I’ve spent much of my adult life in pursuit of a creative career — primarily as an actor — but that journey has often required side paths, pivots, and full-on reinventions to make ends meet or rediscover momentum. Along the way, I’ve tried everything from retail and logistics to graphic design, real estate, web development, and even full-time programming after completing a coding bootcamp. Some of these paths stuck longer than others. Some didn’t go the distance. But each one taught me something about resourcefulness, resilience, and what it means to choose a life on your own terms. At the heart of each shift was the desire to support myself in ways that felt aligned — to earn a living without selling out the core of who I was. That wasn’t always easy. Learning new skills as an adult — especially under financial pressure — takes grit. And while I often carry a deep belief in my ability to learn and adapt, that doesn’t mean the fear of making a wrong move wasn’t real. What’s helped me most is learning to tune into my gut: regularly checking in and asking if where I’m headed still feels like home to me. I’ve come to see that the only real mistake is staying stuck in something that no longer reflects who you are, just because it once did. Perhaps the biggest lesson has come from my forays into real estate investing and entrepreneurship — ventures that reshaped how I relate to money, risk, and possibility. They helped me shed a scarcity mindset and embrace one of potential. I’ve learned not to regret the things that didn’t pan out. Every attempt taught me how to pivot with love instead of fear. And even when circumstances forced my hand, like when a lucrative startup job collapsed beneath me, I found ways to turn disruption into opportunity. Whether or not I always “succeed” in the way I imagined, I’m proud to keep choosing a life that reflects who I am. That’s the kind of success I now measure by.