I don't wanna be anything other than me.
About a month ago, I was definitely at somewhat of a crossroads with a few opportunities floating around unsure how things would turn out. Like I always say "everything happens as it's supposed to." Well, it did. I had two video interviews for an Assistant Editor position at a theater app/website called TodayTix. The first day was an interview with HR, the next day I interviewed with the person who would be my boss. I thought they both went well, and the potential boss even answered my thank you note, which no one ever does. Since then, I was ghosted. So I guess they didn't want to give me the job? Oh well. It's still annoying how employers do that without any answers, but my take on it is that it wasn't meant to be anyway. I've been through this shit before and I'm not surprised.
At the same time, I was training to be a Freelance Reality TV Features Writer for an entertainment website called Screen Rant AND... I'M OFFICIALLY A WRITER FOR THE SITE! I can now call myself a "professional TV-watcher" which sounds pathetic but cool at the same time? The training process was a little annoying but now that I'm done it feels good. I've written a decent amount of articles for them so far from 90 Day Fiance to the Real Housewives (and much more) and I'm having fun with it. It's definitely more difficult than I expected it to be but I'm finally getting the hang of it. Sometimes it can be hard to think of ideas when other writers take the ones available, but I haven't had a major writer's block yet which is good. The editors are all really nice and helpful and I can do the articles at my own pace which is totally different than the pressure of my previous job. It's also nice to finally be PAID and balance this with BroadwayWorld. Theater and reality TV are two topics I'm passionate about and I get to write about both of them! I'm also becoming a better writer by doing it more often and utilizing my skills. It's not full-time but it's something and it will help boost my resume when the right job comes along.
Speaking of BroadwayWorld, I am already starting to go to more events again and have a lot coming up so that's exciting! I saw Adam Pascal in concert which I was excited about for awhile. I was literally 10 feet away from him at the concert so that was amazing and terrifying at the same time. He sang so beautifully and I was so grateful to have interviewed him and to be at the concert. I didn't meet him after, but it's still a pandemic and he had another show later that day. I already met him in 2016 and the interview felt like we met again anyway. I also saw a community production of "Hello, Dolly!" with my mom last weekend and wrote a review. I hadn't seen or written a review of an actual musical since before the pandemic hit in March 2020 so it was nice be back in a theater hearing an orchestra again. It was also my first time seeing "Hello, Dolly" at all and I'm glad I finally got to see it!
I was supposed to see another concert last month for Melissa Errico, who was the woman I did an email interview with. Her concert was supposed to be outside, but there was a bad thunderstorm so it had to be moved inside. Colleen emailed me the day before saying that because of covid, I couldn't have my comp tickets and if I wanted to come I would have to sit in a "side seat" with their staff. This made me FURIOUS because I've done so much for Colleen and since I don't get paid to do the articles, I'm entitled to having comp tickets no matter what. She then begged for me to come once I said no (because I was super turned off) and I decided to stand my ground and stay home. The weather was also really bad and I wasn't going to come alone or make a guest drive in a horrible thunderstorm. We had an awkward period of not talking which lasted all of a week maybe? After seeing that I went to Adam Pascal's concert, she eventually emailed me asking to go to another concert in September the day after my birthday. She offered me FOUR comp tickets instead of two to make up for last time, which was pretty nice. I was going to still say no, but it was nice of her to give me the tickets so now I can bring my sister, a friend, and my other sister too if she wants to come.
All of this made me realize how much I have learned in the past year. I learned how to advocate for myself and my needs and to not let anyone take advantage of me. Sometimes people do things and don't understand how they hurt others, and you need to tell them exactly how you feel. I'm not out to "win" an argument, but I do want people to realize that it's not okay to take advantage of people because you need them a lot more than you think. I ended up not telling my Senior Editor any of this, which was a good choice. But also had to understand that BroadwayWorld isn't all Holmdel Theatre Company. Yes, they've made up most of my content but I don't owe anything to them. There are still other theatres who are nice to me and appreciate what I do and those who are shady I have to keep my eye on.
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