First, let me start this post off by giving thanks to an undeniably phenomenal God. The most beautiful things happen unexpectedly in your time of waiting. It took me a long time to master my patience, but since I have— things have been moving along gracefully. This post will hold every word I spill from the bottom of my heart. I hope it encourages someone by the time you reach the end.

If you've been keeping up with my blog for the past year or even the past couple of months, you know that I have no issue telling my story and showing the ugly parts while working towards my purpose. If you are new, I will give you a quick recap. I graduated from college in 2015 and like many recent grads, believed that my life was about to take a positive turn with a great start in a fulfilling career. Well, things didn't really go as planned and you can read about that in this post here. I was working in a  job that wasn't necessarily bad, but after some time... started making me feel like I was being held back. That caused post college depression, which you can read about here.

You can feel when you aren't aligned with what your soul yearns for and I advise you to never ignore that feeling. As for me, I didn't ignore it. I was just stuck in the position I was in (which actually turned out to be quite beneficial in my journey).

To give you some background, in 2015/2016 I was applying to endless amounts of jobs to every news station and organization in Los Angeles and surrounding cities (every app came back as a no).  I didn't want to be at my job forever (initially planned to stay for six months until I found something else) but finding something else, anything else didn't even happen. Six months turned into a year and by mid year I had made a decision to take control of my situation. I was going to graduate school, but where? I love broadcast media, so I had to do some homework. I didn't want to go too far, kept tuition and cost of living in consideration and began my program research. San Jose State, USC, and Arizona State were the three programs that matched my preferred criteria. However, USC's tuition was too much for me at the moment and trying to figure out the hows was a headache. San Jose's program was close, but not quite the right fit. Then, I took my visit to Arizona State and fell even more in love with the program in person, than I did online. I need to go here, was my only thought. Fast forward to January 2017 and I was back in Arizona, this time with my boyfriend. We took a road trip from Los Angeles to Phoenix in search of an apartment, yup we were talking about moving! My boyfriend is one of the most supportive people in my life and he was willing to move his job from Michigan to Phoenix so I would have support, plus no more long distance. We had a great time exploring the city, celebrated his birthday at K1 speed, found new restaurants (because we love food)  and just enjoyed being reunited again. To make the trip even better, we found what we were looking for. A nice one bedroom apartment nestled off in the mountains of Phoenix with a beautiful balcony view. We loved it, then we found out his job had a branch literally right across the street from the complex. Talk about excited. Everything was coming together. Business was handled, so we enjoyed our last day in the city. We then changed our initial plans of moving by waiting to see if I got accepted in February. I finished all my requirements early so it was a slight waiting game. February rolled around and I got my email, but I wasn't accepted...

I was devastated. Completely broken once I got that rejection letter. I truly believed that was the path God was leading me in, on top of that everyone around me was so sure and confident that I was going to get accepted.. and I didn't. I was really embarrassed. So embarrassed that it's taken me this long to release this off my chest. I was confused.. depressed, even more than I was before. Why did God align all of the steps perfectly leading up to this moment without me getting in? I asked constantly. However, God had better plans for me and I didn't understand that then.

Three months after I didn't get accepted to the graduate program of my dreams, I decided to move back to Fresno. I wasn't making any progress or even touching the surface of what I wanted to do.  Then, I got laid off from the job I was trying to leave so I spent time with family back in my hometown, which reassured me even more that it was time to leave LA. While traveling back to Los Angeles to clean out all my stuff to pack up and move, I saw a position that I had no experience for in Fresno, but it was ideal. I ignored it and applied to different positions to get on my feet as soon as possible. My soul was telling me to apply to that position anyway for about thirty minutes, so I did and didn't think much of it after that (already expected a thank you for applying, but.. email). However, two hours later, I had a voicemail from the company I had zero experience for and quickly called back. After a round of phone tag, we got in contact and the first sentence that came out of the manager's mouth was "Hey, Ashley what do you think about having a career in media?" ...

Are you kidding me?! I have been applying day in and day out for the last two years, but of course, I had to keep it cool, calm and collected. I got a phone interview the next week. It was a complete turn around for me. Since March, I have been called back for a total of four interviews, each one going well and getting better as I continued. I was so nervous because I had been wanting this for so long and it was here. I got a tour of the news room and saw where the magic happens for each area of broadcast and I was in complete awe, I had dreamed of being around this at grad school. July, I was presented with an assignment to do that would serve as my last and final interview. I was determined to leave a good impression. I wanted this bad. With little detail and direction, I had to present a television show to everyone that I had been interviewing with prior. I am so grateful for all of those Communication and PR classes because although I felt I was doing it wrong or afraid it wouldn't be what they were looking for, it turned out to be exactly what they were looking for. Every area I broke down and provided with correlated methods was "everything we do on the job". Hearing those words made me feel amazing, confident and excited that I was even in this position— without 3-5 years experience.

Four months after moving from LA and relocating back to Fresno, it all makes sense now. I wasn't supposed to go to Arizona State and it wasn't meant for me to stay in LA because the start of my career was somewhere I never thought it would be, home. I can happily say that I am now the new Account Executive for CBS and NBC new stations located here in the Central Valley. I personally couldn't have written a better story for myself, but God! I am so excited for this new chapter and finally starting my career! I look forward to building the way I hoped for my future and family to come. The possibilities are endless. The true essence of my life is just beginning and I couldn't be any more proud of myself. 

If you walk with God and trust him to move the pieces around, you will always reach your destination. If the plan doesn't work, change the plan— not the goal. Not getting in graduate school wasn't exactly a career delay at all, but it was a true blessing in disguise for something better. I never lost sight of what I truly wanted, even with the many disappointments and rejections I received.  God didn't see it fit for me to go to school right now and that's absolutely fine because something great came out of the unknown. I still plan on getting a second degree, but for now, it's time to really start building.


Trust HIM.
Trust your journey.
&Believe

Honor the space between no longer and not yet.

When God shows up, he shows up BIG and blessings come tenfold. Please don't stop chasing whatever it is you want to gain from this life. Know that anything that you put your mind to will come full circle on HIS time. Chase after dreams wholeheartedly and don't let discouragements keep you unmotivated. If need be, have your moments but continue to push forward. Speak everything into existence. You have more power of turning that dream into reality than you think. I truly hope my journey helps someone else because I know exactly what you're going through. It's worth it in the end.

With love,
AC