Give and Take

For those of you who have not heard, I recently started a Public Relations internship with Revlon. Initially, when I began interning for the company I was stoked! Granted, I started in the middle of NY Fashion Week and was already working backstage, helping set up makeup stations and directing the models. However, in the weeks following, I started to question my decision to take the internship with Revlon. I found myself getting frustrated with the work I was doing in a chaotic, unorganized, high intensity work environment. There was a lot I had to figure out on my own. I knew going into this that no one was going to hold my hand. I knew that because the PR department was so small, it was going to be a lot of hard work. I also knew the cut-throat personalities engaged in this industry would try to break me down. What I did not know was how taxing it would actually be on me. I was anxious, exhausted, and irritated. Then, it donned on me. Why shouldn't these people expect excellence? Why shouldn't they want people who are intelligent and keen enough to resolve issues on their own? Under previous employment, I found myself often asking the reciprocal: why can't these people complete the most menial of tasks?

I asked for this. I moved out here for the prospect of being a part of something greater, something more than the confines of my home town. I could have easily stayed home, continued to attend the same local college, worked in the same God-awful customer service jobs. But I didn't. I was crazy enough to make the move here, and I knew there had to be a reason why. Today, I got that reason. I was given the opportunity to sit in on a phone interview with Halle Berry, Revlon's Beauty Ambassador. Listening, recording, and transcribing the questions to Halle from international beauty editors, I was in awe. How is this happening? How am I sitting, listening to Halle Berry talk on the phone right now? What the heck? She was kind and inspiring. Answering mostly questions regarding her favorite beauty products and daily regimen, she managed to weave in some profound insight on her thoughts on the relationship between beauty, aging, and female empowerment. She said beauty is as beauty does. It is so important to take care of yourself, to be aware of your worth, to accept what you have and love it. She said women become so much more beautiful when they age, when they accept the passage of time and the aging process. She said as time progresses, women become so much more accepting of themselves. They learn who they truly are, which makes them more confident. And that, is what makes them so beautiful. Beyond that, she expressed that the advice she wished someone had given her when she was younger, was to be the most authentic version of yourself. Don't try to be anyone else. Don't be afraid of saying what you want or doing what you love. This really resonated with me. Here I am, complaining to my family and friends how tiring this internship is....but it's like, HELLO! Of course it's not easy. Of course I'm going to be given a million tasks without any direction. If I didn't engage in this hard work, if I never took the risk of coming out here, would I have been on a conference call with Halle Berry today? The answer is absolutely not. So much of life consists of give and take. If you're not willing to give it your all, don't expect to take anything in return. Normal gets you nowhere. Average people love being average and doing average things, because no one bothers them. (Kelly Cutrone taught me that, CEO of People's Revolution PR company and all around badass.)

Mediocrity has always been my worst nightmare. This is what I asked for. This is what I worked my ass off for. I've got to pay my dues before I can be the woman on the other end of the line inspiring others. Until then, I'm just going to put up and shut up. This is what I asked for, and damn it, I'm going to get it.

XOXO