10/08/2026
Before someone twists my words, Iām not saying college is pointless. Iām saying itās not the ONLY path to a successful career, and if you canāt afford it, taking on tens of thousands in student loan debt shouldnāt feel like your only option.
I dropped out of college in 2014, and everything Iāve built since has been self-taught. Video editing, content production, direct response marketing, creative strategy⦠all of it.
And 12 years ago? There werenāt nearly as many YouTube tutorials, online courses, AI tools or mentors teaching the skills I wanted to learn. I figured it out through trial and error, real-world experience and a LOT of repetition.
By the time my friends were graduating college, Iād spent those same years building skills, a portfolio and actual case studies that helped me qualify for opportunities and salaries they were just beginning to pursue.
Obviously, certain careers require degrees. But in creative industries like digital marketing, content creation and video editing, your ability to actually DO the work can matter a whole lot more than where you learned it.
And with todayās job market? I think one of the most underrated career strategies is learning a valuable skill, documenting your work and making yourself visible online.
AI has made learning more accessible than ever, but access to AI isnāt your competitive advantage. Your perspective, experience and ability to apply what youāve learned are.
My fiancƩ and I literally landed leadership roles at the same company without applying. We shared what we were building, demonstrated our expertise and let the right people find us.
We cut the line by making ourselves visible.
So if youāre struggling to find a job, trying to break into marketing, learning a new skill or building a freelance career, donāt underestimate the opportunities that come from putting your work out there.
I linked the video explaining exactly how we got hired without applying. š