Talking with my millennial nephew got me thinking about how the path I took culminated in this job, this career, at this moment in time, and how my career possibilities expanded because of the seemingly random skills I developed along the way. My trajectory informs the advice I give him: Take your foot out of the back door, allow yourself to be in the present with two feet, without judgement about the practicality of the move or censoring based on the lack of a strategic vision. Tactical moves are the breadcrumbs you leave as you travel, eventually and perhaps unknowingly, toward your purpose and goals.
At Beloit College while pursuing my BA in Anthropology, I read ‘Bookkeeping for Dummies’ one night, and the next morning passed the test to become the bookkeeper for the school bar for the next six months. This move turned out to become the basis for my future careers as an accountant, and a designer of digital accounting systems.
After college, I spent 12 years as a professional modern dancer, where I honed skills in Patience, Dedication, Perseverance, Humility, Confidence, Endurance, Self-Awareness, Creativity, Passion, and Teamwork. I learned that daily practice led to performance, and performance guides you back to daily practice. I couldn’t have made it through my career transitions, or later as a CTO and CEO, without this training!
While dancing, I traveled to Europe frequently, during which time I taught myself Italian, improved my French that I had learned in school, and perfected my Spanish that I learned as a young child. When I retired from dance, I learned basic computer programming and database design, and built a rudimentary accounting system as a first project. Then I got my first coding job at an international financial software company that was hiring developers with romance language skills.
None of those future careers were anywhere on my radar at the time that I developed the skills. I was focused on being present in the moment and pursuing my passions and interests. I assessed my options, assessed my skills, made a tactical decision, and went for it, without concern about the long term; and without knowing how each move would prepare me for opportunity in the future.
Today, at Fintech Alchemy, I am putting my experience to work for client companies when they need a steady hand and access to leadership (and a small dose of mythological stories) as they prepare for opportunity.