Learning — your only career plan

Ask me and I’ll tell you — I’m not a marketer by choice. I’m a marketer by vocation.

Like many other Zesters blogging about their winding career path (check out their stories at #myonlycareerplan), my history was no indication of where I might end up. I’ve never taken a business course in my life — in fact, I did just the opposite: a Master of Arts in English.

But those Zesters and I all have one thing in common — a passion for learning, for the process of understanding and acquiring knowledge, and for putting it to work.

And as I found my way from Vancouver to Toronto, from the ivory tower of higher education to the digital world of marketing, I found a new path.

Sure, it was cluttered with leaves and sticks, and I had to crawl over a few logs to get where I was going, but eventually I found that kind of work, the kind that I truly enjoyed. And so what if it was the opposite of what I, a nerdy bookworm, had ever imagined for myself.

I could still be a nerdy bookworm.

And that’s why I loved it.

I could nerd out about analytics, fill my bookshelf with branding and advertising tomes, and read every article I could find about that hot new thing called “content marketing.” I was constantly acquiring knowledge, a learner at heart, and I put my research skills to good use.

But even back then the glut of content was overwhelming. How do you sort the trash from the treasure? How do you find the answers to your questions? How do you keep your quality of education high, and your time spent searching down?

Then — shout out to my favourite podcast, Everyone Hates Marketers — I found out about Zest. It has become my daily ritual to peruse the latest highly-curated articles and learn what other skilled and talented marketers are thinking about, trying, and sharing.

The key to growth is to always surround yourself with people smarter than you. Thankfully, working at a startup makes sure I am never without things to learn, but thanks to Zest, I am no longer without the place to learn them. (Sign up for the closed beta now if you love learning!)

Education can come in any manner — a bachelor’s degree, an online course, over a coffee. Thanks to the internet, access to information is the easiest it has ever been. Simply ask a question and you’ll learn something.

So if you ask me why I’m a marketer, I’ll tell you it’s because I will never stop learning. And that’s my only career plan.