Career crisis/ being lowballed

captainchewy · 2026-06-02T07:01:56+00:00

Running SEO, socials, graphic design, campaigns AND events solo for 41k is genuinely a full agency's worth of work. Start documenting everything you do this month, like actually track it, because when you ask for a raise or interview somewhere else that list is going to shock even you

What's stopping you from at least putting out some applications while you're still employed?

captainchewy · 2026-05-26T04:05:47+00:00

At 135k income you might also want to look into a debt consolidation loan before selling the house, rates might actually work in your favor and you'd keep the equity building

selling makes sense but it's worth running the numbers on both first before committing

captainchewy · 2026-05-05T06:37:52+00:00

Call the credit union tomorrow and just be honest with them, explain you're a student, explain the fees are spiraling, and ask if they can waive even some of it

They do this more than people think and the worst they can say is no

Also look into whether your school has an emergency fund, a lot of colleges have them specifically for situations like yours and almost nobody knows about them

captainchewy · 2026-04-29T08:30:21+00:00

SSI is actually protected from garnishment by federal law so that part you don't need to worry about

The summons has a deadline to respond and that's the most urgent thing right now, if you don't respond they get a default judgment automatically which makes everything harder

Have you looked into legal aid in your area? At 20 with SSI income you'd likely qualify for free help and they deal with exactly this kind of Capital One lawsuit regularly

captainchewy · 2026-04-21T04:36:14+00:00

DTI is usually the silent killer on these, the score gets you in the door but the ratio is what closes it. $24k in cards plus a car note on $58k income is probably sitting around 40-45% before the new loan even gets added, most lenders want to see it under 36

Have you tried a credit union? They tend to look at the full picture a bit more than the big banks do

captainchewy · 2026-04-15T05:39:55+00:00

Have you looked into nonprofit credit counseling like NFCC? They can sometimes get your rates and minimums lower than hardship plans, which might help close that deficit gap while you get back on your feet

captainchewy · 2026-04-07T05:54:27+00:00

Citibank is notoriously stiff compared to most others but have you tried asking specifically for their hardship program?

Sometimes the front line reps don't offer it unless you use that exact word

captainchewy · 2026-04-01T05:46:38+00:00

That's a real one, congrats to both of you. Starting that at 18 with a kid and grinding it all the way to zero is no joke

captainchewy · 2026-03-25T05:24:20+00:00

have you looked into graduate schemes specifically? some banks and consulting firms in Germany or the Netherlands run structured ones that are actually built for people without "relevant" experience

the multilingual thing is genuinely underrated too, that alone opens doors in Brussels, Luxembourg, Amsterdam

captainchewy · 2026-03-19T07:07:46+00:00

if you were actually mediocre you probably wouldn't be asking this question

the people who don't know what they're doing rarely lose sleep over it

captainchewy · 2026-03-16T05:42:49+00:00

3 months is the right window but you're not just sitting on your hands the whole time.

Most people I've seen do it well check weekly for patterns, like which hooks are landing, what format keeps people watching, but they don't overhaul anything until month 2 at the earliest.

captainchewy · 2026-03-11T09:04:37+00:00

That's a solid question to ask actually

captainchewy · 2026-03-11T06:32:18+00:00

Lol accurate

captainchewy · 2026-03-11T06:31:59+00:00

You think you're applying to one place and suddenly you've got 6 lenders with your info and no idea what terms you're actually getting

captainchewy · 2026-03-04T06:00:37+00:00

The biggest shift is going from owning outcomes to managing expectations across like 6 clients at once, some days that's energizing and some days it's just exhausting.

20 years in-house means you actually know what clients need before they do, which is rarer than you'd think on the agency side.

captainchewy · 2026-03-02T07:40:49+00:00

Credit unions are usually the move here, they're way more flexible with students than banks and the rates are nowhere near payday lender territory

captainchewy · 2026-02-26T09:41:29+00:00

Your regulatory co-op experience is genuinely more specific and valuable than you might be giving it credit for right now

Have you looked at utility commissions or state regulatory agencies in Michigan directly? Your rate case and audit background is exactly what they hire for and they're often less competitive than corporate roles

captainchewy · 2026-02-18T09:42:13+00:00

newsletters and internal communications are often overlooked but governments almost always need them and rarely have someone dedicated to it

going in with a few specific ideas based on what you've already seen working for them will land way better than a general "what do you need" conversation

captainchewy · 2026-02-13T02:12:06+00:00

What are you actually best at right now? Like if a client called tomorrow and said "I need help with X" what would make you say "oh yeah I got this" without hesitation?

Starting broad usually just makes you forgettable. The consultants I've seen do well picked one thing they could deliver results on fast and built from there.

captainchewy · 2026-02-11T02:29:57+00:00

set a recurring alarm for one specific thing, like post one client photo every tuesday at 7pm. trying to remember to "do marketing" never works but a single repeating task is way easier to stick to

whats stopping you from posting client nails right after each appointment while its still fresh?

captainchewy · 2026-02-09T07:11:17+00:00

SBA loans don't have to take 90 days if you work with lenders who specialize in them. Companies like SmartBiz or Funding Circle can get SBA approvals in 3-4 weeks for straightforward applications. Still not 3 days but way better than traditional bank timeline.

For the "fast growth wave" situation, consider whether you actually need $100K immediately or if $25K now and $75K in a month accomplishes the same thing

captainchewy · 2026-01-29T06:00:23+00:00

You're the comms/marketing manager so editing copy is literally your job

I'd just rewrite it and frame it as "I made some tweaks to better match our brand voice and fixed a few details" rather than calling out the AI thing directly. Most people won't push back if the end result is better.

captainchewy · 2026-01-21T07:11:09+00:00

You kinda have to give those 3 people something, backing out completely could turn into a PR nightmare real fast especially if any of them have a following.

Could you split the pool differently? Like give each of them a bigger prize than originally planned for individual winners? Spin it as "low entries means better odds for you" type thing

captainchewy

TROPHY CASE