My Big Break

My own desk!

After a year in Hollywood, my situation was beginning to look desperate. Last week I was on the verge of being roommateless, homeless and unemployed. Not exactly a winning combination when you are trying to make it in Hollywood. As I contemplated signing my new lease, I feared the worse for my current situation. I have enough money to last me six months, and then I would be flat broke with nowhere to turn. Going home isn’t even really an option because my parents are considering moving to my grandma’s farm. My fallback would be to move in with one of my sisters, her husband and children. Not exactly the dream of any (almost) 24 year old. Last Tuesday, I was beginning to feel the dire aspects of my situation. First on my list of things that needed to be accomplished- find a roommate. After countless efforts of trying to find a roommate through this LA website, a girl finally responded! We met up that day and immediately decided it was a good fit. Okay, one thing down and two more to go. The obvious next step was to find an apartment. On Thursday, I found a dream apartment: reasonable priced rent, central West Hollywood location in a quiet neighborhood. Things were starting to go in my direction. Friday, I had lunch with my friend on the Warner Brother’s lot and laid it on him hard that he needed to help me find a job. As another persuasion technique, I baked him cookies since it was his birthday. Bribe or not- he agreed. I could feel it in my bones that I would have a job by my birthday.

Monday, I planned to put down the deposit for my dream apartment, unfortunately this didn’t go as planned. The apartment had been rented out over the weekend! I cursed myself for not putting down a deposit on Thursday, but it was too late to change anything. This started my Monday on a sour note along with the fact I screen my company’s horror film at 10 a.m., which isn’t exactly a pleasant way to start the day. My day brightened when I saw two of my favorite Glee stars at my local sandwich spot. Coming back in the office, I was in for a big surprise that I never saw coming. Our development executive popped out of a meeting to tell me that our company was going to hire me! I almost cried but thankfully kept it together. He said he just wanted to give me a heads up, but I needed to act surprised when I got the official offer. I wanted to yell on the top of my lungs and dance around wildly with my hands over my head. For the past year, I have fallen in love with the company I intern at. I believe in the projects they take on along with the people who work here. It is a small operation, but it is a successful one. I never imagined I would get to be truly part of this team. All the rejection I faced at other companies made getting this job ten times as rewarding!

There was still one thing on my list that didn’t seem to want to work. Now that I was a full-time employee, how was I going to find an apartment?! Thankfully, I was able to do a half day Tuesday and secure an apartment. Of course this wasn’t an easy feat, but after three apartment duds my roommate and I found a gem on the board of Hollywood and West Hollywood. I guess a girl can have it all. Well all I need for right now- a roommate, an apartment and a dream job. Persistence pays off. It is a lesson I have learned time and time again. Even if everyone is telling me no, I will keep trying if I am passionate about something.