About Me — Sweta Sharma
(How I Hit 1 Million on Pinterest While Sitting at My Desk Job: The story which turned an editor into a content creator.)
My professional journey started in 2014.
This was the year when I joined a publishing house as an editor, and I guess my first salary was 15K (179$).
Honestly, my first job at 19 was a learning curve.
I had no idea how to write or edit books; I picked it all up on the job.
There was this lady named Maya (name changed for privacy) who was my senior.
She’s an absolute gem when it comes to teaching people the right way, and I’ve learned most of the basics of my field from her.
As I mentioned, I was a total newbie with no prior internships or experience, so stepping into my first job was like diving into the deep end.
It was a reality check in every sense of the word.
One of my colleagues, like the villain in the story, was too obsessed with me, or rather, I’d say he likes to tease people in the best way possible.
Let me tell you about a brief incident which has happened to me.
I think it was one week after I joined the company.
My senior, Maya, has shared a PDF with me, and she has told me to take a printout of that PDF.
Now, I don’t know how to do it.
So, I went to that guy and asked him for help.
He came over with his usual arrogant tone, hit the print command, and left without a word.
As he walked away, his attitude spoke volumes, and I to date remember what he said while leaving —
I don’t know how they fill up such people in the office, they don’t even know how to get a printout.
I was just 19, clueless about how to handle such harsh words.
That evening, I replayed the encounter in my mind countless times, trying to make sense of it all.
Eventually, I resigned myself to the idea that perhaps this is just how the corporate world operates.
I took a sigh and joined the office again the next day.
This went on, but I somehow figured out what needed to be done on my side.
I acknowledged that my lack of knowledge wasn’t anyone’s fault but mine.
And that just flipped all the things in my head.
I started working hard and took everything as it came.
While I may or may not have been the top performer in the office, I can proudly say that I was always sincere and hardworking. And that dedication truly paid off for me.
Fast forward, I became the HOD of my department. I learned a lot on that job.
Life was good, with its usual ups and downs, and then COVID-19 came out of the blue.
Like everyone else, it was a whole new experience for me.
Suddenly, there was this whole work-from-home thing, keeping systems running and working beyond regular office hours.
It was a lot to take in. But, anyhow, we all learned to deal with this in our own ways.
I discovered Pinterest during the lockdown.
Even though I’ve always loved my job and my team, for some reason, I decided to give this new thing a try.
Pure instinct-based decision!
I started posting random content on Pinterest with zero idea — what to post, how to design, and all that stuff (It was a part-time for ME!).
Let me show you one of the initial designs I made.
As you can see, this pin gets no engagement.
Why should it? There’s nothing in it that can catch the attention of people. It has to be catchy, and the only way to do so is to enhance my skills.
Anyway, I kept posting content that felt relevant to me at that time.
After posting consistently for a few weeks I started noticing positive results.
The screenshot isn’t very clear, but I crossed my first 7K monthly views that day on Pinterest, and my brother, whom I refer to as ‘Minjhiya’ said some really motivating words to me.
By the way, He’s the only one who knew I was working on this side hustle.
To make this win more special we went to a little success party.
I have this single photo of that day!
From that day onwards, I started taking Pinterest seriously.
Growing on Pinterest requires you to be skilled, at least at the basic level which can further be improved.
But, as I didn’t have prior experience my skills weren’t good enough.
In fact, my design skills were HORRIBLE.
Even though I was using Canva, I still couldn’t hook people’s attention with my designs.
The only solution I could think of was the same one I applied when that guy in my office criticized me: work on your skills.
Improving skills takes time, and when you have a 9–5 taking out time for something new could be a bit challenging.
But challenges eventually help you grow.
I generally have free time in my morning and evening hours.
So, I started using that time to my advantage.
I began waking up early to watch YouTube tutorials, then I’d go to work. During lunch, I’d watch more tutorials, and after leaving work around 7–8 due to overtime, I’d practice designing.
There were days when I missed my practice because the work schedule was too hectic.
But I somehow kept on learning.
Day by day, week after week, my designing and content creation skills were improving.
I was also discovering other passive income streams, which I’ve shared here.
I kept creating content, whether it was good, bad, or ugly and suddenly I realized that I’d created 8000 pins all by myself.
That was a huge win for me because I was working full-time.
I’ve literally compared my first and 8000 pins, and I can say for sure that consistency pays off.
All you need to do is to put your head down and focus on the work that you’re doing.
That’s the only way to make it HAPPEN.
At least, I’ve realized that from my experiences.
The journey, which started from 7k Monthly views, has reached more than 4 Million views in a single day, without any paid ads.
Long story short, around October-November 2023 (in fact, from May), things started taking a turn for the worse in my professional life.
Despite my efforts to stay calm, the situation continued to deteriorate.
Two major incidents compelled me to think about leaving that job.
