From dream job to dream projects
Instead of chasing an elusive dream job, focus on a spread of projects that spark joy.
In this newsletter, I write about what I learn from the world of online entrepreneurship that I can bring into the nonprofit world, and vice versa.
I discuss how to apply skills I have or am developing (online education, storytelling, productivity, content creation, digital marketing, community organizing, advocacy) to my other areas of interest (public health, city planning, racial justice, media messaging, entrepreneurship, career development for young people).
I've spent 13 years working in nonprofits on issues ranging from arts education to affordable housing and health equity. Simultaneously, I built a 7-figure productivity online education company with my husband, Forte Labs. I also have passion projects that aren't quite businesses or nonprofits. I created WinAFulbright.com, and I have a YouTube channel, where I mentor young folks on figuring out their path post-college.
Many people become content creators and start online businesses to leave their traditional jobs. For me, I've also chosen to have a traditional job. Each kind of work serves my overall personal fulfillment and life mission.
I grew up with severe asthma in a polluted Latino community near the Port of Los Angeles and the most heavily concentrated area of oil refineries in California. I've spent my career making my community and other low-income communities of color more equitable with good air quality, affordable housing, access to transit, etc. I love this work, but it's heavy – the politics, bureaucracy, and slow pace of progress.
With online content creation, the stakes are low, which makes it light and fun. I can just make things and not worry about the policy implications. I can play.
I took a year off my 9-5 last year and moved to Mexico City to focus on online content creation and my business. But something was missing. I wasn’t as motivated compared to working on entrenched social justice issues.
Work can drain you, or it can give you energy. I realized I need my 9-5, online business, and my side projects to sustain my motivation and energy.
Each project teaches me something that applies to the others. I've learned to be hyper-productive, helping my husband create a productivity business and becoming a productivity trainer and coach. I bring these methods to each project I work on, which help me prolifically produce and execute. I've applied what I've learned about content creation and digital marketing to work on public health communications with local governments.
I bring my social justice values into my business and the entrepreneur spaces I have access to. At a conference, I once had a deep conversation with a tech guy explaining the history of homelessness & housing policy in the Bay Area, only to later find out he was a cryptocurrency billionaire. I see my mission as an entrepreneur to influence people of influence to care about social justice issues.
Each project builds on each other, helping me become more effective at each one.
I dread the question, "What do you do?" I give an awkward answer struggling to explain the diversity of things I do, so I default to something generic. But I think more people are actually in my camp. I have a friend who is a talented photographer, singer/musician, and also a mechanic.
We emphasize having a "dream job" that will fulfill all our intellectual, financial, and creative needs. But most of us have a spread of projects – jobs, volunteering, side hustles, hobbies, parenting, podcasting, etc. Rather than discounting the projects that don't bring in money, I'm asking us to see them all holistically as the things that bring us pleasure, fulfillment, and help us achieve our life purpose.
In this newsletter, you will find a chocolate-box assortment of content from productivity/marketing tips to improving public health infrastructure for the continuing pandemic. I'll also add some life details, speaking of which tomorrow is my baby's due date, so you may not hear from me for a while.
Lauren
P.S. I recently published this blog post on how I make money on YouTube with less than 1,000 subscribers and did an interview on Creator Wizard with more details on my methods of group coaching.
On the productivity front, I published this article on a feminine energy approach to productivity and discussed getting rid of productivity guilt on the Creator's Campfire podcast.
Enjoyed this ☝️, thank you.
You said, “Rather than discounting the projects that don't bring in money, I'm asking us to see them all holistically as the things that bring us pleasure, fulfillment, and help us achieve our life purpose.”
This perspective is a paradigm shift. For me, it wasn’t possible to see this value until I learned the BASB methodology.