There is this overarching idea in life that you have to figure out what you’re good at and you have to master it. It’s your niche. You have to specialize. Don’t be a jack of all trades and a master of none. Pick your lane, stay in it and dominate. When folks ask you what you do, have a solid answer. If you can’t explain what it is you do in 1-2 sentences, you’re not really clear on what you do.... sound familiar? Have you heard any of this before? I know I have, several times. And I’ve been driving myself crazy trying to narrow down my skills. Trying to pick one good skill to use as my niche. I’ve grown to hate the question “So what do you do?” It’s always so hard to pick a title... pick a skill. Today I may be wearing my publicist hat. Tomorrow I may be a vocal producer. I literally never know. But I felt the pressure. The pressure to identify and have this quaint description of my skill set. So Rae’, what do you do? It took me a while to arrive at an answer. A while as in God just laid it on me this past Saturday lol. After all the networking events I’ve been at stumbling over my creative identity, God gave me a “title” last week on the way to a session. He said, “You’re an asset.”
asset [ as-et ]SHOW IPA noun 1. a useful and desirable thing or quality: Organizational ability is an asset. 2. a single item of ownership having exchange value. assets, * items of ownership convertible into cash; total resources of a person or business, as cash, notes and accounts receivable, securities, inventories, goodwill, fixtures, machinery, or real estate (opposed to liabilities). I was completely and totally baffled by this sudden epiphany. A confirmation of sorts. My mind was blown. It made so much sense. An Asset. Kind of vague but very valuable. There was also a phrase attached to this epiphany..... “put me in the fold, turn it to gold”...... Wow. It felt perfect. I’m like, that’s it. That’s what I am. Any given day I could be doing a gamet of different things but I’m always an asset. I make things easier for folks. I step in and get stuff done. I put in work. I’m an asset to any team I join, period..... Then there was sudden doubt that crept in. What if people think that’s cocky? What if people say that’s not a “job title.” What if it doesn’t translate properly? What if folks don’t get it? If you’ve been here a while you know how quickly I overthink and create these none existing scenarios in my head lol. So here I go, spiraling again. But then I began to think about all the different titles and jobs I’ve held. I’ve been a brand ambassador, an assistant, a social media coordinator, an event coordinator, a graphic designer, an artist, a writer, a publicist.... the list could go on forever. And in every one of those situations, the consensus is clear, I was an asset. I helped make the team better. I helped reached the goal. I made my clients happy. I’m an asset.
Usually I don’t like to be boxed in, it’s in my nature. I’ve never been just one thing. I’ve tried specializing in one area of work and found myself longing for other things. There was a time when it was necessary to be a master of some trade. And I still think it’s necessary to master things. I just don’t think I have to pick just one. If I want to master several skills, I can do that. I’m up for that challenge. Whether it’s copywriting or song writing, I’m going to add value. I no longer feel the pressure to narrow down my skills and choose just one. From this day forward I will be referring to myself as an asset. I’m sure it’ll spark tons of conversation. Just know that I can back up everything I say with action. I am valuable and so is my skill set. Some will get it and some won’t. That’s life. So if you’re anything like me and you happen to be multitalented. You do a lot of things and you do them well, here’s a title for you to try on for size. Asset. Be it, live it, embody it. Add value to every team you join. Play your position and play it well. You can still be an entrepreneur and a team player at the same time. Trust me, I’m living it. And for those of you that have narrowed your skill set down and are thriving under a specific title, show love to your multifaceted friends. We wear a lot of hats and don’t want to feel bad about not choosing. Some of us were born to support the people and projects we care about. Our pivot game is strong and we like it that way. One time for the assets!