THE POWER OF FIRSTS:
When Your Purpose Finds You
August always reminds me of the first day of school, so this month’s four weekly blogs will all highlight a “first!”
Have you ever looked back over your life and realized the dots were connecting long before you knew they were there?
I certainly have.
Fresh out of college, I followed the path that made perfect sense at the time.
I worked as a window display artist for Macy’s, creating displays that caught people’s attention.
Later, I became a graphic designer for a printing company, where I learned the technical side of design and production.
Eventually, I landed in the corporate world, managing a sales-support team for one of the largest global financial institutions.
Our department created custom proposals for high-net-worth investors.
In other words…
We created books.
I didn’t think much about it at the time. It was simply my job.
Then came September 11, 2001.
Like many companies across the country, ours began “streamlining services.” Over the next two years, departments were reorganized, positions were eliminated, and eventually, in December of 2003, my department was downsized.
People asked me what I planned to do next.
The truth?
I had no idea.
The only thing I knew for certain was that I wanted to work for myself.
As I packed up my office that day, something caught my eye.
Just outside my office door hung a new piece of artwork I hadn’t really noticed before.
It was a three-dimensional reconstructed book.
I stood there staring at it.
Then a simple thought crossed my mind.
“I should try that someday.”
At the time, it felt like one insignificant thought during one emotional afternoon.
I had no idea it was planting the seed for the next chapter of my life.
I began freelancing in graphic design and branding.
Then, in 2005, someone asked me to design my very first book cover.
Soon afterward came my first complete book project.
Then another.
Then another.
Fast-forward more than two decades, and I’ve now had the privilege of helping nearly 2,000 authors bring their stories to life.
Looking back, I can see something I couldn’t see then.
Every experience had been preparing me.
The art classes.
The drafting tables.
The graphic design.
The printing industry.
The proposal books.
Even losing my corporate job.
None of it was wasted.
Each step quietly equipped me for the work I was eventually called to do.
Sometimes we spend so much time searching for our purpose that we miss the breadcrumbs already beneath our feet.
Purpose doesn’t always arrive with fireworks.
Sometimes it whispers.
Sometimes it looks like a random conversation.
A closed door.
A new opportunity.
Or even a piece of artwork hanging outside an office you’ve just been asked to leave.
If you’re wondering what’s next in your own journey, don’t overlook the experiences you’ve already lived.
They may not seem connected today.
But one day, you just might look back and realize they were leading you exactly where you were meant to go.
Sometimes your first opportunity isn’t the beginning of your story.
It’s simply the moment you finally recognize the story that’s been unfolding all along.
