#3 From Passion to Profession with Laura Meoli-Ferrigon

Hello everyone, welcome to this episode, and we are focusing on busting the myth that women can't follow their path when it comes to careers. As career coaches, we often hear from our clients that they want to follow their passion for their work, but how does one go about allowing their passion? What are you supposed to do if you don't know what your passion is, and what if you have multiple passions? The truth is that most people who have found their passion become passionate about their work. Passion is something to be explored and cultivated and comes from doing the hard work. Our expert today has shepherded disbelief and is here to share her wisdom on how to follow your passions for your career and to do so in a realistic, attainable way. All right, Laura, I'm going to pass it on to you. Hi, everybody, today we are joined here today by Laura Meoli-Ferrigon, a working mom, Emmy-winning media director, educator, instructional designer, podcast host, photographer, artist, and author. She has a blog and most recently a book titled Clarity for Your Creative Career with tips, advice, and inspiration from successful artists to quit the job they hate and create the life they love. Laura has truly lived and breathed the topic of our discussion. 

Today, she has pursued and accomplished so much in her creative career, definitely busting the myth that creative endeavors can only be hobbies and not your career. I was really fortunate to meet Laura when we both worked at New York Life Insurance Company where we created a leadership podcast together. It's so great to be back on the mic with you, Laura. We're really excited and grateful that you're here with us today. I would love if you could start with sharing a little bit about yourself and why you agreed to join us in discussion. Hi, Laura. Thanks for having me. We'll always be happy to join you on any podcast because you were just so great to work with. A little bit about me is that I started as a filmmaker and photographer, which I feel like are similar things. And then I recently went back to school for instructional design. So after figuring out that I really love teaching, I found this field called instructional design, which has been kind of a new thing in the education and higher ed world recently, where we're having a lot more online learning and online education. So during the pandemic, right, I graduated with my degree, and then we started working together from there. And now I work for the CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, and I'm doing their podcast called Making Public Health. I do their marketing videos, and I help their professors with their courses on creating the best learning experience as possible. So that is kind of my journey. Awesome. And anchor us, if you will, a little bit. CUNY is in New York, yes? CUNY is the City University of New York, so all the public colleges. Wow, that's awesome. Very cool. Thank you. Well, again, we're so grateful to have you here with us today. We're going to dive right in if it's all right and ask some questions and get the conversation going. Sure. So, let's start with, can you tell us about your journey and how you found your passion in your career? Like, how did you make that connection or get yourself on the right path? Well, my career, a lot of it is this pattern of kind of trying things that I thought I wanted to do and then realizing maybe this is not what I want and then adjusting my goal to kind of get to where I want to go.

So, I started out wanting to do print journalism, but I realized it really was not for me. The kind of strict format of it was not really what I wanted to do. But then I found filmmaking, and that became really my passion and something that I love to do. It combined my love of photography, my love of working with people, speaking to people, and so that became a passion. Also, at some point, I started hosting my own podcast called Women of Action with Lenina Mortimer, and she was someone who really helped me find my voice and find that I can also be a host, because that was never something that I did before. That became a passion at some point, and this is all over many years and testing things out, seeing what I like, seeing what I don't like. After working in television and news for quite a while doing videos, I realized that while I love doing that stuff, I don't love working every holiday, every weekend, 12 plus hour days, and lifting all the heavy equipment that's out there when it comes to video. And I don't really hide from anybody the fact that I don't enjoy that part, or the logging of the heavy equipment, and it's something that's very tough to do. So, I kind of shifted again and went into instructional design because I learned that I really love teaching and having those opportunities to mentor other people when I was working in video and photography and being able to mentor students, kind of led me into higher ed and instructional design. So, I find my passion little by little over time, but really identifying the things that I really enjoy doing, and that's part of my book as well, which we have an Ideal Career Assessment in there, which is something that helped me chip away at what I really love to do and find the passions and be more specific about it. So, the Ideal Career Assessment, you kind of go through all your past jobs, list the things you did day-to-day, and nobody can say, well, most people can't say that they 100% love every aspect of their job.

I don't, I just don't think that's realistic, but there are certain things about it that you do like and there's certain things you don't like. So, kind of narrowing down all those things, seeing the patterns, seeing what are those tasks that you really love to do, that helped me identify my passions. And the assessment actually helps you kind of look forward and so like what is the next career move that you want and what is the next place you want to go. So, that's kind of my how I make things happen - lots of exploration, but also, I think you're paying attention to what you like, what you don't like, even if it wasn't part of your job, right? Because in the broadcasting job, it wasn't the broadcasting that you liked, you liked mentoring and helping teach others, right? Yeah, I wasn't a host until maybe 10 years into my career. I never even knew that I liked hosting, but it's something that I developed and learned over time just from being the technical behind-the-scenes person. Eventually, I kind of stepped out and said, No, I like hosting, I don't mind doing it, and now, you know, I host my own podcast. So, you know, you can't just say that you know what you like 10 years ago is what you're going to always like. Like we all evolve, so you know, and I would never forget, you helped me come out from behind the mic too because I was behind-the-scenes person, and then all of a sudden, now look, I'm on the mic, right?

