Wrong. Deciding to ‘follow your dream’ takes more than an Instagram caption.
It takes hard work, adaptability, and a few moments of questioning your decisions as an adult. I can vouch for the hard work, and sense of accomplishment, thanks to starting my own jewellery company, Leo With Love, almost three years ago. The (somewhat) unsavoury hours and stress are unparalleled to the sense of accomplishment and joy it brings. I love my job and truly believe the core principles of Leo With Love are gratitude and love; so much so that my initial collections are inspired by the women in my life who’ve had a positive influence on it.
However, that’s not where my career started. My professional experience has taken me through the various facets of the corporate world as a Marketing Executive, with social media being my niche. From pet supply companies and HR software companies to being the whole marketing team for a vitamin supply company, I hated all of it. Aside from feeling drained all the time, I was so miserable. After finding my purpose with Leo With Love, I spent months working on everything in the evenings. Whether it was branding, designs, onboarding email sequences – anything that was going to get me closer to building the life I want. After seven months at my last official office job ever, I was ready to dive into Leo With Love full time.
Having done a complete career pivot, I never thought I’d be going from a clinically corporate job to designing and making my own jewellery. I’d like to say life has a way of creating opportune moments, but honestly, it’s about when you’re willing to make the changes you want to see in your life. The one thing that kept me motivated was earning that comfortable cushion to survive on while building my dream; it gave me a sense of purpose and confidence in the future.
It’s been almost three years and my company has gone into profit. Not by much, but it’s generally trending upward. As it’s a growing business, I do still have to take on social media contracts. It used to feel like it was a negative thing to have to rely on freelance work to supplement my income, but I know the ultimate goal is for Leo With Love is to succeed. That means the smartest business decision is to be taking up these contracts. Sometimes you have to look at the bigger picture and throw your ego in the bin. Taking on contracts while running my business doesn’t make it a failure, it gives me the freedom to keep growing.
About the author
Leora Moreno is the founder of Leo With Love, a jewellery company that creates pieces inspired by and named after the brilliant women in my life. The line is designed to accessorise your confidence, so you beam with poised exuberance as you go make life happen.
