There is a scary thing out there. It lurks around the corner; it hovers over your head like your own personal rain cloud; it is the monster under your bed and the hurdle you attempt to jump over. It’s not ISIS, and it’s not your parents having sex. It is called “expectations.” Everyone has them. You may not even realize that you do, or that they are being placed on you. Whether it’s the idea that your boyfriend has to get you flowers every time he makes you upset, or your coach wanting you to catch every single pass thrown at you. They make or break you.

Many people have begun to form the opinion that millennials have such an easy life. We receive trophies for Last Place and Best Sportsmanship. We have helicopter moms who baby us until we cannot function without their hovering presence. We are getting married later, having kids later…life is nothing but a breeze for us. However, I disagree.

Today’s world has high expectations for the youth of this country. We push harder subjects on younger children. We need job experience to get a job even though it is supposedly “entry-level.”

However, its not just professionally. Expectations corrupt all aspects of our lives. I see expectations break down everyone around me. Meredith is not skinny enough for the guy she likes. Greg is not involved enough at school to apply for the job he wants. Luke is not strong enough to face his mother’s illness. Taylor is not healthy enough to go back to school as she battles her anoxeria. Or the worst of them all, that voice in the back of your head making you believe, “I am not good enough.”

I have had that moment many times in my life, but one stuck with me the most just a few weeks ago. Everyone in college, at one point in their life, has applied for a job, internship, etc. You start the application process. You try and make yourself look the best you can, even though you’re afraid it might not be enough.

Finally, you receive the position! Start the fireworks! Pour the champagne! You did it!

….or did you?

I had received an acceptance into a program within my school that allowed me to take classes that pertained to my major and acquire an internship this summer. The program was all in the field I am studying, government. I was so excited and proud of myself for receiving my first acceptance! However, my idea of an achievement ended up not being enough for the real world.

I remember messaging my friend over Facebook telling her how I had gotten into the program. She immediately responded with, “SHUT UP. SHUT UP.” Her response only got me more excited as I saw that she was now calling me to congratulate me on my acceptance. We began talking about the program and all of its details. I expressed her how excited and happy I was, but I could tell the more I talked the less she seemed impressed with my accomplishment.

“I just don’t think you should be that excited. You can’t settle for this.”

Settle? I had thought this phone call would be happy…but it ended up becoming a lecture. The program did not seem prestigious as I was only competing with people from my school. A different program would be better. Why wasn’t I trying harder to get a different position? How come I wasn’t more concerned that I might not get another internship? How is this going to look on my resume? Is this all I was going to get?

“You’re not doing enough. You need to work harder.”

I was speechless. What had I done wrong? Did I not deserve to be happy? I was I really not doing enough? My thoughts began to race. I was not smart enough, involved enough…why had I believed that I could be happy with this program?

That conversation really upset me. I remember sobbing in my bed and having no motivation to try and move on. But, after having time to reflect on it, I realized that it should not have affected me as much as it did. Since when did other people’s idea of how our life should look or be affect how we truly live? Why do we let other people’s opinion of success and a happy life change what we believe? My life is different from the person sitting next to me and different from my parent’s.

We are not one in the same. We have different skills, different ideas, and different pathways to our own success.

We are all growing; no matter what stage of life we are in. So, no matter where you are in life right now, if you are trying and attempting to achieve your goal in life, (I mean YOUR goal, not your mother’s, not your father’s, not your teacher’s, yours.) then do not let anyone stop you. Your yellow brick road is not the same as mine. Yours may be winding and may have you encounter many witches and wizards before you reach your Emerald City.

Do not look back and stay focused on what you want and what you believe your future holds, because, in the end, you are always enough.

Since the summer before my freshman year of college, I have worked in football recruiting for an SEC school. When I first started I was somewhat awkward, extremely uncomfortable with public speaking, and was somewhat content with just being involved enough to have a full resume. Never all in. 

As I became more involved and committed to my job, I developed a passion for what I was doing and why I was doing it. Through having to talk to so many types people over my time spent at UGA I began to develop a love for people in general.

