Goodbye 2022, Hello 2023

I started the year sick as a dog with COVID.

I end the year finishing my battle with a brutal sinus infection/ear infection that I have been fighting off since before Thanksgiving.

Should I call 2022 the year of me being sick?

I’m not sure. You be the judge.

Setting aside my two illnesses, I’ve been relatively healthy in 2022, and a lot of breaks have gone my way for my professional career.

For the first three months of 2022, I continued what I was doing at the end of 2021: Freelancing my Brandon’s World podcast and working for BelieveLand Media as the co-host of the ‘All Things Cavs’ podcast and an opinion writer. All of the work I had done up to this point was without pay while I continued the daily grind of looking for a position I could call home to start off my career in journalism.

Going into the New Year, 16 months had gone by since I graduated from Kent State University, and I still was searching for some kind of job with pay. Initially, I was looking at full-time positions in the journalism field, but as 2022 approached, I decided to start looking into not only full-time positions in the journalism field, but part-time positions as well. To be honest, I was fed up with the job search. I loved what I was doing with Brandon’s World and BelieveLand, but I had grown tired of watching my college savings dwindle.

I aggressively began my job pursuit again as soon as COVID left my body. Three months went by, and I still had no luck. I had yet to have an interview for a position in 2022 by mid-March. It wasn’t like I was searching for jobs on my own, either. I had help from multiple job-development agencies, who were helping to find and apply to jobs on my behalf. The people who I was working with were as perplexed at my dilemma as I was.

I had the qualifications for a position. I had the experience, the knowledge, the passion, the resume, the cover letter, the interviewing skills. Why were employers not contacting me?

Then, as luck would have it, I struck gold.

It was a cool, roughly 50-degree day at the end of March, March 26 to be exact. It was around 4:30 p.m. and after finishing a recording for Brandon’s World, I was searching through LinkedIn for job applications, and I came across a post from a colleague of mine from Kent State. She had interned remotely as an editorial assistant for a business-to-business magazine titled “Vehicle Service Pro’s” (VSP), which was under the Endeavor Business Media brand. Her boss was looking for a freelance editorial assistant for a sixth-month period, and that sounded right up my alley, so I messaged my colleague and asked her for her boss’ contact information. I emailed her boss, and by Monday, we set up an interview for Wednesday afternoon. The interview went as well as I could have hoped it would, and by Monday, April 4, I was signed and working as a freelance editorial assistant for VSP. Our agreement was I would work three hours per week the first week, but that my hours would increase the more I felt comfortable and what the freelance budget she reserved would allow.

After the first week, my boss was happy with my performance, so she bumped my hours up to four. By mid-May, I was working six hours a day and enjoying what I was doing.

My contract was scheduled to last until Sept. 1, but my boss had talked to me all throughout the summer about bringing me in on a full-time basis (something I wanted) once my contract expired. However, those plans all went up in smoke on Aug. 11 when my boss informed the entire VSP team she had put in her two weeks notice, and her final day was Aug. 25.

With my boss leaving, I was nervous. All throughout the summer, I thought I was going to be working full-time for VSP by the time my birthday came around at the end of September. With three weeks before my contract was up, I didn’t know what I was going to do.

Lucky for me, she liked me a lot and wanted to take care of me. We met the next day after she made the announcement. She told me she budgeted enough money to pay me through the end of 2022, so she extended my contract till Dec. 31, giving me time to find another position while still working at VSP (Since my contract was a freelance contract, I had an opt-out clause to where I could opt out at any point if I found a full-time position). She also set me up with some contacts at Endeavor to try to find a position within the company. She said the magazines were always looking for editorial help.

It was also around this time my duties for BelieveLand increased. Along with my podcasting and writing duties, I was promoted to general manager for the company, which includes assisting with the day-to-day operations of BelieveLand, as well as being the head of written content for the website. With all of the added responsibilities on my plate, I did not have a lot of free time on my hand, especially considering I was also recording Brandon’s World weekly.