So, it's a journey, definitely. So, let me ask another question: what do you recommend for people when they're dealing with the pressures of finding or following their passions and their careers? Like the societal pressures, the expectations from peers or family? How do you overcome that when you're exploring when you're trying different things? Are there any misconceptions?

I think the misconception is that people think that if you really love to do something, that it has to be your hobby and your thing that you do in the evening or after work or on the weekends, and that's something that I just reject. So, I hate that thought because, you know, you can love photography, for example, and that doesn't mean that you can't do that for work and make money from it. It is difficult to do, but if you're willing to put the work in and make it a job, I think that is possible for anybody. So, I don't like the idea of this expectation that if it's something you really like to do, that you can't make it your job. Your job doesn't have to be something you hate, you know?

So, the tough part about doing what you love as your career is that you have to kind of adjust your mindset a little bit. So, if I wanted to be a filmmaker back before I was this one, the kind of films that I would do for myself were nobody is judging it. Well, people are judging it, but nobody is telling me what I have to do. I get to be the decision maker. That's a very different product than what I would create for a client, someone that's paying me. So, if you are going to be able to do something that you love or someone else and for someone's money, you have to be able to adjust that product and kind of detach yourself a little bit from it. And that's something that is a very important lesson that I learned, especially with filmmaking, because you put so much of your creative self into it that it's hard to kind of say, OK, this person is coming from a corporate perspective and they want me to add in three paragraphs of text at the end of the video that nobody's going to read.

It is like they're going to just ruin the video for me, you know? Like they just kind of add their own stuff to it, and it's no longer your product anymore. And so, being able to kind of separate yourself from it is important. But the way I get through it where I still enjoy myself is that I enjoy the process. So, I don't attach myself to the final product because I know that the final product is going to be influenced by the client. And a lot of times, I'll love what they want to do, and sometimes I won't love what they want to do. But that's the way that I can negotiate. That's where the presence is important because what I hear from you is more like there's a bread crumb. There's always a bread crumb for the next one. That you always look, Oh, I'm good at teaching. I've been teaching. So, there is something that we always start from. What's here? Get into the next steps. I think that's the lessons that I hear. What experience? It's also really interesting that you're looking at it as a journey in a build versus a balance, right? You're not trying to balance multiple passions. You're really incorporating all of them, your skills, and your passions. Is that what we're getting right? Well, I am now. So, a few years ago, when I left my full-time job and went freelance, meaning quit my job and had no income, it was definitely a balancing act. I was teaching workshops but also trying to make money doing global videos and local TV station work. That felt like a balance back then for sure. But finding places where I could teach filmmaking became kind of set the light bulb off for me.

Like, I don't do teaching, as long as it's a subject that I enjoy and a subject that I feel passionate about, and then which Laura knows, once you become an instructional designer, you learn that you can teach anything as long as you have the information. So right, and at this point in your life, right, you've built this profession in a way that works for you in your lifestyle right now, unbeknownst to you, thank you, but like, it's giving you that balance that you need for your life right at the moment, right? Definitely. And having a baby throws a whole other, other part of balance that's struggling. Yeah, yeah, but it's all those passions together which I really like, because a lot of times I hear people say, 'I like to do this and that, but I can't connect them,' but you're saying you can, you can. And I think a lot of people, so what you're saying, they think just because their job is a certain title that means that they can't use the skills that they have or the passion that they have and do that same work for their employer. And you know, I've been here, I've been seeing a lot of news articles about quiet hiring, which is like companies hiring freelancers or giving people within their company other tasks to do, and like giving them opportunities to do other things besides their main role. And if you work for a company and your job is like me, my job is academic technology at CUNY SPH, but I do marketing videos, I do their podcasts, that's not academic technology, that has not really nothing to do with it, it's a different department. But because they know that I have that skill set and I am willing to do the work, because it is a lot of hours and a lot of time and a lot of effort to put all those things together.

