Full name?: Nicole Porter
Position / Job title?: Owner/Designer at Nicole Porter
1. When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I was really sure that I wanted to be Oprah. I don’t think that I understood that there was no application that you could fill out to get that job, but that didn’t stop me from practicing. I spent a lot of time hosting my pretend television show and thinking about how I was going to get there, but I didn’t have a plan. I do have one of those “What I Want to Be When I Grow Up” books from junior high that included covering celebrity news for print, which I thought was a sure slingshot to TV. However it was the 90s and those were the years I was really into M.C. Hammer pants.
2. What is the biggest career mistake you’ve ever made?
I had a few horrible entertainment jobs in my early 20s in Los Angeles that I really should have quit immediately. I think that I was so afraid that I couldn’t make it on my own that I really tried to fit myself into situations that weren’t right for me. I’m from the Midwest. We don’t quit jobs and often feel an inappropriate amount of loyalty to companies that don’t often feel the same. So I stuck it out in obscenely low paying, moral-sucking positions completely thinking that getting ahead meant getting along. It wasn’t until I looked at myself as a business and really putting a valuation on my time and energy did my perspective change.
3. Let’s talk about work/life balance. What does that mean to you? Is it important?
I think that a work/life balance is an excellent thing for people with spouses and/or children because they need that time. I don’t have either of those things. I work every week day, weekend, and holiday year round except for Christmas and Thanksgiving. I do take the month of July off to relax and think up new ideas.
4. What is the best piece of advice that you have ever received – career-related or otherwise?
Your entire life can change in 24 hours so never be afraid to let go of something that doesn’t work for you. You can’t grab a new opportunity with your hands full.
5. Should you work for the money, or do what you love?
Every position comes with tradeoffs and you’re never going to get 100 percent of what you want. But I’m a firm believer that not all problems are bad ones to have. I think that the problem with work is settling for what is most comfortable than reaching for something that is unstable, but could make you your best self. To this point, if there was anything in my life that had been stable or comfortable I probably would have stayed. I’m still searching for my best self.
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