Hustlers of the World, Unite!

Hustle has gotten a bad rap – as an activity and as a word.  

Far too often hustle, and hustlers, get conflated with people con artists, snake oil salesmen, shim sham flim flam.  People just out to get over on someone.  Those who talk too fast and hope that they’re long gone by the time you realize what happened.

Those aren’t the hustlers I’m here for.  This space is not a haven for crooks.  This little corner of the internet is devoted to those who know what they want and are excited to DO THE WORK to get it.  Those who are or want to be proud of their careers.  The girls who will skip happy hour to finish that presentation.  The guys who will catch the highlights of the game on SportsCenter so they can help close that deal.  The new hires who are sitting in cubicles now but already have their eyes on the corner office.

This is a space where we embrace ambition, support big goals, and put our heads together to help get you there.

If that sounds like you, then you, my friend, are indeed a hustler.  Welcome.

Now what what will you get here?  The opposite of wolf tickets.

What's a wolf ticket?  To be honest, for the longest time, I didn't know.  It was a phrase that my dad used when we were kids that went far above our heads.  In time, context clues and deductive reasoning gave me the meaning.  

In essence, wolf tickets are bullshit.  All bark, no bite.  Talking a good game.  Writing checks that your ass can't cash.  You get the point.  Wolf tickets epitomize that bastardized form of "hustling" that's become so popular thanks to social media and poorly written rap lyrics.

But I've also found that they've morphed a bit, and found their way into the "expert" arena.  Wolf tickets are career and life coaches that do little more than speak in cliches and platitudes.  Sure, they're engaging and maybe even inspiring, but let you walk away with no real game plan on how to get you where you're going.  Wolf tickets are the articles on work issues that lay out all the challenges without giving you any real advice on how best to meet them.  And that's the opposite of what Cubicle Hustler is.

I’m by no means a career expert.  I'm a brown girl with a pretty good (cool) job who didn't get a playbook and had to learn and make up her own rules along the way.  I’ve learned by trial and error more times than not.  I don’t believe in learning from old mistakes.  If I’ve already made them, you shouldn't have to.

So, I’m going to leave the bargain basement career advice to your college counselors or your basic career info site. If you’ve found your way here, I’m assuming that you have the smarts, wherewithal and common sense to understand the basics, the simple steps.

This space exists to fill the harder gaps, solve the challenging situations, and help you figure out the “what’s next.”  

How do you manage your career trajectory from the outset?  What things will you be judged on that won’t show up on any performance review?  You're pretty sure your boss hates you, what do you do with that?

What you’ll also get here is the most concrete and real advice I can offer.  My aim here is to give readers, especially young professionals of color at the early stages of their careers, as detailed a game plan as possible for getting to the next level and building careers they will enjoy and be proud of.

So if being a true hustler sounds like you, and the real is what you came for, settle in and get comfortable.  And let's start building your career.