Because I'm willing to do it, they're giving me that opportunity. So I'm building my resume, as you would say. I'm building my portfolio. I'm still getting to do the things I'm passionate about, even though my title is academic technology. I'm still doing the media production. Right now, I feel there's something there, especially at work. And I want to bring this up and tell me if this is kind of what you've been doing. So, when you work full time, I think there's an importance of allowing others or your team to know not your love, what do you like doing? And that way, more like building your brand within your team, but that there's an opportunity that comes to you to do what you love. And that way, it's where you kind of combine and adding more and more what you love to do in the near future. And that's where you build experience while they're doing other stuff within your work. That's the thing, yeah. And I like what you say about building your brand because I think a lot of it is, it's not just saying, I like to do this thing, and asking them to let you do it, but to actually take the initiative and make it happen. Nobody's going to come to you and say, Laura, I have a podcast. I have a script for you. I have a list of guests to interview. I have all the equipment here. You host it. Like, that never happened to me. But me, I went to, I was hired at CUNY SPH, and I said, You know, honestly, a lot of impostor syndrome when I started that job because I was feeling like, 'I don't know anything about public health. I'm not a doctor. I don't know how I'm going to host a podcast about public health.' But I use that as an asset and saying, 'You know, if I don't know anything about public health, neither do our listeners. How do we someone that doesn't know about it hosting is actually a good thing because I can make the show accessible to more people?' And me going out there and saying, 'I'm going to find guests. I'm going to write the script. I'm going to record, edit, write everything through the graphics, all that stuff. It's very time-consuming, but my colleagues started to get to know that I'm someone who's reliable, who will start a project and finish your project and we'll follow through on it and take initiative.' So that's kind of the brand that you have to build if you want to be trusted to do something. No one's going to just say, 'Here's everything and here's your chance to shine.' Like, you have to do it. You have to do the work. You have to earn that credibility. Yeah, yeah.

Question for you. In your experience, how does following this passion that you have and doing all the exploration, how does that impact you in terms of your overall satisfaction and personal fulfillment? For me, where I am now at CUNY SPH, because my manager Sergio trusts me to host a podcast where I'm not an expert, because they're so enthusiastic to share the episodes because they trust me to do videos and do all these things that are not my job title, because they give me that trust and those opportunities, for me, this is a place where I feel like I could be for a very, very long time. I feel like I'm part of the team.

I feel like I'm appreciated, and so job satisfaction makes it super important. It makes me feel like I'm really somewhere that I belong when they trust me to do things that I'm passionate about. Oh, that's awesome. Yeah, I could feel that coming through the mic.

Yeah, I guess what you're saying, I guess this is a message for leadership too, you know, for leaders, be open and give an opportunity for the team members to shine. And by doing so, it seems like it becomes self-expressions, and you have autonomy to do what you love to do that makes it feel like you belong. Except, what advice do you have for individuals who may feel stuck or unfulfilled in their current job or career, but they really want to follow their passions?

I think a lot of people get stuck, and I've been guilty of this too, getting stuck because you're putting so many qualifiers before the thing that you want to get to. So, saying, I want to become a photographer, but I'm only going to do that when I buy this expensive camera that I need to buy. No, you don't need that. You can rent something, you can borrow, you can use your phone, whatever you need to do, you don't have to be stuck. It's a decision. 

If you are in a job that you don't like, you can find things in that job to try to get some experience, or you could try something on the weekend. If that job is really not giving you any opportunities or any chance at all no matter how much effort you're willing to put in, find some volunteer work, find some freelance projects, things that you can use to build your resume to get you to that next career move. Something I talk about with the ideal career assessment is finding these jobs that like a job description of something that you want, and then figuring out the job the gap on your resume. So, what are the skills that you need to be able to get to that job, to get an interview for that job, and then making those things happen. You don't need to wait for your boss to say, Hey, I want you to become a photographer. Here's a camera. You can say, I'm going to go to a local business and take some pictures and use them for my website and sell them to them or just give them to them that way to have someone that will speak well of me, like I'll have a reference. You know, so kind of making those opportunities for yourself, whether it's at your current job or somewhere else, or just, you know, not everyone has the luxury to just quit their job, I realize that, but I did it a few years ago, and it was the best thing I ever did because it just was not in a place where I was happy, and I needed to try something for myself. I needed to, I wanted to try freelancing, I wanted to try becoming a filmmaker, and it kind of led me to where I am today and realizing, no, I do want a full-time job. It's just that wasn't the right one for me. So, you have to give yourself the opportunity where you can, where it's safe to try new things. I love it and really build sort of a framework that allows you to do that, right? Yeah, however it shows up for you. It was working a full-time job and part-time for me. For me, it was two-part time jobs. It just depends on how it would work for you.

You are a mother, and you have a full-time job, part-time job. Like, I guess I have two questions on that. How do you juggle between motherhood and work, and then building your brand, and promoting your books and things? Like, it's kind of integrated, right? It's because sometimes we say, This is my job, this is my career, this is my home, but you have even more. It's not just your home or your job, but something else. My question is, yeah, how do you, as a mother, how do you juggle all of those? Secondly, as a full-time employee and also building your brand outside, how do you also manage both at the same time? Because every time everyone who wants to work full-time freelance or really something different has to start, they cannot just leave their job, they have to start somewhere. Sometimes it's kind of hard to do that. So, if you can get some tips on that, that would be great.