For the next few weeks, even with my boss leaving VSP, nothing changed for me at all in terms of work life. I just continued to do my thing at VSP and BelieveLand and record Brandon’s World as the NFL season began. I did an interview for a job with a healthcare magazine under the Endeavor brand for a full-time associate editor position, but I didn’t receive the nod. I wasn’t terribly disappointed; health care isn’t an industry I’m 100% invested in.

In the middle of September, while continuing my search for a full-time position, I landed an opportunity at Wrestling Inc. to write featured posts on wrestling content at the same price point I was making at VSP, with flexible hours. Even though it was a part-time gig, I was satisfied with the pay and flexible hours. I had to take the opportunity while it was being presented, so I went to my interim boss at VSP, and we agreed to reduce my work week at VSP back to three hours per day while I work the other three hours at Wrestling Inc. That way, I would be working the same schedule and making the same amount of money, but if I was out of a job at VSP in 2023, at least I had Wrestling Inc. as a backup.

As luck would have it, I wouldn’t need a backup plan.

A week after I started my new schedule of working half-and-half for both companies, I noticed an ad on Endeavor’s page for a full-time associate editor position at “Mass Transit Magazine”. I immediately applied. The transit industry has always interested me, considering I’ve used a lot of public transportation services in my life. Every time I’ve used one, I’ve always had to deal with BS.

Within a few days of applying for the position, the editor-in-chief reached out to me for an interview. Our first interview was on my birthday (Sept. 29), and it went well. I was asked to return for a second interview, alongside the editor-in-chief and the publisher for the magazine, the next week. That interview went even better. I felt I was having more of a conversation rather than an interview. I left the second interview feeling I had a good chance at landing the position. on Friday Oct. 14, a week after my second interview, while checking my email after I ate dinner around 5:45 p.m., I was notified “Mass Transit” wanted to move forward with me and bring me on as their new full-time associate editor,

To say I was elated would be an understatement. My 16-month journey of finding a full-time position in the journalism field was complete, and I had found a dream opportunity with a great boss, a great work environment (100% remotely), in the field I went to school for (journalism).

When I returned to VSP after the weekend on Oct. 17, I informed the staff of my plans, and that my last day would be Oct. 27, and that I would start my duties at “Mass Transit” on Oct. 31. The staff was supportive and congratulated me.

Over at Wrestling Inc. they let me go early, so I could finish up some doctor’s appointments and other duties I had to complete prior to beginning at “Mass Transit”, so for the last two weeks of October, I worked just three hours a day for VSP. The Friday before I began at “Mass Transit”, I took the whole day relaxing before I began my next chapter in my young career.

I loved my time working at VSP. My boss and all the people I worked with at the magazine were wonderful. They taught me several skills I’m still doing at “Mass Transit”, and I am grateful for all of the relationships I built during that time.

I’m loving my new, full-time, eight hour per day, fully-remote position. My boss is great and so is the entire team. I’m thankful they even let me take off one day when I physically could not work because of this ear infection/sinus infection I’m battling (Of course I get sick as soon as I start the new job, right?!).

Over at BelieveLand, things are cooking. The company has grown steadily since its launch in October 2021, and I’m expecting big things for BelieveLand in 2023.

As for Brandon’s World, if it wasn’t for my illness,I would have shattered the prior mark for podcasts in a month this December. I had big plans for the end of the year, though my illness unfortunately had other plans. Thankfully I was still able to produce a Christmas special for this year, and I have even bigger plans for Brandon’s World in 2023.

One day, I want Brandon’s World to be my full-time position, with me running it as a company/show. Ever since I graduated from KSU in the spring of 2021, I’ve wanted to run my own radio station, just like I did at Black Squirrel Radio. My dream is to be hosting Brandon’s World as a daily show, either from a studio on a network like YouTube like “The Pat McAfee Show” or as a part of my own radio station.

