What’s Your Niche?

I’ve always been a lot of things. I’ve worn a lot of hats. Some people would probably call me a hustler because my whole adult life has been about working, working, and working some more. At one point, I was working four jobs. Crazy, right? Using all my time and almost every gift or skill that I have, or taught myself to have.

That mindset started early.

I remember starting my first job around 12 or 13 at Mayfair Elementary, cleaning classrooms. Back then, we were able to get summer jobs at a young age. From there, I worked at Hot Sauce Williams’ juice factory on Eddy Road, several fast food jobs, and eventually reached one of my childhood goals of becoming a beautician straight out of high school, Shaw Cosmetology C/O ’98 (the best class Shaw has ever had).

But even with all that, I had other goals growing up.

I reached the first goal, now I just needed to write a book and be on the New York Times best-sellers list, and write some songs and be a well-known singer.

And for a while, I really believed I was going to be a singer. I’d be in the basement screaming… I mean singing “Too Big to Cry,” the first song I wrote, day after day, beating on the pipes and walls to make my own beats, completely in my own world. I’m sure my mom and grandma got tired of hearing me, but I didn’t care. I was in my creative zone, writing and singing, because after all, I was going to be a famous singer, IJS.

Over the years, I filled notebooks with poetry and songs, expressing everything I didn’t always say out loud. By 18, I had won my first poetry contest on poetry.com, and for a moment, it felt like I was really stepping into what I loved.

But life took a turn. Responsibility outweighed the time and energy I had to pour into my passion, and like many of us, I had to focus on what was in front of me.

Life pulled me in different directions. I’ve worked as a beautician, a bailiff, in tech, and more. Outside of the beauty industry, most of my careers had nothing to do with creativity. When I had the choice, I chose stability, thinking it would give me more security as a single parent raising two kids. It did in some aspects, but fell short in others.

But one thing I never lost was my passion. That creative spark never fully went out, even when I let it dim for a while.

I always knew what my niche was.

I just had to find my way back to it.

And now I have.

I may not be operating in it full-time yet, but I’m back in it. I’ve stepped into community journalism, I’ve written and published devotionals, I’m working on a novel, and I’m exploring music again.

Sometimes life puts us in survival mode. We get caught up in the routine, the responsibilities, the 9–5. But don’t ignore that light inside of you. That thing that brings you joy, even on your hardest days.

That’s your niche.

Maybe you don’t need to find it.

Maybe you just need to find your way back to it.