We were lucky to catch up with Jessie Congleton recently and have shared our conversation below.

Jessie, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today So, let’s start with a hypothetical – what would you change about the educational system?

As a child, I had a lush imagination. That’s helpful when you are an only child who has to entertain yourself. It’s not helpful when you’re a third grader with a math test staring up from your desk. Because just as you glance up from the paper to wrack your brain helplessly for the answer to 8×7, the window catches your eye, and you see leaves blowing around the parking lot like a tiny tornado. “That’s funny,” you think. “I wonder if the little bugs on the ground are going, ‘OH MY GOD A TORNADO! Take cover!’” just like people would. You may even strain to hear a tiny emergency alarm going off at their school, warning them to get under their desks.

I probably failed that test.

It was clear from pretty early on, I was not an academic. I was a “creative.” But we didn’t have such generous language in the third grade. You were either smart… or not. Your socioeconomic status, race, or gender had already begun (dis)qualifying you for the career track that was “right” for you. And just like that, you’re on a moving sidewalk that takes you all the way into adulthood. There is only one brief pause in your teens where you, a child, and one small-town high school guidance counselor will decide what you will and will not be able to achieve as an adult.

Jeez, I don’t know, maybe third grade is a little early to decide (and slow track) someone’s potential for their entire future!? That can’t be a major indicator of what a whole grown-ass adult is capable of. Can it?

When it was time for me to decide what I would be after high school, these are the things I remember being told (and I’m paraphrasing here):
You can’t become a child psychologist. Your grades aren’t good enough.
A marine biologist would be fun, but it’s not a realistic job.
Travel agents don’t make enough money.
You can’t be a writer. You’re not good at spelling.

It’s great that high school teachers and counselors guide their students toward a career path that might be a good fit. The problem is, they could be all-too-quick to guide you away from one they may not fully understand.

Here are 4 realizations I have now that I wish I could have had then:

I for sure could have become a child psychologist. And even if my grades were not good enough to get a PhD, there were loads of other specialties we could have explored that would have satisfied my desire to help kids going through the same stuff as me.
Play with porpoises? Why the hell not? Someone has to do it.
I have a client who’s a travel agent and makes over 300k a year through partnerships with exclusive vendors, and also serves as a consultant helping other travel professionals build their businesses.
That’s what spell check is for, yo. I don’t know what to tell you about this one, except that I think this teacher was just trying to protect me from assuming I would be able to support myself selling short stories the day after I graduated. I get it, but there was no deeper discussion about all the ways people can use their natural writing talent and sharpen their skills to communicate effectively in the world, and get paid lots of money to do it.

It’s clear to me now that their own limiting beliefs—or at least a socially normative limiting belief–could have been holding back their students from exploring professions beyond their previously determined track. Perhaps there’s just too much push toward what looks like the obvious choice and not enough room for curiosity and exploration. (And accepting that you don’t have to have your whole life figured out at 18!)

I spent many years struggling to pay the bills and feel fulfilled because I was just following “the best choice for someone like me.” It took me almost two decades to allow myself the curiosity and exploration I needed at 17. I was finally able to move into a career more suited for my gifts, talents, and desires. I’m sure “the track” works great for lots of students, but for a child with a “lush imagination” all it did was leave me unfulfilled, unchallenged, and functioning below my abilities.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’m a freelance messaging strategist and copywriter. That means I help businesses get their words right so they can connect with their audience, help more people, and make more money.

When people reach out to me for help with their websites, email marketing, social media content, or other marketing materials, they almost always say something like: “I know we have a good product. I just don’t know how to write about it.”

It’s so common for amazing businesses who do great things in the world to over-explain, overcomplicate, and bore their readers. They know their copy doesn’t represent their brand’s personality or quality (which is a real shame), they just have no idea how to go about fixing it. But here’s the deal, it’s not the companies with the best products and services that win. It’s the ones who can talk about their products and services best.

There are two main reasons a company is not getting the results they’re after:
1. They have a crappy product or service. (If this is you, I’m not your gal. Godspeed.)

2. They’re not using the right WORDS to tell the world what they do. THIS WE CAN FIX with strategic messaging and copywriting!

Here’s how; I focus on messaging, which is the overarching story we tell the world about what it is that we do, and copywriting, which are the exact words we’re going to use to tell that story. We generally start with their website, branding materials, and marketing assets.

When these companies finally get the help they need, they can approach the market with more confidence. They say things like “YES! That is exactly what we’ve been trying to say, but didn’t know how!” As a result, their audience engages with their clear message, and converts with their solid copy.

