Creator Partnerships Manager @ Stan | Non-linear Career Advocate | No Longer in Retail, but can Still Rock a Fit 😎

From thinking I'd be an ACCOUNTANT to helping Creators build 6-figure businesses — my career path looks like me trying to draw a snowman blindfolded 😅

For real though, I spent YEARS forcing myself into boxes that didn't quite fit:

⚖️ Accounting (sorry papa, I tried 😭)
🧩 Project Management (Gantt Charts? ehhhhhhh)
🏢 Traditional corporate path (the voices in my head sounding like Shia LaBeouf: JUST DO IT!!!)

Plot twist: Every "detour" on the side was actually leading me to exactly where I needed to be.

👖 Those retail jobs at lululemon and Saint Laurent? Taught me the POWER of genuine connection
📱 The content creation at Alexander Wang? Sparked my obsession with the creator economy.
💜 Starting off in customer support at Stan? Changed my entire LIFE trajectory.

Today, I'm a Creator Partnerships Manager at Stan(Shoutout to my mama for advocating the relationship management path).

Now I get to witness MAGIC every single day:

🙆🏻‍♀️ Women teaching others how to conquer binge eating
👔 Finance Bros selling their budget templates
🎨 Creatives selling their art across the globe

I've spoken to hundreds of Creators and witnessed every single one of them create a life they were truly meant to live by starting their own business leveraging their expertise. 

What lights me up:
✨ Helping creators realize their "weird" passion is their million-dollar idea
🗣️ Talking/Yapping (catch me at Re:Create Summit 2025, Sep 6th!)
🧥 Fashion babyyyyyyy - still bringing the fits from my retail days
💪 Anddd movement, I hate sitting still, enough said

My journey in a nutshell: Trad. mindset of School to Corporate path ->Luxury Retail → Customer Support → Creator Partnerships

The lesson: Your path doesn't need to make sense to anyone but YOU

If you're feeling lost, pivoting careers, or think your skills are "random" — we should definitely chat! I've been there, and I promise those breadcrumbs are leading somewhere beautiful 🥹

Let's connect and share war stories about non-traditional paths 🤝

P.S. Yes, I still rock my fits at Stan, so don't you think you'll catch me wearing any Patagonia 🫵 😤

Your dreams are YOURS. Not your parents'. Not your mentors'. YOURS 😤

Sounds obvious right?

But growing up, I used to think the "right" path was whatever the people I trusted told me.

Go to school. 
Get a stable job. 
Don't take risks.

That advice was my world back then.

Information wasn't as accessible.
Opportunities required capital.
You had to physically BE somewhere to make things happen.

So yeah, leaning on the older generation's wisdom was the move.

But that was THEN.

And now, we're living in a completely different world.

Want to learn a new skill? YouTube has a million tutorials 🎥
Want to start a business? You can launch it from your bedroom 🚀
Want to connect with industry leaders? You can slide into their DMs 😏

The barriers that used to exist are basically gone. 

You don't need a ton of money.
You don't need to relocate.
You don't need permission.

All you need is the courage to actually GET AFTER THAT SHIIIII.

So if there's something you've been dreaming about...

Something that feels right in YOUR gut, even if others don't get it...

This is your sign to stop waiting.

The resources are there.
The opportunities are there.
The only thing missing is YOU taking that first step.

Chase YOUR dream. Not someone else's version of it 🔥

Jonathan Tsugawa

Building GTM for @Stanley(your content coach) | Chief Vibes Officer @ Stan

You don't have to follow the path everyone expects you to.

School → College → Corporate job → Climb the ladder.

That's the "safe" route.

And look, there's nothing WRONG with it if that's what lights you up.

But if it doesn't then you shouldn’t force it. 

We live in a time where information is literally at your fingertips.

Want to learn a skill? YouTube.

Want to start a business? Google it, open a Stan store, use whatever tool is necessary.

Want to connect with people in your dream industry? LinkedIn DMs.

The “barriers” that used to exist 20 years ago don’t really apply to today’s world.

So if you feel something pulling you in a different direction...

Trust it.

That gut feeling isn't random.

It's your intuition telling you where you actually belong.

The path doesn't have to be paved for you.

