I’ll admit, one of the tips I share most often when people ask me how I’ve ended up in different roles and adventures is: Just say yes and figure the how part out later. (h/t to my entrepreneurial muse, Sir Richard Branson)
I’ve certainly Forrest Gump’ed my way into a lot of things by just being curious and saying yes.
But in all honesty, I’ve also employed a lot of hustle through the years as well. It’s not so much, “oh I tripped into this awesome thing” as it is, “I tripped into this room where I saw an awesome thing I decided I wanted then I WENT AFTER IT LIKE A SPIDER MONKEY.”
Ahem.
The spider monkey thing came from my friend Sean when I was going through the five-month-long journey of applying to be a Naval officer. Once I was selected, I was celebrating with friends and Sean blurted out that I “went after that application like a spider monkey!” I’m not sure if spider monkeys are particularly determined in reaching goals, and I think there’s a Will Farrell movie reference in there somewhere, but regardless, I liked the thought of being compared to what I assumed was a cute, scrappy primate. So, that’s how I’ve always described my state of being during those five months, and several times since: Spider-monkey-esque.
I can’t tell you how many different people I talked to during my application phase for the Navy. I cold-called officers looking for insights, recommendations, and sometimes just looking to show how committed I was to the process. I’d ask them to give me contact information to anyone else they knew. Then I’d ask the next person the same thing. And the next. And the next.
On top of being scared to pick up the telephone, I was intimidated because of military protocol. I knew I was clueless about it, so while I felt confident walking into a conference room full of government officials at that point in my civilian career, I had no idea how I was supposed to conduct myself in this new world of camouflage.
Did I have to call everyone sir or ma’am? Was there some deferential ring kissing that went on in this new world? Could I speak before spoken to or was it more of a Queen of England situation, where I should back out of the room holding eye contact as I went? I was paranoid the person on the other end of each of my calls was making tick marks for my demise. “Didn’t start conversation by playing taps on a bugle first. Strike one. This girl isn’t Navy material.”
It was during my spider monkeying around that I started to see a trend in all the people I was talking to: the willingness in all of them to help a perfect stranger. I contacted scores of people all over the country, and each person was just as eager as the last to impart wisdom and point me to yet another person I could talk to. And each one added a little unique piece to the puzzle forming in my mind of how it would be to serve in the Navy as a reserve PAO and of how I should successfully navigate the arduous application process. I took some advice with a grain of salt, but it was all valuable. And it made me work harder because everyone, without fail, warned me that the program didn’t accept many applicants each cycle so I should try my hardest, but be prepared not to get accepted on my first try.
Tenacity Super Power: Engaged
That was where the spider monkeyness came in. “It’s tough,” “It’s selective,” “Sometimes the board only meets once a year and only accepts like five people out of the entire country…” Each warning was like a little spur in me to put even more effort into my application packet and get to know as much as I could.
The application had minimum requirements, but we could go above and beyond if we chose. I think you can guess by now what I chose.
I needed to do three interviews with current, senior officers – I did four.
I needed three letters of recommendation – I turned in six. Two of those were from former cabinet secretaries.
I wasn’t messing around.
I had multiple people look over my resume and my required written statement for why I wanted to join. I practiced interviewing with my friends before my official interviews. I had my professional photographer friend take my required headshot for the packet, making sure I had the perfect outfit on that said “dependable,” but also “within weight standards.”
Side note: My recruiter told me he once had a candidate submit a headshot from a book she’d published. The book topic? “How to find a good man.” I don’t think the Navy was impressed by that. I vowed not to make a similar faux pas in my photo choice. Although I might try to find that book for my own research…
I finally submitted my entire application packet and awaited my fate. Then one day, a few months later, I received the call that I had been one of only seven selected for commission. My hustle had paid off. Spider Monkey was now Ensign Spider Monkey.
Sometimes doors of opportunity only stay open briefly, so once you decide you want something, it’s good to act quickly and put everything into it you can. Throw elbows, squish in, see what’s on the other side. If you let the door slam in your face, you’ll never know what might’ve been in that mystery room. Maybe there’s free cupcakes back there. Maybe that’s where Tupac and Biggie really are. You have to get a little tenacious, so you don’t miss finding these kinds of things out.
As much as it feels like I’ve stumbled into exciting adventures by accident, a lot of them happened because I was so relentless I finally burrowed into wherever I was hoping to go. If there’s something you have your eye on that you’d like to try, get annoyingly persistent when necessary. Engage that inner spider monkey.
