What Coronavirus has taught me

First off, what a catchy title, am I right?

Like many folks across America and the world, the fallout from the virus affected me heavily. As if getting the virus wasn’t scary enough, the country is also dealing with a growing economic downturn.

The biggest way I’ve been impacted has been career-wise. I started off 2020 in a great position at a wonderful company. Unfortunately, my world rapidly changed within months. My industry was oil and gas, and it was hit very hard by dual forces: the Russian-Saudi oil price war and declining demand for fuel since travel and industrial output was severely reduced. This led to the end of my first full time job in a layoff.

Obviously, I was devastated. I spent seven (7!!!) years in school gaining a Bachelor’s and two Master’s degrees with the expectation that this education would keep me forever employed. My ego was hurt as were my finances since I had to seriously tighten up my budget.

But, the crazy thing is…months after the virus first hit and after struggling emotionally with one of the worst times of my life, I have developed a crazy kind of energy. It’s almost like a zest for life I never knew I had. I’ve thrown myself into personal and professional hobbies I previously would have avoided for fear of failure. The older I get, the more I realize I have an increasingly smaller window of opportunity to make some splashy decisions and recover. The past year has shown me that no amount of meticulous planning will protect my best laid plans from going awry. So why not throw my energy (and time) into something I’m passionate about but was previously afraid to engage in? After all, covid-19 has shown us just how loose our grasp is to this rock hurtling in space.

The first hobby I’ve developed satisfies me personally and has nothing to do with my professional goals. It’s sewing. Countless others have picked up this hobby (I know this because it was nearly impossible to find a sewing machine), and I can see why. The ability to make something you can wear or use in your home out of your own hands is pretty powerful. So far, I’ve made a few headbands, some shirts, and refashioned jeans into a skirt. The next project is creating a skirt and top from some fabric I bought.

The other hobby I’ve developed is a professional one, and I’m equal parts terrified and wildly excited. I’ve always been impressed by people that run their own businesses. It takes incredible grit, foresight, and people skills to be successful in this. As much as I admired entrepreneurs, I never saw myself as one of them since I thought I lacked creativity. This thinking waned last year when my boyfriend and I seriously began considering real estate investing.

Every Millennial knows (or should) that merely investing in the stock market for decades will not guarantee enough money for a retirement. As much as I am a cautious Cynthia, I’m not an idiot: even faithfully investing in a 401(k) and having a nice nest egg by age 65 can be severely impacted by market swings. This knowledge combined with my experience of having a great job out of school and losing it a year later in one of America’s worst economic times has doubly proven to me that relying on “how things should go” will get you nowhere. My fear of financial instability later in life pushes me to prevent that future by proactively working against it.

At first, even I was skeptical. Real estate investing? Sounds kinda infomercial-y. However, diving into books on the subject, meeting other people in the industry, and running the numbers on theoretical deals myself, I trust you real estate investing is neither a joke nor a fantasy. It’s something I’m turning into more of a reality day-by-day.

In a perfect world, I would love to work full-time as a Business Analyst or Consultant and spend my free time learning as much as possible about real estate investing. In fact, I’m taking a real estate licensing course this fall and hopefully will have my license this year/early next year. While working full time, I’d love to make my hard earned money work hard for me in real estate deals, specifically single or multifamily rentals.

I’m beyond excited and nervous about the future. But what keeps me pushing forward is the fact that I will play a larger role in determining the outcome of my life. All this girl wants is a little control over life. And I’m no longer asking permission to seize it.