It’s been a while since Hallie felt afraid. It’s a feeling she has sorely missed.
For the last three years, Hallie had her dream job in a dream place. She grew up visiting her grandparents in Sarasota since she was little.
After applying at nearly 50 TV stations to be an anchor, a job offer fell into her lap. A hiring manager called and asked if she had ever heard of Sarasota. He laughed when she said she had been visiting here her whole life.
Hallie left her college years behind and learned the ropes at her first job. The career she landed, in a field she went to school for nonetheless, is something she imagined herself doing forever.
Now, three years later, Hallie realized she is no longer fulfilled and no longer afraid.
“When you’re not scared, you’re not growing,” Hallie said.
Reporting on the pandemic, protests and civil unrest and a contentious presidential election has made it difficult for Hallie to turn her work life off at the end of the day. She has felt like she is on “autopilot,” she said.
“Just because you thought you were going to do it for your whole life at one time doesn’t mean it’s the right thing now,” she said. “That’s something I’ve been working to accept.”
There’s a pressure in her industry to stay and a stigma placed on anyone who leaves, Hallie said. She thought if she left the industry, that meant she failed.
She realized she wanted to find the spark she once had every day that, somewhere along the road, went missing.
“I’ll never forget the first time I auditioned to anchor. My heart was pounding,” Hallie said. “And I’ve lost that.”
After wrestling with the idea of leaving her dream job, she decided it was time to leave the old behind. The day she talked to Adios about her story was one of her last before leaving her job and starting over in a new field.
Hallie’s passion for connecting with people is something she learned about herself over the last three years. She’s leaving a lot behind, but her passion for connecting with people is something she knows she will carry with her.
For now, she is ready to welcome back her old friend. Fear.
