rhode skin

This headline makes me smile, but not for the reason you’d think. I used to regret the time it took figuring out my place in things. I spent years studying science/math, beginning with aerospace engineering. I switched to sustainability, SCUBA dove coral reefs and published a thesis on it. I did research on the many ways we’re overshooting the resources we rely on, then worked to evaluate how this solution or that did better by them. All of it was interesting, but none of it fed all of me. Once I figured out fashion/beauty was ‘it’, I wanted nothing more than a resume that would get my emails responded to (mine certainly wasn’t). It felt long and hard just to get my foot in the door. Once I did, it was far from my dream job - but always brought me one step closer to it. Now, I recognize I’ve succeeded not despite that offbeat background, but because of it. It’s given me an engineering mindset. A joy of seeking out real answers to hard questions. The grit of hearing 100 no’s for every yes. A rather deep knowledge of sustainability, which imho more leaders need. And a bent for forward disruption (aka, the rocket science of the business world). With the 20/20 of hindsight, this is the career advice it took me a few decades to see: Your differences are your edge - they won’t be the same as everyone else’s, and that’s exactly the point. Follow your curiosity - it’s key to finding the opportunities everyone else is missing. The perfect job doesn’t exist, so go all-in on each one you’ve got. The big leaps may scare you - all mine worth taking have, too. And go easy on yourself about the mistakes we all make - they just might end up in a Fortune headline. Big thank you to Fortune and Emma Hinchliffe for the feature, and to team rhode skin for building this rocket ship with me 🚀