Editor’s note: “I Found My Calling” is a new series by CareerBuilder that highlights influencers in different verticals – people who have found success and happiness by pursuing a passion. Each week, we’ll share another inspiring story. Find YOUR career calling now by visiting http://findyourcalling.com/.
Do you feel like you’re not meant for a traditional 9-to-5 role – that you’re destined to create your own job and be your own boss? Are you currently doing anything to explore those feelings – to find out what it’s like or figure out what you’d do? If not, it’s time to get started. Take it from someone who’s been there.
“If you feel that way – [you] want to be self-employed – it’s not going to go away,” says Amanda Blain, a technology enthusiast and an ‘Internet-famous’ coder. Do what you can to start exploring that idea and new path, she says.
Before building a social network from the ground up, and before amassing close to 5 million followers on Google+, Blain was working in sales for a technology company. She had an inherent interest in everything technological, which allowed her to be successful in sales, but she felt out of place. Blain admits she always wanted to be her own boss but didn’t think she had any big ideas that would allow her to walk away from her sales career.
“I read books, went to seminars, [did] all kinds of things to try and find that ‘big idea.’ That big idea never came and I kept going to work and being miserable,” Blain says. “When I finally got laid off a few years ago, I picked Web design as a random skill to pursue. The ‘big ideas’ happened all the time after that.”
Her big idea stemmed from being a woman in an industry dominated by men and moving to a new city for a job. Blain decided to start a social network that would facilitate the process of making friends with other women. What began as a passion project turned into her full-time job and, today, Girlfriend Social is preparing to go global.