I am not certain I have ever been an expert. Would I ever refer to myself as an expert even if I was one? Being an expert in your field implies a great breadth of knowledge about every aspect of that subject.

There are two distinct personality types when it comes to learning information and becoming an expert. There are the people that find what they are good at early on and practice and learn all there is to know in that subject. They become experts. Then, you have the other type. The type of person that becomes a jack of all trades. They bounce from interest to interest and may learn to be proficient but no one would ever call them an expert. They would be experts at trying new things. 

I’ll give you two guesses as to which one of these types I fall into. That’s right, I’m the latter and it goes as far back as I can remember.

When It Began

When I was eighteen I was hired to be a Girl Scout camp counselor. I had never been a Girl Scout. Nor had I ever even been camping. I had zero experience caring for a group of girls overnight for weeks at a time. But, there I was leading high ropes and facilitating games, and keeping all the children safe. They ranged in age from five to seventeen. Some of them had been coming to camp every year for most of their life. They were far more experienced than I was. They were having to teach me the camp songs. The campers were the experts. 

Later, I got a job as the voice of Onstar. It was a call center position that relied heavily on my customer service experience. I had never owned a car with OnStar. Once I had operated a switchboard for a department store. I had never worked in a call center before.  I wasn’t even all that great at giving people directions. But, there I was taking calls and routing people to their destinations. 

Not So Long Ago

In 2017, I got the wild idea to operate a food truck. I didn’t have money for a food truck so I decided to operate a cottage bakery instead. I had never worked in a bakery before. Nor had I ever owned my own business before. But, there I was baking cupcakes, running a website, advertising my baked goods, and making sure my customers were happy. 

When a pandemic hit the world, my bakery suffered but also I was ready to move on to my next adventure. I had written short stories and poetry in my past but I would not have considered myself a writer or an author (certainly not an expert). I had never written a book before. Nor had I ever communicated with editors or illustrators before. But, here I am with a published children’s book, a poetry collection in the works, and more book ideas in the wings. 

You Are What You Do

If all it takes to be something is to do the thing, then I am doing it. I was a Girl Scout camp counselor just as much as I was a baker and business owner. I am a writer, poet, and author.

What Is Going On Now

The children’s book I recently published, Clark Monkey, is stuck in marketing mode. Most writers do things like research before they hop into something. I wrote a children’s book and published it before I ever Googled how to write a children’s book. I wrote it for fun and posterity. It wasn’t until after it was published did I realize I should have had a launch strategy and marketing plan to sell the book. That’s the honest truth. I really have no idea what I am doing and I am constantly learning as I go.

I am also currently working on a poetry collection book that I hope to publish in July. Poetry collections aren’t for everyone. I understand that. However, I am being very vulnerable and sharing parts of my soul in the work. I am also devoting a lot of time and energy to make sure it is a thorough collection. Love Letters to A Narcissist is a five-chapter book that walks the reader through the life cycle of a relationship with a narcissist. Each poem represents a different aspect of that type of relationship. It is raw and should probably come with a trigger warning.

So while the poetry is being edited and Clark Monkey is being marketed, what else could I possibly be doing? Oh, I am just working out the details for my second children’s book manuscript. I am currently working with an illustrator so that a new book can be launched later this year. It is another book that is mostly for fun and posterity. The book doesn’t have a moral or compelling protagonist or anything like that. It will be fun and colorful and young children and their parents will enjoy it.

Expert or No?

For today I am just going to have to be okay not being an expert. I am still a work in progress much like my work. With continued practice and probably a few more mistakes along the way, maybe one day I can reach expert status. Which type of personality are you? Are you an expert or more of a jack of all trades? Do you ever get caught up in a mix of projects all at once? Tell me in the comments that I’m not the only one!