Mid-Week Thoughts: Working Full-Time, Building Full-Time

The Reality So Many of Us Live

Yesterday, I started a new job. I’m officially the Business Operations Manager at a small architectural firm about 20 minutes from home. I’ll be heading back into an office (for about 3 months and then I get to be home again) for the first time in five years. This isn’t my first rodeo when it comes to working in operations or managing the back end of a business but stepping into a completely different industry feels both exciting and humbling. It’s a reminder that no matter how experienced you are, life can always have a plot twist waiting for you.

The truth is, this wasn’t where I saw myself at this point in my life or my career. After nearly two decades—19 years, to be exact—in federal service, I didn’t think I’d be back in the job market at 38 years old, trying to figure out what’s next after the current administration’s actions effectively eliminated the role I thought I’d retire from. I wasn’t supposed to be here. Not in the “starting something new again” space and not when I already have businesses and commitments and goals I’ve been working toward outside of my 9-5. But here I am, because life doesn’t always follow our carefully laid plans.

And I wanted to share this, not because it’s about me specifically, but because I know how many of you are living this exact reality. You’re building your podcasts, growing your businesses, running your communities—all while still showing up to a full-time job that pays the bills and provides stability. Despite everything Brittany and I do within WOC Podcasters and the Atabey & Co. Network, neither of us are doing this as our full-time work. We are building something powerful and community-driven, yes, but we are also balancing those efforts alongside the realities of working for someone else.

It’s easy to look at others online and think that success only looks one way—that you aren’t doing enough if you’re not podcasting full-time, running a business full-time, living this glossy, curated entrepreneurial life. But that’s not the truth for most of us, and honestly, it never has been. Most creators, especially Black and brown women creators, are juggling careers, families, caregiving responsibilities, community work, and creative pursuits all at once.

And that doesn’t make our work any less valid or any less worthy of recognition.

---

---

Things I’m Thinking About This Week

How often do we give ourselves credit for the quiet, steady progress we’re making behind the scenes? The kind of progress that doesn’t always get shared in highlight reels or milestone announcements?

What does it really mean to protect our energy and our time when we’re splitting ourselves between roles—professional, creative, personal, and everything in between?

And how can we continue to hold space for our dreams while honoring the reality that sometimes, right now looks like having a job to fund the vision, not derail it?

---

Bottom Line

Having a job outside of your podcast or your business doesn’t make you any less of a creator, any less of a business owner, or any less committed to the work you’re building. It just means your timeline might look different. It means you’re being strategic. It means you’re prioritizing stability while still making space for your dreams. And there’s nothing wrong with that.

You don’t have to apologize for doing what you need to do to make your vision sustainable. You don’t have to compare your journey to someone else’s version of “all in.” You just have to keep going—on your terms, at your pace.

💬 How are you balancing your creative work, your career, and your life these days? What’s helping you stay grounded and what’s something you’re giving yourself permission to pause or let go of right now?