2018) when I famously made exactly $0. This book is focused on content marketing through social media and it had me saying, “Aha!” and “Ohhhhhhh!” a lot. Lots of good revelations about how to build trust with your audience through providing high-value content online.

What it taught me: Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook is full of screenshots of actual social media ads which real companies have used. Gary Vee breaks down each ad and tells you why they are good and bad. This book got me back on track and helped me to start bringing in clients who weren’t in my inner circle through social media marketing.

When to read this: If you have started a business and you’re ready to expand your client/customer base.

Times I’ve read it: 1

Check it out!

7. Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World Deep Work by Cal Newport

How it made me feel: This book gave me two very distinct feelings. First, it made me feel like I had superpowers. By following Newport’s advice, I have been able to find my flow-state and get a load of high-concentration work done in a short period of time. Second, it made me understand that we have natural limits to our concentration and that I shouldn’t feel bad when I start to lose my focus.

What it taught me: Cal Newport taught me how to structure my workflow so that I can really drill down and do deep, concentration-intensive work, and still have plenty of time for family, friends, and relaxation.

When to read this: Whether you have a business or not, read this one if you’ve got a lot on your plate!

Times I’ve read it: 2

Check it out!

Let me know if you found this helpful! And please comment with any business books you think I should read next!