This weekend, I started writing an outline for a cohort-based program I’ve been thinking about for awhile.

I’m not sure what it’s going to look like exactly, but I want it to be focused on experimentation—all of us implementing side hustle/business ideas, designing our portfolio careers, and ultimately, having fun!

While this idea is still in early stages (I’d love your feedback!), I know adopting an experimentation approach has helped me accelerate my growth and want to share more with you all.

When I didn’t know what I wanted to do next, I started reaching out to random people on LinkedIn who had interesting career paths. I probably had dozens of conversations with a bunch of different people, which was helpful, but months into my “exploration phase”, I realized I hadn’t made much progress.

That’s because I thought I needed the answers to get started. If I didn’t know what I wanted to do next, then how could I do the thing?

I realize now that clarity comes with taking action. The faster you take action, the faster you can learn what works and what doesn’t.

Instead of picking the thing I wanted to pivot into, I decided to try it first through experimentation, which let me test ideas, get feedback, build confidence, and learn what I liked and didn’t like.

This is the mindset I now return to again and again. You don’t need to know the end goal to start.

This is when you apply your current skillset in a new context. This is great if you like the work you do but are looking for more flexibility and freedom outside your job.

Example: I was a Product Marketing Manager → I found a fractional PMM role at a startup.

This one’s slightly outside your day-to-day work, but still close enough to be familiar. This is great if you don’t currently love the work you do and want to try something different, while building new skills.

Example: I was a Product Marketing Manager → I started helping small businesses with their social media.

This is when you take a natural strength or interest and apply it to your work.

Example: I loved bringing people together → I started hosting my own community events, writing this newsletter, and freelancing in the events and retreats space.

A good experiment should be F.U.N.

You feel genuinely excited, curious, or energized to try it—even if it’s a little scary. It’s something you want to do, not something you think you should do.

It solves a real problem and provides value to your client or customer.

It doesn’t have to be revolutionary—other people doing the same thing as you (e.g. social media consulting) validates that there’s a market.

I can’t emphasize this one enough. Since there’s no such thing as perfect, picking the “right” idea is a fallacy. The experiment should be relatively low-risk, time-bound, and designed to help you learn.

Questions to ask yourself when thinking about your first experiment:

If you’re wondering about how to find your first client, I write about that here.

Once you’ve neared the end of your experiment, you might already have a gut feeling how things are going.

After my first two social media clients, I realized working with easygoing clients was crucial, as well as getting creative liberty on projects. I also loved earning income from my work and creating processes as a freelancer.

I didn’t like spending hours on Canva editing videos. This helped me confirm I did want to work for myself, but social media content creation wasn’t the best fit.

The goal of an experiment isn’t to make enough money to replace your income in the beginning. It’s to validate that you like doing it and that there’s a need in the market. You’ll figure out the rest as you go!

What experiment do you want to try to get one step closer to figuring out what you want to do next?

This week was busy as I headed up to the Catskills to check on everything (and do a few projects). I also started to work on some fun research for a client’s conference in the fall and kicked off the planning for NYAGV’s gala.

I snuck lots of social time in this weekend—free fridays at The Whitney Museum, my friend’s improv show, and a Sunday picnic hang.

This week, I’m going on a site visit at Spring Studios in Tribeca and coordinating Hampton’s NY Onsite. Oh and t-minus one week until I head to London for three weeks! 🇬🇧