You can carve it yourself ✨

Go chase that thing that feels RIGHT 💪

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Remember to exercise your free will when you can

It might lead to your next breakthrough

We were freezing in Chefchaouen and we almost let it ruin the whole trip 🥶

Was so excited for this beautiful blue city the past month!

But, when we finally got there it was cold, raining, and kind a bit miserable.

Our first instinct? Tough it out. We already paid for the extra nights.

But then we caught ourselves prioritizing our “set plan” too much, when we realized the power we had over the situation.

So we cut our losses, packed up, and now we’re headed to Rabat (which is gonna be a whole lot warmer)

Here's the thing I keep relearning:

You always have more control than you think.

Most people stay stuck because they feel committed to a decision they already made.

But clinging to the original path doesn't always mean discipline, it could just be stubbornness in disguise.

You're not a victim of your situation.
You're the one holding the steering wheel 🚗

So if something isn't working, just pivot.

I promises, it won’t be thought of as giving up.

It’s just you taking ACTION.

A kid, maybe 8 or 9, latched onto my friend's leg in Morocco, crying and begging for money.

His mom had signaled him to come over.

And I just stood there, completely frozen.

I've seen poverty before. But watching a mother send her child to beg? I hadn't seen that before. 

It made me realize how small my world had been.

I've lived in Toronto my entire life.

It's relatively safe here.
I grew up hanging around mostly the same people until my adult years. 
And through their perspectives and my own, I thought I had understood the world. 

But, I didn't understand ANYTHING until I stepped out of it.

Morocco showed me things I couldn't have learned from just a YouTube video.

Things were very much different over there. 

It was a very eye opening experience. One that has affected my level of gratitude the most.

My key take away from this trip (aside from it being a fun experience with the boys) was the motivation to put my all into adding as much value as I can to this world. 

I don't exactly know what form, but I just know I'm fired up as ever to put in my all.

So this is my reminder to myself AND to you:

Go somewhere that makes you uncomfortable.
Talk to people who live completely different lives.
Experience things that challenge what you think you know.

This is how you understand the world and therefore making better decisions to add the most value you can.

You have to not CARE to be successful.

That doesn't sound right? RIGHT? 

Like, shouldn't caring MORE lead to better results?

That's what I thought too.

Every time I was scared something wouldn't work out with a past relationship... 
Worried my work wasn't good enough...
Convinced people would think I'm useless...
Terrified I just wasn't gonna make it...

It became a self-fulfilling prophecy.

The fear made me rigid.
The rigidity made me stagnant.
And the stagnation is what made all those bad thoughts more of a reality. 

But, funny enough, it was the moments where I felt so beaten down to the point of just saying "F*** it" is when I started to perform a lot better.

It's that feeling when you fully accept whatever outcome will occur.

When you aren't strung up on the result at all. 

That's when you'll find yourself opening the doors to creativity and open mindedness.

It's like the universe rewards you for letting go.

Not letting go of EFFORT.
But letting go of the GRIP.

Fear makes you play defense.
Detachment lets you play offense.

So if you're reading this and you're holding on SO tight to an outcome that it's actually suffocating your potential...

Try loosening your grip a bit.

Act with intention, but release the attachment.

Do your best work, then let it GO.

Please tell me I'm not the only one who thinks this way.

Feeling overwhelmed? Your brain is probably doing TOO MUCH right now 🧠

Here's the thing about overwhelm:

Your mind starts running through EVERY possibility.
Every potential bad outcome.
Every worst case scenario.

Next thing you know you're FROZEN 🥶🥶

You're not lazy. 
You're not broken. 
You're just stuck in your head.

Now, how do you get unstuck step bro? 

I'm glad you asked!

You gotta break it down into extremely simple steps.

Something simple enough that your brain becomes flooded with the motivation that it's actually possible.

Let's say you've got a presentation coming up and you're getting the jitters 😬

Don't just sit there spiraling about how you might mess up.

Instead:
→ Draft a quick script
→ Read it out loud to yourself
→ Practice in front of a mirror
→ Grab a friend and pretend they're your audience
→ Watch their reactions when you hit certain points
→ Refine based on what you notice

You don't have to do all of this at once.

Just START.

Pick ONE thing. 
Do it. 
Then the next.

