Wow. What a whirlwind these last few months have been! Honestly, if you had told me a year ago that I’d be sitting here, talking about how much I love my new career in marketing, I would’ve laughed and asked if you were sure you had the right person. But here I am—45 years old—and I’ve somehow stumbled into a career that fits me like my favorite pair of sweatpants. Seriously, how many people can say that?

Let’s rewind a bit. Last year, I was pretty much in the dumps. My dreams had fallen apart (cue dramatic violin music), and the people I had been working with? Let’s just say we weren’t exactly synchronized swimmers in the work ethic pool. While I was doing laps, they were, well…splashing around in the shallow end. It was frustrating, to say the least. But then, just as I was about to throw in the towel, the universe threw me a curveball in the form of an absolutely phenomenal teacher. She introduced me to the world of marketing, and let me tell you—this field just clicks for me. Who knew that at 45 I would finally find the career? Weird, right? But it’s true, and I’m loving every minute of it.

So, let’s talk about my first big project. We’d done a few smaller jobs, nothing too crazy, but this one? Oh, this was a beast. And let me tell you, I had all the skills—somewhere—but it was like trying to gather cats for a group photo. The creativity faucet turned on full blast, and I couldn’t stop the ideas. At one point, I was lying in bed, wide awake, running through about ten million concepts. Anyone else know the feeling? Yeah, I didn’t sleep much. But hey, at least I wasn’t bored!

Now, let’s get to the real lesson here. Turns out, I’m not exactly the “details” person I thought I was. I was all big picture, throwing ideas like confetti at a parade, but the devil? Oh, he was in those pesky details. However, if there’s one thing I’m good at, it’s pushing myself to improve (and maybe stubbornly refusing to accept defeat). With some serious nudging from my mentor—who, by the way, is the best kind of strict—those details finally started falling into place. At first, I was cursing under my breath every time she pointed out what I’d missed, but you know what? It clicked. Three days later. After she said it. For the fourth time. Oops. But hey, better late than never!

Then came the big surprise. About 85% of the way through the project, I did what any responsible, detail-oriented professional would do—I Googled the client. And uh, wow. This was no small-time operation. We’re talking a massive organization, and there I was, knee-deep in the project, blissfully unaware that I’d been running with the big dogs the whole time. Cue panic attack. But once the shock wore off, it became this huge confidence boost. Like, “Holy heck, we pulled this off!” And my mentor, Tiffany, she trusted me with this. She pushed me to be better every step of the way, and I honestly learned more from this project than I ever thought possible.

The best part? We did such a great job, we’ve already got three more contracts in the works. Yep, I guess I’m on a roller coaster now, and I’m absolutely ready for the next ride. Bring on the lessons, the late nights, and yes, the occasional head-scratching moments of “what have I gotten myself into?” Because I’m here for all of it—and I’m finally doing something I’m passionate about.

So, here’s to finding your groove—whether it happens at 25, 35, or hey, even 45. Turns out, the right career can show up at any time…even if you were convinced it got lost somewhere along the way.

Let’s do this!