I now love to get to know all types of people and really try to see life from their point of view. I also learned how to carry myself in a professional manner and demand respect no matter the situation, especially within a male dominated field. I value the opportunity to mentor younger women who have a goal to work in sports and train by example as to what they can do. I may sound like I know it all, but that’s definitely not the case.

I have a love of learning and using poor experiences and criticism to make myself a better person overall. I love learning from other people the most though. Other people’s lives just bring a perspective into my life that I would have never had any other way. Getting to know someone else opens your mind in an unexpected way and think about everyday situations in a new and inventive manner.

Other people are the best way to improve yourself.

Baseball. Cheering. Crack of the Bat. If you’re at Turner Field, the Tomahawk Chop. Growing up in the suburbs of Atlanta, my summers included hanging out at the pool, country concerts, going to as many Braves games as possible, and tailgating in the infamous blue lot.

Goal-Setting

I was always fascinated by the game of baseball and all the behind the scenes work that went into putting on the game—from an operations standpoint to connecting all the pieces for things to run as they should.

Like many boys growing up, I wanted to be a professional ball player in the “show”, playing a game that I love for a living. After coming to grips with my mediocre baseball skills, I sought the next best thing: working for an MLB team and doing any and everything it would take to land a job in professional baseball. I wanted to be around the game and involved with the sport everyday, ultimately deciding to major in sport management at the University of Georgia to help me achieve that dream.

Failing…

I applied in March of 2015 for the Braves Ticket Event Team (TET), a group of about 30 college students that work at the home games and assist with raffle and special group outings. I thought this would be the perfect way to get my foot in the door with the Braves and make a name for myself within the organization.

While I had prior experience assisting my school’s athletic department and doing volunteer work with different sport organizations, I was not selected for the job with the Ticket Event Team. It would have been a great opportunity to start my career with the Braves, but that wasn’t in the cards.

After a couple of months, the summer slowly started to creep around the corner. I had no idea what I was going to do to get more experience in the sports industry. I know I wanted to get involved with something, but my options seemed limited with UGA’s Athletic Department slowing down for the season.

Turning the Tide

One morning in April, I woke up to a Facebook message from Bryan Wish, the founder of this platform, whom I had met several times before through Josh Jones, a mutual friend. Bryan told me about an opportunity to become involved with the Atlanta Braves as a college sales ambassador. He was putting together a group of students to reach out to Georgia colleges and universities, getting student and Greek organizations to come out to games this season. I immediately told him I was interested and thought, “Here is my shot to make a name for myself with the Braves!”

The Results of My Efforts (see the fine print)

I messaged and emailed everyone I could think of from UGA to have them come out to a game, but I didn’t receive the response I wanted.

I thought to myself that if I really wanted to make a name for myself, I needed to set myself apart from everyone else. I began reaching out to schools all over the state as well as schools in Tennessee, Alabama, and South Carolina.

I spent countless hours that summer on my computer sending hundreds of emails and messages and trying to take full advantage of the great opportunity I had been given.

It almost became an addiction in the fact that I would keep finding new leads and would pursue any organization I could think of that may be interested.

I finally broke into schools like Georgia Southern, Auburn, Valdosta State, South Carolina, Tennessee, Clemson, and many others.  Through the course of the season, I sold 2,436 tickets, $24,000+ in ticket sales, and created successful sales at 12 different colleges. Now that the season has closed, I am proud to say that I have led all the college ambassadors in sales as well as overall tickets sold. On top of all that, I’m applying for a position with the Braves in the next few weeks.

The 9th Inning

When I was turned down from the Ticket Event Team before the season started, I was really bummed because I knew that could be my chance to make a name for myself. When Bryan came to me with the opportunity to get involved however, I needed to “knock it out of the park” to make people with the Braves recognize my work ethic and notice me for a position after school.

My advice to anyone who wants to work in sports is to find your passion—whether that’s college sports, sales, marketing, public relations, or community outreach—and pursue it relentlessly until an opportunity comes your way. When it does, take full advantage, set yourself apart, and something good will come of it.

“You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.”  – Steve Jobs

There are successful companies and then there’s successful companies that make people emotional. When a critic writes a nasty comment, they don’t have to defend themselves.

