The Recession is Bullhonkey Elishas Story

The Recession is Bullhonkey Elishas Story by Art Equals Happy found on Pinterest This is part of  The Recession is Bullhonkey series, where I share stories of those who have gotten hired and/or started their own businesses (or sometimes both!) since 2008. This is Elishass    Story, and  I love how shes living proof that there are big wins/opportunities that come from the baby steps! As a recent graduate of Michelle’s Operations!, when she asked if anyone wanted to write about their recession stories, I leapt at the chance.    I live in London, and there’s a lot of doom and gloom in the media about how no-one could even possibly begin to find a new job or start their own business when there’s an impending monetary apocalypse that will wash away anyone in its path.    I have close friends who have been hit by recession-induced redundancies and cutbacks, but am really passionate that people don’t feel disenfranchised by bounteous articles threatening a worldwide apocalypse, and think it’s really important that those who are negotiating their way through the recession get chance to tell their stories. When I was looking for a job in 2009, I was desperate to leave my then position.    I was working 70 hour weeks, had co-workers who would sell their grandmothers for a promotion, and had forgotten what meeting a friend for a drink after work felt like, let alone what it felt like to not wake up at 3am having had another work-related nightmare where I was being swallowed alive by a spreadsheet.    However, most companies had closed their doors to formal recruitment, and so I was left interviewing for jobs that I didn’t want at all, because I thought I needed to be practical and go for what was available rather than being picky.    Eventually, having managed to tire myself out ironing shirts for interviews I didn’t even want, I gave up and decided I’d pick up my job-hunt again in 12 months time, ‘when things are better’. But my soul-sapping job didn’t relent, and neither did all the newspaper articles about recession (accompanied by downwards graphs and red numbers), and a month later I decided I’d had enough of waiting for an immobile dark cloud to pass.    I wasn’t going to sit and wait passively for the recession to disappear before I got my life back.    I’m not someone who finds it naturally easy to put myself out there, and the thought of networking events made me feel all kinds of queasy, so I took the baby steps I felt most comfortable with.    I emailed people I knew in other companies I’d like to work for, and mentioned tentatively that I’d rather, possibly, quite like to know if they had heard job-related rumblings.  From this email blitz popped up an opportunity with an old client of mine, which involved travelling, a pay rise and an office full of nice people who wouldn’t merrily step over me in steel-toed boots to get be the first in line for promotion.    I found a job I enjoyed and that gave me back my life in a recession, all because I was brave enough to reach out to friendly faces and remind them that I existed.    The best thing of all was that no-one thought I was using them or viewed what I was doing as anything less than enthusiastic and pro-active, all good things for a job hunt that held me in good stead. Two years later, I’ve decided to give being a Woman of the World a stab, to earn a living from a business idea that’s been percolating in my head for a while.    The plan is to design lingerie using prints from up-and-coming designers, and I know the recession means people have less disposable income so I’m going to have to convince them that it’s worthwhile to spend their hard-earned pennies with me.    However, I’m using the same skills I applied to my job hunt to my business â€" not being afraid to reach out to everyone I know who may be able to help me, having confidence that I can make this work, and not feeling guilty that I feel like I deserve more than my desk job.    I’m fully aware that as my current employers don’t beat me or chain me to my desk long into the night, I should be thankful for that, and I am.    But recession or schmrecession, the skills and the dreams I have are unchanged, and I’m not willing to wait until a graph tells me that the recession is over and it’s ‘safe’ to try something new.    Instead, I’ll choose to blow big fat raspberries to fears, and carry on working on my little business as hard as I can to make it work like I believe it can, regardless of the environment. -