I love giving the good guys the mic. When you tell the right story, it sparks connection with the right people, and that is a worthy endeavor.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

I became a dental assistant at 19 because I was on my own with bills to pay and the certification took just nine months. I got a job at a dental practice and worked there full-time for six years until I started having children, then on and off part-time while they were little. It was a fine job. There was nothing wrong with it. But I knew deep down it wasn’t what I could or should have done. I had taken the fast and cheap way when I needed to – but that necessity was over.

Facebook was born around the same time as my children, and suddenly a semi-stay-at-home mom like me could write something, publish it, and people would read it. Sure, the audience were my friends, and the thing I wrote was a post about the funny and heartfelt thing my kid did at breakfast, (and the publishing part was just pressing “post”)… but it gave me something. I found out I could share my thoughts in a way that moved people. When I wrote, people would comment, “You’re so funny, you should be a writer!” or “Your words just made me cry,” or “If you wrote a book, I would buy it.” While these were really nice things to say, hearing it was also a little uncomfortable. They were saying I should be a writer, and I had to acknowledge and grieve that I wasn’t one. It meant maybe I could have been a writer. Maybe I should have been a writer.

Should I be a writer?

Pshh, no. Where the hell would one even start with that? I don’t have anything important to say. Besides, they don’t pay money to write clever Facebook posts.

…Or do they?

When my youngest daughter started full-time kindergarten, I thought, well, you better start working more. So I went back to the dental office. I hated it so much. I dreaded stepping foot in the building, and when I did it felt like a clock ran at half speed until I got to leave. And it’s not because it was a bad office to work for. It was great, actually. The doctor did excellent work, the other gals in the office were nice, and the hours were reasonable. The problem was that my brain was saying “just shut up and do this job” but my body and soul were replying, “No, you shut up, Brain. We’re going to make you hate this job so much it’ll be painful until you admit you’re not supposed to be here. There is something else for you.”

I had a friend who was a freelance copywriter, and I rang her up one day and asked “Can I shadow you? Do you think I could learn to do what you do?”

That was five years ago, and every morning before my feet hit the ground, I thank God I am not about to put on scrubs and suck saliva out of people’s mouths for 8 hours. Instead, I get to design my day. I get to exercise the strategic side of my brain. I get to create things that make a difference in people’s livelihoods. I get to provide my family with what they need, doing work I love. I get to write.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I think the lessons we weren’t taught are the hardest to unlearn. It’s not the lessons we learn from a board-approved curriculum that are most transformative. It’s the sneaky, slippery, systemic cues that stick. Most of us don’t remember the moment we actually learned something that went on to shape our perspective and behaviors. It happened unconsciously. We simply marinated in the doctrine, and it just soaked into our skin.

We may not even be able to articulate the thing until someone brings it to our attention, or we realize we’re no longer comfortable living that way anymore.

That’s what happened to me when I learned I did not have to trade my time for money, live paycheck to paycheck, and keep my dreams and desires in check. It was the best form of unlearning.

I know it sounds bananas, but up until that moment, I really thought my place in the world was not negotiable… Same track forever – dreams, not possible. . It wasn’t until I started noticing people who were doing things differently and getting different results. So, I started putting one foot in front of the other – in a new direction. I’d risk a little and keep walking. The more steps I took, the more I saw people doing something nuts – Like, having a good idea, doing something about it, and getting paid for it. Bonkers. At first I thought, “good for them,” but the more I walked down that path, keeping company with them, the more my perspective began to shift about what was actually possible. Where I used to be amazed by their gutsiness and risk taking, I began thinking, “why not me?”

If you had told my 19-year old dental assistant-self that I would be earning several times my annual income helping companies from all around the world come up with the right words to talk about their businesses without a college degree, I would have laughed in your face. Then cried with gratitude. But ten years later, here we are.

The best way to unlearn unhelpful things is the same way you learned them in the first place… from your surroundings. You are learning from the people in your life, even if they don’t realize it. You just have to pay attention and be open.

No matter your age, you can choose to step off the predetermined track and onto the one you’re curious about. And when you do, you will discover how fresh and different the world can be. Just remember this, some of the things you learn will not fit, and some will. But if you let it, every experience will help you discover the truth about yourself. And that truth will always keep you on the right track.

Contact Info:

• Website: jessiecongleton.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jessiecongleton/
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/jessie-congleton

Image Credits
Lindsay Ritchie, www.lrphotos.us