In January of 2021, close to two years ago, I applied to (what was at the time) one of my dream companies. I had very little on my resume that insinuated I was qualified, experienced, or knowledgeable about the position I was applying for, but nonetheless, the fact that the role I was interested in was even open meant I was going to shoot my shot.
The day after applying to the position, I got an email from the company asking me to pitch them a story.
I nearly fainted.
I remember reading that email and being SO excited to have the opportunity to get a response let alone pitch them a story.
You want to give ME a chance? You mean I have the opportunity to write something YOU will read? I was elated.
That morning, I read the prompt and brainstormed what I was going to write about for only half a second before it hit me. The entire story flooded my brain as soon as I knew who it would be about.
But there was one small problem.
I needed to make a video.
It is important to note here that I had never made a video in my life. I had no knowledge of even where to begin, what software to use— nothing.
But when your dream company asks you to pitch them a story, you do what it takes to learn how to make a video.
Which is exactly what I did.
For 14 hours, I taught myself everything I needed to know about stringing together pictures, video snippets, music, voice overs— the whole 9 yards. I learned how to make transitions, fade music in and out, cut and trim different selections, add text, you name it. I watched YouTube videos, read countless blog articles, and tried ~my best~.
Now, let me just say, I didn’t use any fancy platform; I used iMovie. It was already installed on my laptop, and I didn’t want to waste time trying to figure out what other software I should use, so iMovie it was.
The video production portion may have taken me 14 hours to do, but the story took me 20 minutes to write. I don’t even think I wrote it, to be honest. I think it wrote itself— it was that effortless.
For the longest time, I never thought about sharing it with you here because it’s a personal story. Most everything I share with you is personal to some degree, but this is on another level. One I still question if I’m ready for.
But I realized that the nature of it is has far less to do with my personal life than I initially thought. The facts are the facts, the details are the details, but ultimately it dawned on me that…
It doesn’t matter if you’ve been a child of divorce or if you have a dog. “Exceptional” is different for everyone, and recognizing what exceptional means in your life is the take home message.
Heck, if my version of exceptional is my dog after THAT, exceptional can mean anything.
~
What follows is a video that I am deeply, deeply attached to for obvious reasons (my dog is a piece of my soul), but also one I hope you find resonance in, in the context of your own life.
P.S. My pitch was denied by the company, but honestly, it’s okay. What I created was far more valuable than getting a job that was meant for someone else, anyway. Plus, I’m not a videographer. I’m a storyteller❤️
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