Three Things I Wish I Had Known in My 20’s: Allison Kugel

Full name?: Allison Kugel

Position / Job title?: Creative Director at Full Scale Media & Co-Creator of the UPitch PR Mobile App (to be released May 2015!)

Why did you seek out this particular job / start your company? I fell into public relations and media work through my love for writing and entrepreneurship. I originally parlayed careers as a celebrity journalist and e-commerce business owner into working for myself and consulting with other companies. Eventually I partnered with my brother to form our PR firm, Full Scale Media, and now we are venturing into uncharted territory by preparing to bring the first ever self-service PR mobile app to market. I have always been an innovator and a creator, and I have always been quite lousy with authority, so owning a company suits me. I also like being able to make my own schedule for the benefit of my son.

How has life changed (hopefully for the better 😉 since you landed this job / launched this company? Life and work has changed for the better because my brother, who is also my business partner, has a head for business growth and development. I am more creative with less focus on business matters. It’s a perfect partnership in that way, and we have amazing employees who make my life and my job much easier.

And now: WHAT 3 THINGS DID YOU WISH YOU HAD KNOWN IN YOUR 20’S?

Don’t be afraid to stick up for yourself; some bridges are worth burning. We all know the old saying, “Don’t burn your bridges behind you,” but don’t be a doormat either. Be respectful of others and their positions, but if you feel you are being overlooked, mistreated or discriminated against in some way, make it known how you feel and have some backbone. It’s a big world out there, and if you are not appreciated where you are, there is another company, organization or person out there who will see your potential and your ability, and they’ll be happy to let you shine. I have always maintained a strict personal no-bullying policy for myself, even before it was making headlines. If someone crosses a line with me, I let them know it. There are some people who simply don’t deserve you, and plenty who do, so go find those people!

Embrace your own ideas. When you get an inspired thought or idea, embrace it and pursue it. Don’t dismiss your own ideas as silly, a waste of time or with the old, “if it was such a great idea, someone else would have thought of it by now.” Someone had the notion to think up YouTube, Twitter, the iPhone, and chocolate covered pretzels… why not you?

Be patient with yourself in your twenties; it’s a learning decade. When I look back at my twenties, it would be easy to dismiss this decade of my life as a hot mess on paper. But at second glance, those years were a growing and learning period that shaped who I became in my thirties, and now at forty. So don’t judge yourself so much. Personally, looking back, I sampled quite a bit of what life had to offer during that time. Living in different cities, holding down some odd jobs, posing for Playboy, working as an assistant for a demanding and temperamental boss, dating all the wrong men. Shall I go on? It shaped me, and it will shape you too. You’ll emerge into your thirties knowing who you are and where your boundaries lie. I emerged from my twenties with a thriving writing career and never looking back.