Recently, my Facebook news feed has been inundated with photos of the Scene stealer from the early 2000's and people are admitting they don't know him or recognize the writer behind The Umbrella Academy, which was recently released as a series by Netflix.
I'm not a big comic book reader so a lot of this is cool news to me, but I do remember the Black Parade from my early 20's and Gerard was an interesting character. Apparently that artistic talent with words was transferred effortlessly from the mic to the typewriter because the traction that the series is gaining on the Netflix platform already has fans plotting what needs to happen in season 2.
The music genre that Gerard was placed in with his band, My Chemical Romance, definitely had a market niche; so, many people in 2019 are not familiar with his work. But like the artsy soul that he is, he focused on his strengths and kept creating art that spoke to him and his target audience. Now that Netflix turned his series into a cinema masterpiece, the world is watching, questioning and learning about him.
My Chemical Romance existed until 2013, according to Wikipedia. How do you switch from being at the top of the alternative charts to writing a comic series?
Re-Invention
Every person I have worked with had many talents. My own mother graduated vocational school for accounting, learned to work a sewing machine and has made a lifelong career for a uniform manufacturer, being bounced from one position to another as the business changed.
I've held positions in call centers for customer service, service support for telecom, marketing and sales. Most recently, I opened a thriving hair salon that had a great run with a partner for three years. Being the backbone of the business, I learned how to reinvent my brand and reach a greater audience. I'm excited and humbled to be able to reinvent it again!
When you understand the talent that you have and the passion you feel for your business, it's not hard to study it. Get into the industry and learn what makes it work. Learn who you are speaking to, even if your perfect audience doesn't exist yet, You can create it.
If your job isn't making you happy, learn which job will. Re-invent yourself.
In five years, they could be talking about you like Gerard Way.
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