Free food!

No job yet, but free food coupons for my birthday have been VERY helpful.  I made sure to sign up for every place I could find giving out free birthday food in LA the week before my birthday, and luckily, some of these coupon expiration dates aren't coming up until the end of the month.

The wife is growing very tired of Mexican food, since that's where most of them are from, but we're surviving.  To keep from going crazy, I took Grant's advice (see comment on last post to read his advice) and took an internship.  Not only is it giving me something else to do, but I'm getting the kind of experience I need and want.

Getting the internship was ridiculously easy, I just applied and they gave it to me.  It's a boutique production company where I not only make coffee and get the mail, but I get to read all of the scripts my heart desires and write my opinions about them.  Those of you who know me well, know that I LOVE opportunities to express my opinion.

So in the future, I will have examples of script coverage at a production company that will serve me well.  Though I've only been there for about a week, I have more to say in my job applications than I did two weeks ago.  And...I get a free, healthy lunch while at my internship.  The pictures below are of the "cafeteria" where I eat my lunch.  If I've got to be broke somewhere, it might as well be here.

If only I can find a way to get free gas...

Go Karen, it's Your Birthday!

I'm going to say it out loud for all of the internet to hear.  I turned 30 four days ago.  I promised myself I would be here by 30, though I didn't expect to call it this close.  I took the monumental day to serve as excuse to get to know some new LA friends.  Not only did I accomplish this task, but I got the chance to celebrate it with some good Chicago friends too.

While my friends were here, I took that time out to relax and regroup.  Looking for jobs is a stressful endeavor, and not just because it's annoying.  In between looking for jobs, I have to write tons of emails and answer text messages about how I don't have a job and what I'm doing to try and find one.  What comes with putting the word out that you're looking for work also opens up the floodgates of people asking if you've found it yet.  

Though I haven't yet found a job, I have found an internship.  I will be an intern at Perfect Weekend in Venice starting this Friday.  Though it is unpaid, it will provide experience and connections that will serve as a proverbial handsaw to help me break through the industry's doors of steel.  

So, while I enjoyed my birthday, I thought about what I've learned in LA since I got here, and one concept is ringing loud and clear...management.  The ringing grew louder after I listened to a podcast with a manager at Principato-Young Management.  I had an idea...maybe I should work harder to sell my consulting services.

I served as a manager in Chicago for two years until the economy fell apart.  Consulting opportunities presented themselves over the course of the last two years.  I've been walking around with business cards, touting myself as a media consultant, but I've played it down, just because I've been trying to stress that I'm looking for work.  

I never really considered management before because my eyes were looking elsewhere.  But I decided to stop and notice what was right in front of me, especially after receiving a call about some potential clients and networking opportunities.  

As of today, the plan is to continue to set up more coffee dates with industry folks and apply for jobs, but I will also be sending letters out to managers at firms all over town to start making connections and creating opportunities on that front.  I wouldn't build a website and start calling myself a manager until I have more of a foothold in the industry, but this gives me a focus beyond getting a job.  

What do you all think?  Any thoughts, ideas, questions?  This is the perfect forum to present your comments.  I  will continue to update the blog, at least on a weekly basis, and you can always subscribe to be notified of updates.  

Stepping Out on Faith

Stepping out on faith to achieve my dream is a really big deal, and it has scared lots of people, including me.  A lot of us have dreams...but money, experience, proximity, a lack of opportunity and a myriad of other things prevent us from stepping out on faith to actually realize them.  That's why they call it "stepping out on faith", right?

I've talked about moving to LA for a long time, and I will admit, I would have much rather done it a traditional way.  I would have liked to have  had a job, a lot of money saved up, a prepaid apartment, or something more than faith to make me feel secure.

As the clock ticks down to when next month's rent payment is due, I think about how after it's paid, that's it.  It's been two weeks, and I have had one job interview.  My second interview with that same company will be in about a week and a half.  I interviewed with a production company that offered me an unpaid internship.  I had a preliminary interview for an unpaid internship at another production company, with a second interview impending.

For the sake of this being on the internet, I will not divulge the names of each production company, but I am sure they will certainly provide a significant investment in my career.  The wife suggested I pursue both internships and see which one leads to gold.  If I choose that, there begs the question, how do I pay rent?

Ultimately, if this was going to be easy, everyone would do it.  If living a life of gratitude, ease and happiness in times of uncertainty was indeed effortless, everyone would live this way.  This is my opportunity to prove that I mean business, and I believe in the power of positive thought.  Every day, I am reminded, that this is what stepping out on faith looks like.

I am eating.  My rent is paid.  I don't know what June will look like, but June isn't here yet.  All I can do is have the faith that I had when I left, and trust that when June comes, everything will be all right.