Be Proud of Your Accomplishments.

Yesterday, I read this article on New York Magazine, and it was like the writer was in my brain. (Cliff notes version: Today, our social media platforms act as our resumes, references, etc. Thus, we need to share our successes, and not surprisingly, men do it a whole lot better than women).

She eloquently and cohesively described everything I always feel. As a business owner, I need people to know I am good at what I do. Sometimes, I have a hard time sharing it publicly because I don’t want people to think I am obsessed with myself or I don’t want to come off as over-important. By doing this, I accidentally downplay what I have accomplished.

After reading the article, it made me really think about an incident that happened earlier in the week. I was at happy hour with a really good friend, and a few other people that I didn’t know so well. We were all going around talking about our jobs (a question I despise, by the way). When it was my turn, I said my typical answer, “oh, I do freelance PR”. My friend interjected, and said, “You do so much more than that. You own your own successful business at 26, you write for Huffington Post, blah blah blah”.  At the time, I was humiliated, and I could feel my face turning bright red. I just wanted her to stop; I wanted these people to like me. Now after reading the article, I keep wondering why I was so humiliated. I should be proud of what I do, and I am secretly.

Okay, so I decided to start a new tradition over here at NeonNotebook. We are all going to share what we have accomplished with no shame or judgement. No one will think you are cocky, coincided, or self-absorbed; instead, we will celebrate each others’ successes!

I will go first:

-I am proud of my business, fifteen media. No one handed me a rulebook, and said, “here is how you start a business”. I created all of this on my own. Yes, I have made mistakes along the way, but overall, fifteen media has been financially successful. I have worked with over 20 PR firms across the country. I have landed hundreds (if not thousands of top tier national placements). Even, better I only took 2 PR classes in college, so this is really all self taught.

-I am proud that people trust my judgement. Sometimes I look at my own life, and it is kinda a mess, I never really know what I am doing, I say the wrong thing, my apartment is a disaster, yet, somehow people look to me for advice. As I write more pieces for national publications and do more speaking gigs, it makes me feel good that people actually want to hear what I have to say. I have had a lot of help and advice along the way, so I want to pay it forward. If I can help one person or make them think about something in a different way, then that is enough for me.

-I am proud of this blog. Yes, there are blogs that have bigger numbers, bloggers that take better pictures, bloggers that don’t make typos, etc, but I am happy with the direction this blog is going. Even if only 5 people read NeonNotebook, I want it to be a place where gen-y girls can come with anything they want to talk about. A lot of times, I don’t even want to share what I post, but there is a Catch 22: to keep blogging, I need people to read it, and no one will know if I don’t share.

I want to make this a thing, so e-mail me (rebekah@fifteen-media.com) with 3 things you are proud of. We will post them, and brag about all you have achieved! Being modest is so overrated.