These evangelists step up and rip that person a new one for them. These companies create NDAs because their attorneys require it — not because they’re worried about their past or current employees badmouthing them. They are not worried about censoring people because they never misbehave.

I’ve had companies let me go, and then say shit like “You remember you’re under an NDA, right?”

I’ve had bosses tell me I was entitled because I didn’t want to settle for being someone’s No. 2 after taking nothing and turning it in something with a solid foundation. I was entitled because I’m 25 and even though I built and managed this foundation, I couldn’t possibly be trusted to run it long term.

Even though I spent more than 50–60 hours a week building their company and lost a boyfriend I loved because of it, I was entitled and seen as “running over my co workers.”

Yesterday, I had an epiphany — an aha moment.
This whole time it was never me. It was them.

It was these companies with poor leaders — leaders who were threatened by its people growing — fearful they would outgrow them — fearful of relinquishing control of anything and everything — fearful of people pushing back.

These companies and therefore its people couldn’t handle negative feedback.

They saw negative feedback as, well, negative and not for what it really is. Negative feedback means that someone cares enough to invest in making your baby better — in helping you reach and exceed your wildest dreams. These bosses, who should’ve never been managers in the first place, made me feel like shit.

And these co-workers — some meaner than others — made me feel like a complete outsider, as it turns out, just because I worked harder than them. If my old co-workers are reading this, all I want to ask you is: How is that boyfriend who loves you and supports you while you work a $45k per year job?

How is your dad who supports your career goals? How is that house your parents loaned you the money for? How’s your wife? How’s your fiancé?

I’ll tell you how my life is… lonely. I feel like the loneliest person in the whole entire world actually.

I have no boyfriend who loves me. No one is there for me if I can’t pay my rent on the first of the month. And my phone only rings between the hours of 9 to 5 — sometimes til 9 because of timezone differences.

You know what I do have though — I have an innate amount of passion for what I do; I’m incredibly resilient; and I’m genuinely a good person. And when treated properly, I’m your biggest supporter and evangelist.

Some people choose to have a work-life balance, and some people choose to work. Whichever path you choose, don’t crucify the person who didn’t choose the same. And leaders, stop calling Millennials entitled because they expect to have more in a shorter amount of time after working their asses off to get it.

Never lose faith. All companies and bosses don’t suck. Sometimes God puts the wrong people — to date and/or work for — in our lives because he wants us to appreciate ”the one” when we finally find them.

Just, whatever you do, don’t give up.

If it doesn’t feel right then push back. Because the companies and leaders you want to work for will celebrate you because of it.

I know how painful it is to not fit in anywhere — in work, in life, at home, anywhere — but trust me, one day you’ll find someone who sees you for who you’re really are, and when you do you’ll be so happy you never succumbed to the status quo.

(Written by Megan Rasmovich)

If you asked me what I wanted to do after graduating from the University of Georgia just four years ago, I would have told you I wanted to be a physical therapist. Two years ago I wanted to be an elementary school teacher. As of six months ago, I wanted to have a fabulous job in the fashion industry. Today, I am not doing any of those things.

I always grew up thinking that if I didn’t have a plan for my life then it meant I didn’t have my life in order. I had so many friends that knew exactly what they wanted to do when they came to college. I thought I was one of them until I realized physical therapy wasn’t for me. This threw me for a loop. I was back at square one with no plan.

I tried thinking of what I was good at. One thing that came to mind was my ability to interact with children.

I’ve always had a love for children so I thought I would give teaching a shot. After multiple classes and volunteer hours in a precious kindergarten class, I decided that even though I love kids, I didn’t want to be a teacher. That revelation threw me into crisis mode. I was half way through college and still had no idea what I wanted to do.

That Christmas break, I had many heart to hearts with my mom. She knows me better than anyone else in this world. At times, I think she knows me better than I know myself. After countless tears and talks, we both came to the conclusion that I truly loved fashion. So that day, I changed my entire schedule of classes and officially became a Fashion Merchandising major.

When it came to fashion, everything just came so easy to me. I became more involved in class conversations and actually started envisioning my future in fashion even beyond college. I really thought this was it and that I finally found my path in life.

