Drew Tillman is a completely loveable diva who refuses to slant the truth or take himself lightly. He will tell you he’s kind of a big deal. He worked for me once while he was in college and once- for a very short time- after he graduated, and both times I got back as much as I gave. Thanks for the memories, Drew.
New York has always been my dream. Even as a kid, I fantasized about pounding the pavement in the bitter cold, entrenched in mile high buildings. Whether or not I knew I wanted to live in New York specifically, I did know that Hawaii felt small and isolated. When I moved to Santa Barbara for college, it seemed like a step in the right direction. One may wonder why I didn’t move to New York the second I turned 18, and I would answer that it was a combination of practicality and fear. The fear, however, is what I find most intriguing.
I wanted to make sure that when I did move to the city, everything would be “just right,” as if there was a celestially divined time when circumstances would be so well aligned, I would be compelled to make the move. Pursuant with that mentality, I could think of myriad reasons why New York wasn’t right, just yet. So when I graduated from college I decided that instead of waiting for the right moment, I would make the right moment. I made a commitment to myself to move in two years, no matter what. By doing so, I gave myself space to hurtle any obstacles that might fall in my path toward moving. I could start my career, build a financial nest for the transition, and steep in the community I had created in college. Because I had a two-year deadline, it made each of these goals finite, and achievable.
As my deadline neared, I became increasingly eager. I was well on my way to completing the goals I had established in my two-year timeline. So when an opportunity arose to move a few months sooner than expected, I was poised to take advantage of it. I made all the proper arrangements and was pounding the pavement in my new urban utopia in exactly two weeks. A few months later, I landed a dream job at AOL and am still swooning over the excitement of it all.
The most rewarding element among all of these changes is knowing that I proactively seized my dream. Had I not originally made a commitment to myself, I might not be here today. Chance and opportunity are half of the equation, but the other half is self-leadership, commitment, and preparation, all of which you can start doing—now.
Drew is passionate about marketing and is currently pursuing that dream in digital advertising at Aol. A self-proclaimed left brain/right brain thinker, he enjoys quantitative exploits as much as creative indulgences. Beyond work, he’s inspired by film, food, design, and fashion and is endlessly captivated by the wonders that New York City has to offer. Find everything and more at about.me/drewtillman