That's how you build momentum.

Momentum gives you energy to keep going and the confidence that things will just work out!

Because once you're moving, your brain stops spiraling and starts SOLVING.

Next thing you know, you're not nervous anymore.

And then you absolutely CRUSH the presentation 💪

So next time you're feeling overwhelmed, break it down, and just START!

My brain turns into a little drama queen whenever I look at my to do list for too long 😭

Picture this: 

You’re 5 days into your vacation.

You’re enjoying yourself, but then there’s that brief thought of work that enters your mind.

You let it pass, but then another thought comes by, and another, and next thing you know you’re going down the rabbit hole of all the stuff you have to do when you get back.

The projects.
The emails.
The calls.

Then it HITS YOU:

"There’s no WAY you're getting through all of this."

And you freeze for a moment.

Paralyzed.
Overwhelmed.
Doing absolutely NOTHING.

But then you remember, you’ve BEEN here before.

Every single time you’ve had an insane amount of things to do, you’ve gotten through it.

You know when you’re looking at a mountain from a far and think to yourself “that would be so hard to climb”

But then you actually start climbing it, and before you know it, you’re at the top?

Just goes to show that it’s a lot easier to get over that feeling of overwhelm than you thought.

It's just your brain loves to dramatize the work it will take to get there.

The work gets done when you stop looking at ALL of it and just tackle that first thing.

Then the next.
And then the next.

And suddenly you're shredding through your list like it's nothing 🔥

So if you're frozen right now, staring at your mountain of tasks...

Stop planning.
Stop spiraling.

Just start.

The momentum will carry you the rest of the way 💪

I've been on vacation for the past 10 days and I'm CRAVING my routine back 😭

Sounds crazy right?

Like, shouldn't I be relaxed and recharged?

You’d think, but I’m feeling like a GODDAMN GLUTTON RIGHT NOW.

I’m over eating, tired af, craving some damn MOVEMENT.

There's no structure.
No rhythm.
No momentum carrying me through the day.

And it's making me realize something I took for granted:

Ding ding ding if you’ve guessed it

My ROUTINE. I’m MISSING MY ROUTINE

It's my foundation.

When I have it, I feel sharp.
I feel energized.
I feel like I'm actually MOVING somewhere.

Without it? I'm just... floating, into the ABYSS. 

Don't get me wrong, I KNOW breaks are necessary.
Rest is important.
Vacation has its place.

But this trip reminded me that I actually LOVE the structure I built for myself.

The morning rituals.
The windows of productivity.
The habits that keep me grounded.

SO

If you've been feeling guilty about wanting to get back to your grind after time off...

Then embrace it cause it likely means you got everything you got from your time off and you’re ready to GET ITTTTTT.

Anyone else feel this way after vacation? Or am I the only one who gets antsy to get back into it? 👇

Tyler the Creator might be my therapist at this point

Woke up this morning feeling like there was no hope to accomplish anything for the day because this little piggy had some bad bad dreams last night 🥺

Nothing else to do but get dressed and start walking to work. 

First 30 minutes of the day was straight despair. 

I'm out there walking to work, feeling like a zombie, hoping I could just close my eyes and the day would end. 

But then, I remembered I have headphones. 

And better yet, I have the power to listen to music with those headphones. 

SO, I put on some Tyler.

And within seconds I started grooving my body, had that pep in my step, and felt that IDGAF energy creeping back in.

I've talked about this before, but it's on my mind again:

When I stop caring so much, I actually take BETTER care of the things that matter.

It's such a paradox.

But think about it.

That IDGAF mentality is what makes you:
→ Take risks you'd normally overthink
→ Think outside the box instead of playing it safe
→ Experiment without fear of looking stupid
→ Actually LEARN instead of staying stuck

And even if this way of carrying yourself seems to reckless, I almost guarantee the outcome will tend to lean great compared to if you just played it safe.

Because if you're confident enough to not stress about results, you're probably competent enough to handle whatever comes.

Fear makes you rigid.
Detachment sets you free.

So if you woke up feeling off today like I did...

Find your version of Tyler.

Whatever gets you back into that "F*** it, let's go" headspace.

The mentality will make things HAPPEN 💪

taplio

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