Aldridge author self-publishes her first book
She was living many people's dream in a fast-paced city, earning a good salary and enjoying five holidays a year.
But Jodanna Bird was not happy. And it turned out she wasn't alone. The 28-year-old soon discovered that many of her friends were feeling exactly the same, unhappy with the direction their lives were heading.
So after experiencing 'a quarter-life crisis', Jodanna, quit her job as a photographer's agent in London, moved back in with her parents in Aldridge and began writing a book.
Using a mixture of first-hand experience, months of research and some wisdom from her grandmother, she has now penned a practical self-help guide aimed at showing others with the same feelings that they are not alone.
"I was living in a town house in Fulham and I had really good friends and a good social life but I wasn't happy.
"Friends from school would say to me 'you're doing really well' but I was feeling pretty miserable.
"Although it was a good job and it paid well, I realised it wasn't something I was really passionate about.
"I had a massive meltdown and a crisis in my head. I realised my job wasn't making me happy, it wasn't feeding my soul and I knew I had to do something about it," explains Jodanna, who studied fine art photography at the University of Gloucestershire.
The former Aldridge School pupil, who had previous dabbled in writing, spotted an advertisement for a free one-day course on how to self-publish a book on Amazon.
"I decided I was going to write about how to survive a quarter life crisis and I got started straight away.
"We were told on the course that you should write three pages a day and then before you know it you will have a book.
I've read motivational books for a long time and I love them. I wanted mine to be funny but relatable too.
"As soon as I started typing it the words just came out of me - I hadn't been that engaged with something for a long time. I really got a buzz out of it," says Jodanna.
To keep herself on track, she set herself the target of completing her project before an upcoming month-long trip to Australia.
After weeks of writing and proof-reading, her book was ready to upload to Amazon, which offers a print-on-demand service.
"Amazon has to approve it before it's available to download which takes about 24 hours.
"I remember waking up the next day and reading an email that said 'your book is now published on Amazon', which was amazing.
"When I got a copy through the post I was so excited. It was really rewarding," says Jodanna.
Her book had been downloaded 162 times on Amazon on its first day putting it in the number one spot on that day's 100 top downloads.
Her book covers the topics such as work, self-worth, habits and mindset and now she is planning to write others in the series such as How To Survive Being Single and How To Survive A Job You Hate.
"I believe that every 20-something is probably going through a doubtful stage in their lives where there are thinking what am I doing with my life?
"Social media masks this because we only see all of the happy moments in people's lives but a lot of this is posed specifically for Instagram.
"Everybody is just masking their true feelings. A lot of people don't want to talk about their feelings and they don't know how to make themselves happy.
"I hope this book resonates with people and makes them realise they aren't the only ones feeling like this," says Jodanna.
*How To Survive Your Quarter-Life Crisis is available from Amazon. See www.jodannabird.com
