“Wonder Woman Files” is a weekly career column on Madame Noire. Stay tuned for more topics, comment or write us at editors@madamenoire.com if you have suggestions!
I’ve never really considered myself a “hustler.” The word to me just didn’t sound lady-like. Every time I heard it, it was being used by one of my boys or one of my less-than-delicate girlfriends. I guess I just never took to the idea. Even though Jay then Cassidy made the hustle into hits, for me embracing the concept was likening myself to a Chicago two-stepper. It just didn’t fit.
All that changed when the global crisis became my life crisis and suddenly my degree and my job were not the lifelines I thought they’d be. Then, it became clear to me that I would have to start planting the seeds for something on the side. While I had always loved writing, I finally decided to take a crack at sharing my frustrations, anxieties and hopes with others going through the same thing. In the course of several months I went from starting a blog to writing for several publications and even landing a job at a news agency that allows me to tell the stories of people all over the world.
One day, I said to a girlfriend of mine that I was taking on something on the side even though I never considered myself a hustling type of chick. She responded, “Uhm, a side hustle is ESSENTIAL.” Truer words were never spoken.
For every woman still being held at will by present circumstance, I say create new ones. Stop thinking of hustling as a competition with others and start thinking of it as a way to challenge yourself to step into who you know you can be. I chose at the start of this year to out hustle the shadows of fear and failure nipping at my heels. Now, I spend my days stomping them further and futher down on my way up to the best version of the Madame I’m meant to be.
This year has been a hell of a journey. There are days where I have to stop and recall where I was at the start of 2010 and where I am as the summer draws to a close. After starting out a winter hibernating in my own panic attacks, six months later I am looking forward to the crisp days of fall and being able to fully submerse myself in my passion and swim into the unchartered and exciting waters of my future.
So while I never thought the hustling thing was for a Madame like me, turns out it fits like a glove. Or in my case, a traffic-stopping pencil skirt and pumps.
