Alexandria Sims set out on the journey of her career path as the incarnation of the college student’s worse fear: the picture every student paints in their mind of the life post-college they must succumb to, should they drown under the demands of a courseload which threatens to send their GPA—and future—into an irreparable nosedive. Sims had successfully completed her education at Rutgers State University of New Jersey…only to work at the local Burger King making only $9.50 per hour and consequently facing homelessness and bankruptcy.

After a long, dreary season of slogging through every workday in dreary acceptance of her fate, she took up a freelance writing gig on a site now called Upwork—and the tides turned in her favor. Snatching up every opportunity she could, she began freewriting around her day job, raking in hundreds of dollars every contract she filled. Along with this, she built connections with her clients and began spinning a web of networking that would continue to aid her in the future. “Get to know the right people and you can gain all the connections you want,” Sims advocates. “I met one guy who introduced me to 4 business owners who introduced me to connections of theirs who needed a copywriter and over the years I grew a strong client base.”

This dedication to her craft and growing clientele morphed her career as a reluctant sandwich sculptor at the ‘King into a self-created, self-driven content creator and copywriter of ADS Copywriting, her professional branding spun from her initials as a reflection of this individuality. While ADS is a relatively simple business pursuit, the guiding principles that have driven Sims to success are anything but, and are highly applicable to any business venture.

Needless to say of any business decision, Sims’ success in copywriting did not come without a challenge. Notably, however, much of this challenge was constructed of an intrinsic, personal struggle rather than an external obstacle. “I didn’t anticipate how good I’d actually do and I got overwhelmed. I wasn’t confident and caved under failure,” Sims admits. But Sims grew from this, “becoming a new person, literally”, giving the writing scene a second try through manifestation and reflective self-development with the help of a client who was coach in this area.

The practice of manifestation and trend of self-development can certainly be critiqued by the Christian eye as attempts to self-correct one’s course in life that are ultimately tainted by human err and misguided wisdom. Nonetheless, Sims’ advice can serve as a reminder that external change often begins with an internal change in one’s heart posture, and that God can use obstacles in the course of one’s life to point to the internal footholds which are preventing them from relying on and drawing nearer to Him.

Sims’ plans for her future likewise point towards a more holistic view towards pivotal undercurrents of the young entrepreneur’s life, towards higher education in particular. Sims explains, “I recently enrolled in an online certificate program for Inspired Leadership offered by Case Western University. I have an undergraduate degree from Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, but I wasn’t happy with the educational aspect of my college career. I wanted to have some type of certification that I’m passionate about.”

All too often, college shifts between feeling like an exhilarating rollercoaster on an adrenaline high from pushing limits and engaging with others, everything draped in a haze of opportunity and excitement…and a four-year-long, self-induced prison sentence served for the mere prize of a slip of paper certifying one to do more work (yay!). But the intersection of Sims’ personal journey with her professional path demonstrates an attitude of patience, vision, and determination towards the meaning and purpose of career and education that is crucial to lock in on when one loses sight of the attitude God calls one to have in their every pursuit, in business and beyond.