Y'all, I need to tell you about a moment that just shifted my entire perspective. I was supposed to be doing about fifteen different things, but instead I was doom-scrolling YouTube because sometimes you just need to dissociate for a hot minute, you know? Life has been lifing, grief has been grieving, and my toddler has been toddlering, so I was giving myself permission to just... exist in the algorithm for a bit.

Then BAM.

YouTube served me exactly what I needed to see. A Big Think video with Kevin Smith, and the thumbnail said "You must be unreasonable to achieve your dreams" with "Do It Anyway" in bold letters. I stopped mid-scroll like the universe just grabbed me by the collar.

The Moment Everything Clicked

Kevin Smith said something that literally made me sit up and point at my TV like "THAT'S IT!" He said, "Mostly, my career, I've been a filmmaker but, somewhere along the line I decided to just become myself, for a living, professionally. So my real title is 'Professional Kevin Smith.'"

YESSS! Professional Kevin Smith! That man just articulated what I've been feeling this whole time but couldn't put into words. I don't want to pick one lane and abandon all my other gifts. I don't want to be just a graphic designer or just a former teacher or just a mother or just an artist. I want to be a Professional Itstechnicole, and that includes ALL of me.

The multifaceted, plant-based recipe creating, nature-loving, minimalist decorating, grief-processing, toddler-adventure-planning, stranger-helping, creative soul that I am. Why should I have to choose just one piece of myself to monetize when the whole package is what makes me... me?

Reasonable Unreasonability is the Secret Sauce

Kevin talked about needing "a reasonable amount of unreasonability" to get where you're going. Not the kind where you jump off buildings expecting to fly, but the kind where you ask yourself, "You know what? Why not me?"

This hit different because I've been feeling guilty about my "unreasonable" dreams. Like, who am I to think I can make a living being creative while raising a daughter as a single mom dealing with the loss of both parents? Who am I to think people want to hear my thoughts on holistic living and budget travel and turning cardboard boxes into magical adventures?

But Kevin made me realize that's exactly the right amount of unreasonable. It's not crazy, it's just brave enough to bet on myself when logic says I should probably just get a "real job" and stuff all my dreams into weekend hobbies.

The Convenience Store Revelation

Here's what really got me: Kevin wrote "Clerks" because he had access to a convenience store and thought, "I've never seen a movie made in a convenience store before. Maybe that could be my thing." He didn't wait for permission or perfect circumstances. He looked at what he had access to and asked, "What story can I tell with this?"

What do I have access to? A three-year-old who thinks I'm magic, a brain full of creative ideas, hands that can design beautiful things, a heart that wants to help people find joy, a kitchen where I create simple plant-based meals, a story of loss and resilience, and a deep love for turning ordinary moments into extraordinary memories.

Maybe my "convenience store" is my life exactly as it is right now. Maybe instead of waiting for perfect circumstances, I need to ask, "What story can I tell with this? What can I create with exactly what I have access to right now?"

When Everything Becomes Crystal Clear

Kevin talked about a moment on set when he knew exactly who he was supposed to be for the first time in his life. He said, "Your whole life prior to that has been a mystery. And then bam, just like that, everything became crystal clear."

I felt that. I've had glimpses of that clarity when I'm creating something that feels authentically me, when I'm helping someone find their spark, when I'm showing my daughter how to see magic in everyday moments. Those are the times when I'm not questioning if I'm doing enough or being enough or fitting into the right box. I'm just... being me, fully and unapologetically.

That's what Kevin meant about becoming yourself for a living. It's not about finding the perfect career title or niche. It's about finding ways to show up as your full self and trust that the right people will value what you bring to the world.

The Empty Theater Moment

Here's the part that made me cry. Kevin talked about sitting in an almost empty theater watching his movie for the first time and having a complete breakdown. Everything looked terrible, sounded wrong, felt like a mistake. But then he reframed it.

Two and a half years earlier, he was just a guy watching someone else's movie with no vision of being a filmmaker. Now he was watching HIS movie in that same theater. It didn't fill up the way he hoped, but he did it.

How many times have I had my own "empty theater" moments? Times when I put my heart into something and it felt like nobody cared, nobody showed up, nobody got it. But what if those moments aren't failures? What if they're proof that I'm brave enough to try, to create, to put myself out there even when there's no guarantee anyone will care?

