Infinite Careers is a collaboration between Career Services (CAPD) and the MIT Alumni Association to explore career paths and the non-linearity of career decision making. Read profiles of alumni with unique career paths, hear their stories and network at a series of talks.
Education
- MIT – Bachelor Of Science, 15 – Management (with a concentration in Marketing Science)
Bio
I am an energetic, people-oriented (yet data-driven) generalist who loves solving big and small problems.
My 15 years of work experience have been very diverse across 5 companies:
>in all-sized companies (1 – 100,000)
>across multiple countries (US, Brazil, the Netherlands)
>for clientele in all industries (advertising, healthcare, fintech, various B2B sales)
>on projects focused on various functions (marketing, business analysis, process improvement, project management, training, systems)
Currently, I am self-employed (cm2squared.com), consulting on marketing projects, focused on bringing data-based decision-making and efficiency to businesses.
Although my work is important to me, I deeply prioritize many aspects of my life that are not business-related: I am an athlete (I play volleyball many times per week and love biking); I travel often, exploring the world and visiting friends; I enjoy woodworking; I’m learning harmonica; I try to be an active member of the communities I’m a part of; and, I prioritize time with friends/family.
Is there anything you wish you had done differently or more of while you were at MIT?
I have no regrets from my MIT experience. At school, I prioritized trying everything, meeting people, building relationships, and surviving. I did well in some classes and just OK in others, and I am so happy that I didn’t put pressure on myself to achieve more.
If I were to do it again, I would probably:
- Sleep a little bit more
- Take more interesting HASS classes that got you thinking differently (like, Ethics or a language)
- Do more MISTI programs or other courses with travel involved (like D-Lab)
What has been the most rewarding aspect of your career?
The friendships made.
Business allows you to meet and work alongside individuals that you would otherwise never associate with; it’s been incredible getting to know these very different people, learning from them, learning to trust them, and leaning on them.
What motivates you to do the work that you do?
Being self-employed, my work is 100% driven by self-motivation. There is nobody that tells you what needs to be done or how to do it; I can work as much or as little as I please; I can structure my contracts in any way that I choose. The results of all these choices, of course, determine where I spend my time…. if I have shorter term contracts, I need to do more sales; if I provide great work, I will get clients through referrals; if I setup weak contracts, either my clients or I can be disappointed; if I say ‘yes’ to everything, I may work with clients I don’t like or work on projects I don’t want to do.
Therefore, the motivation for me to do the work and do it well is all the freedom that comes with self-employment. I love being able to set my own schedule and work from anywhere. I love getting to dip a toe into many different businesses and primarily working on projects that I find interesting and valuable. I love getting to prioritize things outside of my day-to-day job that are important to me. I know that if I don’t make sufficient income or have enough stability within my own company, I will likely go back into the corporate world. At this point, I’m not ready for that, so I am highly motivated to keep this company I’ve built running smoothly.
Making decisions, especially important-feeling career decisions, is really challenging for people at all stages of their career. What strategies have you used to make career decisions?
Big decisions are built of bite-sized pieces. By breaking down these big decisions into attainable steps, everything becomes a lot less scary and much easier to accomplish.
For me, I know I am highly motivated to complete non-ambiguous tasks. Therefore, if there is something I want to change or work on, I try to break it down into an explicit, achievable step.
—
For instance, I knew that I would like to quit my first job, but I didn’t know what I wanted to do next, so I did the first achievable step, and everything tumbled from there:
1) TASK: I made a list of general career priorities…. types of work, industries, locations, etc. RESULT: Based upon that list, I realized that moving to Brazil was a top priority on my list. Therefore, I decided to figure out if that was possible – if not, then I’d consider my other options.
2) TASK: Determine the ways someone could move to a new country. RESULT: It was all quite complicated – and I determined that talking to someone from Brazil might help to clarify.
3) TASK: Get in contact with someone in Brazil for advice. RESULT: I emailed some people on the alumni network, filtering by those willing to offer career advice and not working at a bank (banking didn’t interest me). One person replied almost immediately and offered to hop on a call.
4) TASK: Schedule a call with MIT Brazilian contact. RESULT: While asking for general advice, he mentioned that he would be interested in hiring me, and I could interview at his company.
5) TASK: Decide if I actually want to move to Brazil and work at this company. RESULT: I lived in Brazil, working at his advertising agency for a couple of years! It was the most incredible experience.
Of course, this worked out quite phenomenally for me, and I certainly go lucky, but the process of breaking down the steps into bite-sized chunks made this huge decision of getting a new job and moving to a new country, something that happened very fluidly.
What professional development experiences or opportunities shaped your early career?
Professional Development doesn’t have to be a course. Many people are willing to help you learn and grow if they know what you’re interested in and you’re willing to work. You just need to tell them.
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In my first job, I told my boss that I enjoyed the more analytical work. Due to that, she loaned me out to work on a project with a numbers-focused director, doing a bit of menial work. As I completed the task, this director explained to me why it was important and how he used the work I completed to manage his area of the business.
I later told him how much I appreciated that conversation and that type of work. His response: Let’s do more of it!
I then started working with this director half of my week. He would often explain why he made the decisions he did and what value the tasks I was performing had on the decisions he made. Working with him was the best “professional development” I could have asked for.
What’s the best piece of career advice you’ve received?
After months of long hours, around 9 PM on a Thursday, I was chatting online with the senior director about a project I was working on. In broken English, he asks me, “Shouldn’t you get some life?”
I had been working hard on the project for him and his organization, and he was telling me I should prioritize things other than work. It was an extremely eye-opening moment. The realization was that hours worked don’t necessarily relate to contribution to a business and that you shouldn’t only be prioritizing your job.
What career advice do you have for current MIT students or those interested in entering your industry?
I wouldn’t recommend starting your own business right out of college. There is so much you learn by working in and with companies, and if your goal is to grow a business, it’s extremely valuable to see one from the inside before you build your own. You can learn from their mistakes rather than learning from your own – which is often a much harder loss. The interpersonal dynamics within organizations are hard to imagine and can only be learned by doing. All businesses and business relationships are messy and much harder than they appear on the surface.