As graduation neared, I struggled to find a job. This was partially my fault as I decided that I wanted to stay in the Atlanta area. Anyone that knows anything about fashion will tell you that you need to be in New York or California to really make it. I just wasn’t ready to take that leap of faith and move so far from home. This greatly decreased the job opportunities available to me.

The difficulty in my job search made me start to question whether I picked the right major.

I couldn’t turn back now. Graduation came and went and I still didn’t have a job. This was hard on me especially since I had lots of friends starting great new jobs, moving to Atlanta together, and living life as an adult.

The weeks went by and so did many interviews. I found an opportunity in Roswell with and IT staffing firm. I fell in love with the company and prayed they would fall in love with me. A couple weeks later I finally got the call that I had been longing for. I GOT THE JOB! I felt like all my hard work finally paid off and I had made it!

Two weeks into the job and I absolutely hated my life. The technologies were not coming easy to me and I really didn’t have any interest in learning about them. I was basically cold calling individuals with great paying jobs close to home and trying to convince them why they should take a pay cut and make a longer commute to a new job.

The recruiting industry doesn’t get much respect. I spoke to many voicemails and got hung up on a number of times. Even though this was a good paying job, I decided I couldn’t live like this the rest of my life.

At the start of the third week, I decided to quit my 7am-7pm. I was living at home with no job and no prospects. I didn’t know where I wanted to go next. I went through another few rounds of tears and talks with my parents. After throwing around many ideas, I came to the conclusion that I wanted to own my own business.

In no way was this decision a cop out for not wanting to look for a new job. I grew up surrounded by family that owned very successful businesses. My parents were always calling their own shots, making critical decisions, and working hard to build a business that would allow for a comfortable lifestyle. I think it is only natural that I caught the entrepreneurial bug that they had.

One day my stepdad, Bob, ran the idea of teeth whitening by me. I really never thought about it before but was open to the idea. I had gotten my teeth whitened back in February and remembered how great I felt after I got it done. It’s crazy how a simple white smile can boost someone’s confidence.

Taking this all into consideration, I decided that I wanted to look further into the business.

To my surprise, the teeth whitening industry brings in about $25 billion a year. This number definitely shocked me and sparked my interest. I then came across SmileLabs based out of Arizona. With over 400 vendors in the United States and hundreds of reviews, I took the next step of having multiple phone calls and webinars on owning my own SmileLabs franchise.

After much deliberation, I decided this would be the perfect opportunity for me. I would be able to own my own franchise and it didn’t cost me an arm and a leg. Over the next few days I picked a name (SmileLabs of Georgia), made a website, and created all my social media accounts.

Before I knew it, I actually owned a real business. I started introducing myself as Megan, the owner of SmileLabs of Georgia, to other business owners. It truly felt surreal. Little did I know that this was only the beginning of a very hard, expensive journey.

Although I decided to start out mobile, after two months I took the plunge and signed a year lease for a storefront in Roswell, Georgia. This was the biggest financial decision I have made in my life. It was definitely scary putting my name on a one-year lease commitment, but it was one of the best feelings I’ve ever had.

Now that I have my store, I am focusing on getting my name out there and letting people know that I am open. This has definitely been the hardest part of starting my business. For a while, I tried to create my own cards and fliers to hand out for “free” advertising.

That is not as easy as it sounds. For this reason, I decided to try out paid advertising on Yelp.com. Doing that gives me the opportunity to reach the crowd that is interested in getting their teeth whitened.

It is a long road ahead for SmileLabs of Georgia.

I’m sure that there will continue to be lots of trial and error, but eventually I will get the equation right. Not a day goes by that I don’t thank God for giving me this amazing opportunity. I am grateful for my wonderful family that has supported me emotionally, physically, and financially.

So at the end of all of this, the moral of the story is that it’s okay to not have a plan. Sometimes you have to just go with the flow and see what God has in store for you. This isn’t always the easiest thing to do, coming from an obsessive planner like myself, but it is possible.

Chances are, you will end up in a situation ten times better than you could have planner for yourself. After all, how many 22 year olds can say that they own their own business and have a storefront?