From Garbage to Beauty: How I Found My Calling | Becoming Her Ep. 10

I started my career doing accounting for the biggest garbage company in North America. Then I had my daughter — and my entire world shifted overnight. I didn't want to commute. I didn't want corporate. I just wanted to be with her. So I left without a plan. What followed was resume writing for broke college students that paid almost nothing, a multimedia advertising company I cold-called my way into building from scratch, a male-dominated industry where I had to dress like a man to be taken seriously — and then, a $25 Avon ad in a newspaper that I answered for my sister-in-law. That ad changed everything. This is the story I haven't told — the one before the beauty brand, before the corporate titles, before any of it. From the biggest garbage company in North America to a 31-year career in beauty and social entrepreneurship. My daughter called it perfectly: garbage to beauty. And that's exactly what it was. In this episode: Why becoming a mother made me walk away from a stable career without knowing what came next The resume writing side hustle that paid nothing, the advertising company I built from scratch, and what it felt like to be successful at something I didn't love How a $25 newspaper Avon ad — answered for someone else — became the pivot that launched everything The Country Waffles diner moment where I walked in dressed up with a red lipstick on and felt seen for the very first time — and knew I was where I was supposed to be Why entrepreneurship picks you — and what that actually feels like when it happens How COVID nearly ended a brand that had just sold out of its entire product line in the first six months Why staying hungry for your mission is the only thing that carries you through every obstacle How my daughter gave me the perfect name for my entire journey — and why garbage to beauty is the best metaphor for entrepreneurship I've ever heard Chapters: 0:00 – Life Changed Overnight 1:17 – Garbage Company Beginnings 1:36 – New Mom, New Priorities 2:34 – Resume Hustle to Advertising 3:42 – Building a Sales Business 4:51 – The Avon Ad Turning Point 5:30 – Finding a True Calling 6:29 – The Country Waffles Breakthrough 8:14 – Garbage to Beauty: The Identity 9:06 – Why Entrepreneurship Picks You 10:21 – Launching the Brand 12:32 – Resilience Through COVID 13:42 – Obstacles Make You Stronger 14:51 – Transforming Garbage Into Beauty 15:32 – The Becoming Question The Becoming Question: Has there been a journey in your life that started out as garbage — and you were able to transform it into something beautiful? And if you're not there yet, are you in the middle of it right now? You are not late. You are not behind. You are not finished. You are in the making. Stay in the making. 🎙 Becoming Her Podcast with Melissa Thompson. New episodes biweekly. 📩 Follow: @melissathompson.19 #BecomingHer #GarbageToBeauty #EntrepreneurJourney #WomenInBusiness #FounderStory #SocialEntrepreneurship #MomEntrepreneur #CareerChange #FindingYourCalling #StartingOver #Resilience #BeautyFounder #MelissaThompson #PodcastForWomen #Entrepreneurship #FromScratch #MotherAndEntrepreneur #BusinessMindset #StayHungry #CovidResilience