Do the Work Wednesday #9: It All Counts

This week, I’m delivering a speech to a local organization that awards college scholarships to young women . I’m the keynote speaker for the awards ceremony and then will shake the hands of eight deserving seniors. The idea , of course, is to give the young women an inspirational send-off, imparting the hard-won wisdom of my career. Here’s my first piece of advice: Don’t Wind Up in a Closet. 

That aside, it has gotten me thinking about how I ended up doing what I ended up doing: writing, talking and telling stories.  Despite the title of my talk, My Non-linear Career, there actually  is a thread in what I like to call my “broad-ranging media career,” from my extracurricular activities in grade school to my college course selection to the jobs I talked myself into as a twenty-something (advertising and film production.)  Along the way, there were some detours, but even my detours ended up being great material, so I don’t regret the years I spent ski-bumming or being a stay-at-home mom. In a world where young people are increasing under pressure to make career-minded choices at earlier ages ( See Frank Bruni’s piece from the New York Times) , I’m happy to have had the opportunity to get off the beaten path and then get back on. In terms of my career path, every stop along the way has counted.

Maybe I did end up in the right place after all.

Is there a thread in your career/personal choices? Does you Do the Work project involve learning new skills or reinvigorating and old interest? When you think about where you’ve been, how did you get here?

Embracing my Chaos, Lian

Related Posts: 

Do the Work #8: Finding Inspiration