Incident 1: The company hired a new lady named Mambo (name changed for privacy, also, she wasn’t the only one responsible for my resignation; there were a bunch of other people involved, too). I won’t get into the details of what happened for more than 2 months with her. I’ll come straight to the point. One evening, I was completely tired because of constant deadlines and a lot of stuff that was going on in the office.
I was also on my periods, and the first 3 days were too hectic for me every time. I’ve a lot of mood swings, abdominal pain, I just can’t explain how weak I feel in those days, especially physically.
The clock hit 6, and I was desperately waiting to leave my office. I went to the loo, came back to pick my bags. Midway, the pantry in charge informed me that Mambo was calling me.
I said OK. I went inside her cabin, and she just started talking. She even warned me in some ways. I listened to her, paying attention to every single word she was saying. I don’t have the bandwidth to reciprocate (all thanks to my periods). I could sense she was targeting me and this wasn’t the first time.
I left the cabin, saying I’d discuss it tomorrow. But the moment I closed that door, I knew what I had to do. I took my bag, came downstairs, and headed home.
It usually took me 45 minutes to an hour to reach my destination.
Those 45 minutes were life-changing for me.
I decided that I was going to leave that job.
I thought about everything:
- What are the repercussions of leaving a so-called stable income source?
- Is it OK to leave a place that’s known to me?
- Would I be able to take the side hustle forward and turn it into a real cash-flow business?
And a hundred other things…
The moment I reached my destination, I made up my mind — I’m going to do this.
Incident 2: Although I’ve made up my mind to leave that place, the second jerk came a few days before Diwali, which is a cherished Indian festival. If I’m not mistaken, it was on Dhanteras.
Dhanteras marks the beginning of Diwali festivities. It’s considered an auspicious day to buy gold, silver, or anything new.
My mom and I’ve a tradition we’ve followed for as long as I can remember. We go shopping together on this day. It’s been over 15 years now, and we’ve never missed a single one.
But this time, I couldn’t make it happen.
Reason? I was working in my office till 9 PM. She called me around 8, I think. I picked up her call and explained everything. She replied in a very low tone and told me that she would go alone.
I put the call down and started thinking — what the heck am I doing?
What’s the point of doing something that doesn’t allow me to be with the people who matter to me the MOST, which doesn’t give me the FREEDOM to live the life I want to live?
The management people also noticed a change in my behavior and they called for a meeting. Coincidentally I had made up my mind to tell them about my resignation the same day.
The meeting was about work strategies and other complaints. I attended the meeting, and after some time, I went to the concerned person and told him about my decision to part ways with the company.
When this news spread in the office arena, almost everyone around me started advising me.
- “You shouldn’t leave a stable job.”
- “Things like this happen in the corporate sector; it’s too common. Why are you making an issue out of it?”
- “Starting something of your own is too difficult.”
and countless baseless arguments.
But without paying attention to even a single person, I trusted my instinct and stuck to my choice.
Within a few days, I sent them my resignation by email.
And you know what?
The moment I clicked ‘send,’ I felt like I had made the best decision ever. Maybe I should’ve done it sooner.
My notice period was 30 days. During that time, I checked my finances — how much money I had in my bank account, PF, investments, shares, etc. I just wanted to see how much flow I had.
I also talked with a bunch of people to come up with working possibilities, in case I need one.
Everything is sorted.
Finally, 16th December 2023 came — the last day of my notice period. I bid farewell to my team members, who had become more like friends.
We had a farewell party for the team.
This was the cake I cut on that day. It was too yummy!
Everybody felt emotional.
Maybe it’s because of the feeling that we won’t be working together from tomorrow morning.
End of chapter 1.
Chapter 2 begins now.
For the next several days, I just slept, binge-watched movies, sat in the park, and spent time with my family.
I felt like home.
It’s been 9 and a half years of this professional life. I was 19 when I joined this corporate sector, and now I’m 28. I’ve actually grown up during this journey.
This job has taught me a lot. I’ve met some amazing people, some soul-sucking ones too! But all in all, they helped me become a better version of myself in one way or the other, especially the energy vampires. Thank you for existing!
My Takeaways From This Journey:
- Listen to your Intuitions: Your intuitions never lie; you should listen to them more than the noise around you.
- Experiences Matter: Appreciate every experience you have, whether it seems good or bad. They all help you grow and learn.
- Say ‘NO’ to Toxic people. That’s the most important thing! If you feel you’re amidst people who’re sucking your energy, wave goodbye ASAP.
- A Closed Door Opens a Hundred New Doors: We often feel disheartened when things don’t go the way we expected them to go. But that’s not the truth.
That disappointment doesn’t mean it’s the end of the road.
It’s the beginning!
To be able to learn and take these lessons as they come is my biggest win in life, till now!
And I’m sure it’s just the beginning of something very HUGE (as I mentioned earlier) that I’ve never imagined.
All I need to do NOW is to follow the same trick :
Put my head down, focus on my work, and keep learning❤️
What’s your biggest win in life? Let me know in the comments!
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