All the Pieces Came Together

When I look back at my career, I see how all the pieces were coming together perfectly. But at the time, I didn’t know it.

Here’s what happened:

➡️ I quit my first job out of college.

I felt like a failure, but it turned out to be the best move for me. I landed in a great environment in an educational publishing company that was much more aligned with my goals with mentors and friends.

Lesson: Don’t be afraid to follow your instincts.

➡️ I went to business school to learn the language of finance and build a network.

Lesson: Sometimes you need to step off the ladder to move up it.

➡️ I joined Disney to apply my finance knowledge…

Where I expanded my skill set as I moved up and around the organization, including category management (Games, Puzzles, Activities, Novelties). I loved it.

Lesson: Be open to the doors that open to you.

➡️ After more than 10 years, I was laid off during one of many restructures…

I ended up leveraging all of my past skills to head up ecommerce, shifting my skills in a new direction.

Lesson: Success is rarely linear.

➡️ I started looking for fractional COO work in 2019…

And became the Co-Founder of a business I’d spend the next few years growing before successfully exiting.

Lesson: Learning new skills is hard but exciting and worthwhile.

➡️ And now I’m a fractional COO supporting businesses across multiple industries. I’m using the skills I learned in my career, applying the knowledge these lessons taught me, and helping founders get their time back.

Now looking back, I can see how the jigsaw pieces have formed the puzzle that is my career.

So if you’re still in the building phase, feeling lost and unsure about your next step (or 5), remember:

Keep identifying what skills you need to learn as you plan your next move.

It will come together in time.