Shannon Cutts

Shannon Cutts

Freelance writer, recovery mentor, pet blogger.

http://www.shannoncutts.com

http://www.loveandfeathersandshells.com

How did you get started in your career? 

When I was struggling to recover from anorexia and bulimia, very few options for professional treatment existed. My parents’ insurance didn’t even have a coverage category for eating issues! So I had to wing it. Happily, once I decided to heal, I discovered I was just as good at getting better as I had been at staying sick. When I finally did start to consistently feel better from day to day, I went right back to my first love – writing songs and performing music.

It didn’t occur to me to share my recovery story. I didn’t know anyone else who had an eating disorder. The work I did in the eating disorder field really found me – it all started when a young woman contacted me after one of my music concerts and asked if I would sing and speak at her treatment center. From there, I began corresponding with some of the women I had met at the center. And somehow I ended up founding MentorCONNECT several years later and we provided mentors for recovering people worldwide for eight years.

Today the work I do is a bit different. I am a freelance writer and author and I love it. And this work found me just as mysteriously as my previous work did – I woke up one day and realized – wow, I am a full-time writer! It is a dream come true and a perfect fit for me. And it uses all my talents and skills and experiences – I am able to offer what I have to give to this world in a different but still very valuable way.

What advice would you give to someone new to the field? 

Follow your passion and your interests and bloom where you are planted. Again, I didn’t go looking for the work I do today. It found me. I hope that is some reassurance for anyone reading this who doesn’t know what they want to do or doesn’t think they can ever do what they want to do!

My best advice is this: just wake up each day and take the next right step…whatever it is. Along the way, become your own best friend. Just get to know yourself – your likes, your strengths, your preferences – really, really well. Because whatever you are going to contribute, it is something only you can offer and something you are uniquely qualified to do – and not just by your credentials but by your life experience. Your work is reserved for you alone, and whatever it is, I can promise you this world needs it and it needs YOU.