How I'll Be Answering The "What Do You Do" Question This Holiday Season

If there’s one thing about me, it’s that I absolutely love a celebration. The holidays are when I shine and while I know you’re not supposed to tie your happiness to outside sources like the weather or days on a calendar, I truly can’t help it.

I simply love to celebrate - small things, big things and everything in between. I think I get it from my mom.

Growing up, everything always felt so fun. Whether it was a big holiday like Christmas or something small like Valentine’s Day, she always made it so memorable, so I think I’ve naturally carried that on.

For real, when I was in high school Elf on the Shelf became popular and even though I was a grown teenager, my mom bought an Elf - his name was… wait for it, Elfie - and she hid Elfie the entire month of December.

Each morning I would wake up and find Elfie and attached would be our Christmas advent activity for the day - things like build a gingerbread house, go see Christmas lights, watch a Christmas movie, etc.

It was my absolute favorite thing and one of my greatest holiday memories to this day!

My friends know my obsession with holidays and celebrations and they lovingly accept me for who I am and don’t judge me for wanting to have a balloon arch everywhere we go.

In fact, just last night we hosted Friendsgiving and it’s probably my favorite thing to host. Shockingly, I didn’t go crazy with the decor this year.

And I have not one single photo of the setup. I’m giving myself a pat on the back for that one because that’s proof that I’ve made strides toward my 2022 goal of being more present in the moment. Gold star for Natty. ⭐️

Instead, I just focused on bringing everyone together and it made me so incredibly happy! Can you tell my love language is quality time? 🤣

With the holidays, I can always expect to be faced with the, “so, what exactly do you do?” question.

This question has always been much easier to explain to my friends than my family, so the past few weeks, I’ve been prepping myself on how I’ll be answering that question this year.

I get this question from family members every. single. year. and I can’t help but think it’s because the older generations are still having a hard time grasping that yes, just because people don’t go into an office, they still make a stable income.

I’m not sure why that’s so wild considering we are in the heartbeat of the digital age, but nevertheless here we are!

The past three holiday seasons my answer was the same because I had the same job, but even then, people never seemed to understand what exactly I did.

Again, I think it’s because I’ve never had a corporate job, so it can be hard for them to follow. This year, however, I’ve created an extra layer for myself to navigate. 😅

I quit my job 6 months ago with no real plan and as the kid in the family that’s always “had it figured out” you could imagine that it was sort of the shock of the century.

Now, 6 months later I’ve created my own actual business where I have real clients that I work for on a daily basis while also growing my own brand.

I’ve debated simply wearing a shirt that says, “I Write For a Living” displayed across the chest because it’s true - that’s exactly what I do.

(brb, adding that to my future merch ideas because I’m a sweatshirt junkie and I obviously need to add another to my closet.)

But over the past 6 months, I’ve realized that people are still confused by that…

“You write?” “Like books?” “Oh, so like you’re a blogger?!”

And honestly, I get it! Saying I write for a living is vague, so if they aren’t clear on what I mean that’s my fault.

So, after some reflection and serious thinking, here’s how I’ll be answering the “what do you do” question this holiday season:

First, what I won’t be doing is brushing it off like it’s no big deal. Because starting a business IS a big deal and I’m proud of what I’ve created in just 6 short months.

Do I still have a longgggg way to go? Heck yes. But that doesn't mean I’m going to downplay it right now.

I feel like too often we’re tempted to downplay what we do like it doesn’t matter. When in reality, what you do REALLY. FREAKING. MATTERS.

And I want you to join me in owning that. 👏🏼

When someone presents the inevitable question this year at Thanksgiving dinner, I’ll explain that I write content for business owners that want to get their message across in a clear way and be seen as an expert in their industry.

I’ll tell them about my AirBnb client who wants to provide value in a different way to their current and future renters by creating blogs that help people plan the perfect trip in their community.

I’ll explain how people are super obsessed with social media right now and talk about how it’s my mission to help people see why it’s so important to house their best content in a place where they own it and have ultimate control - like blogs on their website.

I’ll talk about how I just wrote an e-book for a client because they wanted to provide information and education about investing in commercial real estate to their audience and be seen as the go-to source for that industry.

When they ask “oh, so you’re a blogger?” I’ll explain that blogs aren’t just for influencers and lifestyle bloggers. Instead, blogs are a tool for businesses and brands (regardless of the niche or industry) to use to create long form content that builds a content bank that can be referred to for years to come.

I’ll describe the different ways that people can work with me and help them understand that the whole point of my done-for-you packages is so my clients get to freely live in their zone of genius and trust that quality content is consistently being created for their audience in a way that can live on forever.

I’ll tell them about the people starting with me in 2023 and will help them see how blogs aren’t dead, they’ve simply evolved.

I encourage you to think on this for yourself this year. What do you really do? How do you help people specifically?

Even though this question can often feel dreadful, I believe that it’s something you can be excited to talk about and it gives you the chance to really help people understand why what you do matters.

And that yes, just because you don’t have a 45 minute commute and you don’t sit in an office from 9-5 that you still make a massive impact!

Here’s to answering this question confidently this year, friend. 🥂