The Real Question: Why Not Try to Make Your Dreams Come True?

Kevin said something that's going to stick with me forever: "I'd rather die trying to do something I love doing and hope it works out than just kind of commit to that right away. Why not try to make your dreams come true?"

Why not? Seriously, why not me? Why not now? Why not with a toddler in tow and grief in my heart and a bank account that's more optimistic than realistic? Why not with all my scattered interests and multiple talents and desire to help people I've never even met?

The alternative is what? Getting a job I hate and spending my life wondering what could have been? Putting my dreams on hold until some mythical "perfect time" that probably doesn't exist? Teaching my daughter that playing it safe is more important than believing in yourself?

Nah. I choose reasonable unreasonability.

What Being a Professional You Actually Means

Being a "Professional You" doesn't mean you have to have it all figured out. Kevin's been doing this for thirty-one years and he's still evolving, still creating, still betting on himself. It means you stop apologizing for being interested in multiple things. It means you stop waiting for permission to combine your passions in ways that feel authentic to you.

For me, being a Professional Itstechnicole means creating content that helps other creatives heal and find their joy. It means sharing budget-friendly plant-based recipes that make healthy living accessible. It means turning my grief into something that helps other people feel less alone. It means showing my daughter that you can honor your losses while still chasing your dreams.

It means using my graphic design and writing skills to make beautiful things that matter. It means planning low-cost adventures that create high-value memories. It means building a community of people who also feel like they don't quite fit the conventional molds but are brave enough to create their own spaces anyway.

The Extended Adolescence Career

Kevin called his career "extended adolescence" and I love that. There's something beautifully rebellious about refusing to "grow up" in ways that kill your creativity and joy. About maintaining that sense of wonder and possibility that makes you think, "What if I tried this? What if this worked? What if I'm exactly who I'm supposed to be?"

My extended adolescence includes turning my living room into a dance party for my daughter, trying new plant-based recipes that sometimes fail spectacularly, traveling the world through library books when I can't afford plane tickets, and believing that my weird combination of interests might actually be my superpower instead of my weakness.

One Day You Die Screaming

Kevin ended with something that hit me right in the chest: "I'll be honest with you kids, one day you die screaming like my father did. You might as well go for it. You might as well do the thing that you dream about doing for heaven's sake."

Having lost both my parents recently, this resonates so deeply. Life is short and unpredictable and precious. They're not here to see what I build with my life, but their love and lessons are woven into everything I create. They taught me to be kind, to work hard, to believe in myself, and to never give up on the people and dreams that matter.

I think they'd want me to go for it. To be a Professional Itstechnicole. To show their granddaughter that dreams are worth chasing even when they seem unreasonable to everyone else.

Your Reasonable Amount of Unreasonability

So here's what I want you to know: whatever your version of "Professional You" looks like, it's valid. Maybe you're a Professional Avery who makes art and teaches yoga and raises chickens. Maybe you're a Professional Deion who writes poetry and fixes cars and volunteers at the animal shelter. Maybe you're a Professional whoever-you-are who combines your passions in ways that make perfect sense to you and confuse everyone else.

That's not scattered. That's not unfocused. That's not being a jack of all trades, master of none. That's being human. That's being whole. That's having the reasonable unreasonability to believe that all of you has value, not just the parts that fit neatly into job descriptions.

The Permission You've Been Waiting For

Consider this your permission slip to stop trying to fit into boxes that were never made for you anyway. To stop apologizing for being interested in multiple things. To stop waiting for someone else to give you permission to become yourself for a living.

Kevin Smith didn't wait for Hollywood to discover him in his convenience store. He made his movie with credit cards and a dream and the reasonable unreasonability to believe it might work. And when it felt like it didn't work, he chose to remember who he became in the process of trying.

You already know who you are when you're creating, when you're helping, when you're being fully yourself. Don't sell out on that just because it doesn't look like everyone else's path.

Your dreams are worth trying to make come true. Your weird combination of interests might be exactly what the world needs. Your story of loss and resilience and creativity and motherhood and hope might be the thing that helps someone else believe in their own reasonable unreasonability.

Why not you? Why not now? Why not become a Professional You and see what happens?

You can check out his book here

And the video that I mentioned here

What would your "Professional You" title be? What dreams are you ready to try making come true? Drop a comment and let's cheer each other on in this beautiful, unreasonable journey of becoming ourselves for a living.

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