I Turned Down My Dream Job

Never in a million years I thought I’d decline a once in a lifetime opportunity for me.

From the moment I stepped into the personal branding scene, they were on my radar.

So much so, that within the first few months of me building an audience on LinkedIn, I wanted to apply to work at her agency.

I had clients, but if you’ve ever done freelance work, you know how unstable it can be.

I didn’t know enough about personal branding

Thought I’d be a good idea to take a job and learn from her

I felt insecure about being an entrepreneur, it was scary and uncertain

So, I started looking for positions… but they weren’t hiring.

They also didn’t accept my connection request, which I took as an offense

(Turns out that after a certain number of connections on LinkedIn, you can’t accept anyone)

But still, I turned that ‘rejection’ into motivation.

I got so frustrated at the fact that I felt like I could write better than 90% of their team.

But they had that job and I didn’t. Ugh.

So I was petty and was like “lemme show them”…

Months later, it didn’t even matter. I fell in love with personal branding.

I’d been featured in top 200 lists, and articles and got some killer clients.

Being a creator became the best thing I could’ve bet on in 2022.

Opportunities were falling left right, and centre.

My life was changing, people saw me as an authority not just another fan girl anymore.

Comparing me directly to that person I looked up to so much at the start.

And like that quote says:

10 months later… I still wanted to meet them. So I shoot my shot and dmd one of their employees and asked how I could reach her.

This time I didn’t want a job, just connect since they’d been one of the reasons I grew so much.

I was in, and 2 weeks later we called.

Throughout our call, they gave me amazing biz advice, lessons and just an overall great chat… until..

They asked…

I remember my answer so clearly, I stuttered for a bit, tried to make an excuse to politely decline…

After a bit of filler and one lame excuse… I went. “I’m good”.

That might’ve been just a second for them but for me, I felt like I achieved something.

I knew my worth. For the first time, I said no to something I wanted SO badly.

That was BAD-ASS if you ask me. My younger self would be proud.

Look, I’m not saying you need to reject positions at your dream company…

Or that you need to operate out of spite like me (hehe but it worksss)

I’m honestly just saying, build a personal brand so good that you’re able to CHOOSE whether you want to decline or not.

The most powerful thing about building a personal brand is having options instead of you being an option.

You are the only option.

You’ve always been.

Want to learn how?

I’ve built the most powerful personal branding resource I’ve ever seen. It’s got everything you need to build a personal brand that brings you opportunities of a lifetime.

Literally, that easy.

See you inside!

Literally (LinkedIn) Lara