This time last year, I was folding panties and meticulously arranging them by color, only for a 14-year-old girl (or a 57-year-old woman) to come and rummage through and destroy my hard work six minutes later.

I was miserable, doubtful of my purpose, and ready to throw in the towel. For months, I took time to learn everything there was about bras and panties, because I was gunning for a promotion at my part-time turned full-time job at Victoria's Secret. After spending weeks kissing ass and perfectly folding all of the underwear I could get my hands on, my managers overlooked me for the promotion and offered the position to someone with no experience.

Depressed and hopeless, I sought help from a very successful friend, who advised me to start a journal, and use it like I would Instagram. He told me to record in it everything I wanted for my life. I obliged, and one of the items on my list was, "Get paid to write."

Shortly after Christmas, I developed a cyst at the top of my ass crack, which left me on bedrest for a month, and unable to fold panties for the man. I was devastated and heavily relied on my parents to pay my bills during that time.

This is why I went to school for four years? I feel like such a failure. Why even bother?

After I snapped out of my one-woman pity party and let my nuts drop, and picked my pride up off the floor. On the couch, sprawled out, in pain and desperate, I applied to xoNecole.com for the third time. Shortly after, I was invited to come onboard as a freelance contributor. Over time, I became a daily writer, and only a few months after my start date, I was promoted to staff and named editorial assistant.

I'm writing this not to flaunt my come-up, but to let you know that you can come up too, girl. I'm literally living my vision board, but there were some steps I had to take to get here, and here's what they were:

Be Consistent


If you want something, it's because God put that desire in your heart. The first time I applied to work for xoNecole.com, I was in college. I read Necole's story and was immediately inspired to get involved in her latest endeavor, but unfortunately, I wasn't ready.

I applied again last year, right before the ass crack incident. Although I got a reply this time, I didn't hear back from the Editor again after sending in my writing samples.

I applied one more time in February and asked for another shot at proving my worth, and was asked to come on board as a celebrity daily writer.

This position has been years in the making for me because I worked at it and because it was my time. It wasn't my time when I was folding panties, and it wasn't my time in college. God orchestrated my life so that I could actually receive it when he blessed me and know that it was nobody but him that made it happen.

Don't get discouraged easily. You might not have been right for the position you applied for, but that doesn't mean you should give up. Shoot your shot, even if you miss sometimes. That's how you win.

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Build A Brand


In college, I believe that I was so drawn to Necole because she not only represented a gossip blog, she created a culture.

Make it a point to let your audience meet the author. Even if you only have a few readers, those people care not only about what you have to say, but who you are. When I say build a brand, I don't mean make some t-shirts and triple post your logo. I mean reaching out to and understanding your audience, and giving them a transparent and clear idea of who you are and what you represent.

Your writing can only matter to people if you matter to people.

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Do Your Research


I was up for 48 hours at a time working on the first few articles I sent to my editor. I made sure to study other articles on the site, look at other outlets, and see their way of covering things. I did everything I could to learn and become an expert at the craft, and it paid off.

I can see the improvement from my first few articles, to now, and I know that my progression came from my ability to research.

Nothing is new, and chances are 100 people have once written about what you're choosing to write about today, and chances are also that someone did it better than you. What can you learn from other writers? What research can you do to make your writing samples stand out? How can you adapt your voice to best align with the overall voice and message of the site you hope to write for?

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Show Your Worth


Don't half-ass it. If you're going to apply for a writing position, give it your all. I've made the mistake of applying for positions not really believing that I'll get them, so I don't give it 100%. Even if you think your application or submission will go overlooked, go as hard as you can on it. Also make sure to pen an introductory email that shows who you are without grammatical errors or typos (a quick email from your iPhone that asks if there are any staff positions available isn't going to cut it - and is a quick way to miss the bucket on the shot you took.)

Once you get the position, or even come on as a frequent freelancer, make sure your supervisors feel that you are more of an asset than a liability. If they ask you for three pitch ideas, send five. If your deadline was at 3 P.M., get that piece in by noon. Hard work beats talent if talent doesn't work hard.

Your perception will determine your reality and if you think you're not good enough, you won't be.

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Polish Your Pitches


Not every article will work out the same on every platform. I can't pitch an article about self-care for busy moms to Rolling Stone, and you'll never see an article on xoNecole about the cultural significance of The Beatles. Though they both sound like intriguing reads, people seek out certain publications for certain information.

When I want some raunchy, petty, tea to steep myself into, I visit Bossip. But when I want to know how to get lipstick out of my favorite blouse, I'm definitely more likely to check out Southern Home.

Know the audience and the voice of the media platform you choose to pitch to. Do research on exactly what kind of stories they cover and how they choose to cover them. Make sure to polish your pitches so that they fit the publication.

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Make It Matter


Whether you're writing about puppies or politics, make it matter to someone. The narrative of a story counts, and it's more than about just having a solid beginning, middle, and end. Any and everything you write has to be relevant because if you don't care, why would someone else want to read it?

In college, I made a habit of making every essay one that was interesting to me. For example, I was assigned a rhetorical essay about cheating. Since my professor told me that the assignment was open to interpretation, I wrote a 7-page paper on ghostwriting in hip-hop. I could have been like my classmates who discussed plagiarism and relationships, but I used my paper to get to the bottom of the Drake and Meek Mill beef and conclusively determine whether Drake was a cheater for letting Quentin Miller write his raps.

Do the same with your articles. Even the most boring stories in the world have an angle or narrative that you can make interesting to your audience if you think outside the box.

Even if it's a story that feels mundane or if you're working on a "fluff" piece, make that sh*t matter to someone. You have a platform, so use it to tell the stories that you really want people to hear.

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Featured image by The Creative Exchange on Unsplash

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