I realize in order to do that, I’m going to need to invest in my brand. I am currently searching for a social media manager I will pay to help build up the Brandon’s World brand; somebody that can help increase followers and downloads and interact with people on social media to gain more followers. Once the brand grows, I’ll be looking to add more people to my team, including a video editor, so I can start doing TikTok, Instagram reels, YouTube shorts, ect.

One of the ideas I have for the podcast is if I am out with an illness like I have been over the last month, find a fill-in host, whether it’s one of my Black Squirrel Radio teammates or my BelieveLand Media colleagues. That way, Brandon’s World doesn’t fall off the planet when I’m not able to record. I want the show to take a huge step by this time next year.

I had a lot to juggle personally in 2022. I had family members in and out of the hospital, so that’s been tough on me personally. Combining all of my duties at “Mass Transit”, BelieveLand and Brandon’s World, I easily work 50 hours per week and only my “Mass Transit” position is paying me currently. Because my schedule right now is so rigorous, I’ve realized I can no longer run Brandon’s World on my own, so I’m hoping the social media manager will help with that. At BelieveLand, we have also hired interns to help manage the high school content that’s coming in on a nightly basis, so I can focus on the pro and college coverage and work more one-on-one with our writers to improve their skills in that regard.

I know it may seem like I work a lot. I know you’re probably asking yourself, “Brandon, you work too much! Take a break!”

And I understand your concern. Believe me, I do. It’s probably the reason why I’ve been sick from literally halfway through November through the halfway point of December, but I do take time for myself.

All day on Sundays during football season, my phone is on silent and away from me, and the same thing applies every other night from 8 -11 p.m. During those hours, I escape work life and decompress by playing a game or watching a movie if there’s not something on television (but lately between the Cavs games, wrestling, HGTV shows and football, it always feels like something is on).

I’m addicted to the grind. I’m addicted to improving myself. Quite frankly, I’m addicted to working. I’d rather be super busy than not busy at all.

I have a lot to be thankful for in 2022. I have great jobs, and I work with wonderful people on a daily basis. I have a wonderful support system that includes family and friends (shoutout to my good friend and fellow Black Squirrel Radio teammate Sean Fitzgerald for editing this piece). The Philadelphia Eagles have given me a season to remember up to this point. The Cleveland Guardians had a season to remember that was extremely fun to watch transpire. Multiple HGTV shows I like have produced some great content. Oh, and how could I forget pro wrestling?! It felt like a bombshell was breaking daily, and WWE put on some of their best Premium Live Events in a long time (WrestleMania 38 was truly STUPENDOUS!).

A lot of good things happened this year. Heading into this year, I wanted to make a New Year’s Resolution I knew I could complete. I didn’t want to lose weight or promise to not swear as much or something I knew I would break within the first 48 hours of the year. I simply wanted to learn, and learn is all I’ve done throughout the last year

I’ll spare the details on everything I learned, but the most important thing I learned in 2022 was: Nothing is ever going to be perfect. Roll with the punches and the good outweighs the bad eventually.

There was one thing I didn’t get to this year, and that’s writing more TV show reviews and narratives here on Medium. I have a multitude of ideas, including a Top 10 episodes list of my favorite shows. My favorite country band, Florida Georgia Line, broke up in 2022 after a decade together. I wanted to count down my favorite songs from them. I had another idea to do a Top 5 country songs of the month playlist.

Unfortunately, those ideas never came to fruition, and I hope to make one of those ideas a reality by this time next year.

2022 was a wild ride, but a ride I will never forget. It was filled with all the emotions a human can physically express: Cheerfulness, sickness, opportunistic, excitement, sadness, anger, bitter. Overall, I wouldn’t trade my year for anybody else’s because I’m glad to be the person I turned into to close out this year.

I’m looking forward to seeing what 2023 brings. Hopefully more good than bad; there’s a lot of promising opportunities on the table I’m ready to seize, but I’ll be prepared for whatever challenge is thrown my way.

Hopefully by this time next year, I’m writing my 2023 recap while not coughing my head off.

I’ll consider that progress.