One of the unexpected gifts of getting let go is this:
I know who my friends are.
Past and future.
If that’s you, I see you. Thank you.
I’ve always believed our future - mine, yours, everyone’s - is going to depend on organic community.
This is true in marketing, and it’s true in real life:
Make a friend. Shake a hand. Build a connection. Relationships matter.
Since I started posting regularly, people have been coming out of the woodwork. Often, they’ve come with gigs.
Make friends in your present. It will serve your future.
My mom once told me, trying to be supportive:
“We’re late bloomers in this family.”
I appreciate it now. But oof.
Creatives bloom late because there’s no roadmap.
Back when I lived in Brooklyn, I ran with a dicey crowd.
Nothing wild for Williamsburg, but still, not mom-approved.
I moved there in my 30s. Most of my friends were younger.
At one point, someone said to me: “All your friends are bad people.”
And that cut. Deep.
But what they missed was this:
I was a bad person in my 20s.
I know what it looks like to need a second shot.
What I saw in my friends wasn’t just who they were - it was who they could be.
We were messy babies with potential.
Sometimes all people need is someone who believes they can be more.
That belief alone can spark the change.
I once worked as a dishwasher at a restaurant where the manager called us all “Sir.”
Even me.
And it landed because it meant I was worth respect.
Now I’ve led teams: freelancers, corporate crews, family.
They all earned their spot.
They were all messy babies, too.
Be the safe haven. Take in strays.
Strays are the future.
Messy-baby-late-bloomer-future-friends