Yeah, I'll answer your second question first. So, definitely everyone who wants to work full-time, everyone who's freelance wants to work full-time, everyone who's full-time wants to be a freelancer. Only by trying both do you know which one is better for you financially, likewise schedule-wise, work-life balance. Testing out the things that you want to do is super important. It's kind of how I got to where I am and learned what I like and what I don't like. I did that when I worked for CUNY Central, and I say central because it was a different school and I worked for now. But right before the job that I quit before, the right before my last job before I went freelance, they had a job for about 6-7 years where I had it a four-day week schedule, and it was great. I was making films, I was hosting a podcast, I had a show that we were doing, I was taking photos and being a photographer. So, I was really utilizing my weekends very wisely there.

Now, in terms of juggling motherhood, work, and building a brand, it's definitely a challenge. But for me, it's all about prioritizing and time management. I make sure to schedule time for my daughter and my family, and then I schedule time for work and building my brand. I also try to be efficient with my time. For example, if I have a long commute, I'll use that time to brainstorm ideas or work on my social media. And when I'm with my daughter, I try to be fully present and not be on my phone or working.

It's also important to have a support system. I have a great partner who helps with parenting duties and household chores, and I also have family and friends who I can turn to for help or advice. And sometimes, it's okay to ask for help or to say no to things that don't align with your priorities.

Overall, it's not easy, but it's definitely doable with the right mindset and strategies in place.

I was building my resume. I was doing freelance projects, but I was also just having fun and using, you know, at the time, using the studio that they had there and whatever resources I could get, and the people that I was meeting there I was utilizing as well to be able to achieve those things, and to that's how I started my own podcast. So, it was, you know, at that time, learning how to do a podcast at work and then saying, 'oh, I want to do one for myself.' So, you know, using whatever resources you have available to you, whether it's time, equipment, people, whatever it is, that's how you get started with transitioning into your next career mode. The first question you have is very important. I wish I knew the answer because I'm a new mom. My baby's about to be a year old. I can't believe that it's been a year since he's been around, but it's been the most difficult juggle. I really envy moms that work, I envy moms that stay home, because I respect every mom out there so much more now that I have my own kid, because it's so difficult, and the way that I have to juggle it is the baby has to go to daycare because I'm working from home, and like yesterday, he was home because it was snowing, and it was just like he would not leave me alone, and I'm like, I can't work with you here, like you cannot be here right now. So, I don't know the answer, which I did, but it's wonderful, it's really great. That's an awesome question. So, you've been doing this for, you know, so many years. So, if you can give your younger self, when you start, when you're about to start doing this, trying to figure things out, what kind of advice would you give your younger self to make it easier? I mean, I kind of wouldn't want to ruin the process for myself, but I would just say, don't be afraid to try the things that you want to try. I spent a lot of years kind of unsure if I wanted to make the move, like, you know, I would have definitely quit my job and went freelance maybe three years earlier if I wasn't afraid, and so, you know, having a savings account, I should tell my, I would tell my younger self, like, make sure you have enough savings that if you want to try something, so you have the buffer to do that, and just enjoy yourself and be present in the moment so you can kind of observe what's going on. We have a couple of questions to ask Laura that are called our lightning round questions, and they're pretty quick answers, Laura, so one to three words or short sentence if you can. I'll try. Where do you go for your inspiration? Outside, outdoors, in nature. Okay, we're there. What is one habit you adopted that has greatly improved your career? Present. What is one thing that keeps you moving forward each day? Adaptability, I guess it's a hard one. And what is the most valuable piece of advice you ever received? Well, okay, so I can't keep this much work. Okay, thank you. One word for the other one. The biggest life lesson that I learned was right at the beginning of the pandemic when my dad passed away very young, so only 62 years old, but I realized that we don't have as much time as we think, and we're just assuming that we have all this time, and you don't know when someone could be taken, or you could be taken away.

And so not to be morbid, but you know, you have to make those changes, the things that you want to do. There's really no reason to wait for tomorrow. Like, just do it now. Don't wait. Yeah, that's a great message. So, Laura, where can everybody find you? We'll post links to your website and all, but if you want to do a shoutout, my website is LauraMeoli.com, and you can find me on LinkedIn. Awesome. And I also host the Making Public Health Personal podcast for CUNY SPH, which you can find almost anywhere that podcasts are found. You can learn a lot there. Yeah, it's definitely not just for doctors or anything to listen to that podcast. It makes public health topics very easy to understand. And I know, as well, you know, we all are in transitions right now, right? Cockpit has helped us to ask questions, 'What's the matter?' And I just want to wish everyone, the listener, the best on your journey, whatever it is. And please, please let your brilliance shine because everyone needs to be inspired and see others doing that. Thank you, Laura, for being our guest. Subscribe to our channel and stay tuned for episodes on Women's Career Mastery Podcast.