Help & Humility - Cancun.com CEO Search
Humbled. It's a word that I've said a lot over the past year. Along with "grateful" and "blessed". In so much uncertainty in life, I have found refuge in the support and love of others; family, friends, and many times almost-strangers. Going after my dream job has taken this humility and gratitude to new levels.
Back in November, I was reading a book about visualization and mentally creating the life you want and then working toward that. One chapter said "write down the amount of money you want to be making" I thought, guess I'll go big...and wrote down $10,000 a month. Two days later I was told about this CEO job for Cancun.com that is my dream job, doing what I love, and pays, oh yeah...$10,000 a month. It wasn't even the money aspect that drew me to the job. It was the chance to get paid full-time to do what I love with all my heart - promote adventures and destinations as a travel host. It was the moment and sign I'd been waiting for to tell me that I was on the right path. That all of my hard work and blood, sweat, and money that I'd poured into creating my show and starting my business was the direction I was meant to go in. The only problem...asking for help.I love social media. It has helped me grow my business and connect to some incredible people over the years. I have no problem promoting these destinations that I love so much online. Asking for help however...not my strong suit. I've lost count of the amount of dumb injuries and muscle strains I've given myself doing something stupid like moving a desk up the stairs alone, or getting stuck hanging out a window trying to install an air conditioner...yeah...I'm not great at help.
But I knew that this was my dream and if I was going to go for it I had to go all in! I was so excited I quick fired off a video the second day in front of a blank white wall telling all of the reasons I would be great for this job. And then watched as people started submitting epic travel videos, beautifully shot montages, voiceovers of their goals and dreams...slowly I realized my video was not quite the best. So I began asking for help.And wow did people blow my mind! From my friend Tina who tagged EVERYONE, every day on Facebook, to the friends who shared ALL of my posts, to the people who called, texted, and emailed everyone they knew. Suddenly high school acquaintances were on board to help me make this dream a reality. It turns out opening up about my personal journey a few months before had created this team of people who were cheering me on and had become a part of my journey. Every day I watched as more and more people started posting, sharing, commenting and voting. I knew in my gut this would be an excellent job for me but the fact that other people believed it too, especially when compared to these epic travel videos people had posted, took my humility to a new level.
When It was announced that I'd made the top 120, things got wild. My friend and producer Kristin told her TWO jobs she had to leave Chicago to fly to LA on New Years Day to create the video for the next round. My friend Josh who could barely move after a car accident dragged himself out to film drone footage (which almost cost him the drone after an epic tree dive). My family in town for the holidays took over cooking and cleaning so Kristin and I could work around the clock. It was all hands on deck. For the first time (at least in my mind), I wasn't in this alone.
As we move on to the next round after making the top 50, I am once again completely humbled by the immediate support. Both my parents and Kristin's took to reaching out to everyone they knew to vote. I posted on my hometown page and had someone say they've admired me since high school and would be following my journey. Friends, family, strangers, fans, everyone was on board. In less than one day I've received over 1000 votes! That's crazy to me! The great thing is, the more I realize people are cheering me on, the more I'm inclined to push harder and further to make them all proud. I have always been a one-women band but asking for help (and receiving it in more ways than I can count) has opened me up to doing this for others as well. I wanted the show to be about places and not me, but now it's about everyone and I love that!
I hope that I make you all proud and continue moving forward in this competition but whatever happens just thank you, thank you, thank you; a million times thank you. You've opened me up to opening up. You've shown me grace and love and how asking for help, while scary, can change your life. I've been blown away to find that all this time I thought I was alone and there were people there, in the trenches, just waiting to jump in and be a part of this. So thank you all! You have given me more than you'll ever know.P.S. Here is the link to vote. You can vote once a day until January 13th. Thanks guys!https://ceo.cancun.com/profile/monica-ortegahttps://youtu.be/UxFBG6d9Waw