Gitte has worked across a wide variety of industries in multiple countries around the world. Listening to her story, you will hear about someone who strives to push herself to try new things and accept new challenges, often in a new country! As a young person, Gitte experienced watching the fall of the Berlin wall in her home country of Germany. That experience, as well as watching her own father’s enjoyable legal career, led her to want to pursue an education in law. Gitte’...

Growing up in the Washington, D.C area with two parents working for the Federal government, it’s not surprising that Katie was raised to love history and eventually work in the Federal Government and the rich museum culture her city is famous for. How does her love of music and theater lead her down this path? Listen to hear about how Katie has woven together her multiple interests and experiences to form her career path, and like many of us, it’s still a Path in Progress!

Growing up in Italy, Urmi thought she may want to study either psychology or pursue her interest in languages. After moving to Canada to begin college, she started to pursue International Business, but soon discovered that Finance is what truly sparked her interest. Urmi’s love of learning and devoted discipline have helped her to flourish within her career, as well as within the pursuit of her personal interests. Join us to hear about how Urmi has already reached many significant goals...

As a leader in nonprofit organizations, Jenni Rebecca has used talents and skills she has developed along her path–but has also made sure to be aware of what she doesn’t know, and seek learning opportunities to fill those gaps. If you have interest in the nonprofit space, Jenni Rebecca speaks at length about her experience in different nonprofit organizations, both within and outside the arts, to give us some insight into what is involved in that career path. Jenni Rebecca’s story...

How do you choose an educational path when you are interested in several subjects, and then one you choose first ends up not being the right path for you? You keep your options open, take classes in as many areas as you can within your degree, talk to a lot of people, ask a lot of questions, and try things out until you find your way. That’s what Claire did, and it led her to some incredible opportunities that helped her build a meaningful career in a field she loves. In this epis...

Many students find a home in the Arts in high school. Some students build their education and career dreams from that experience, and sometimes those dreams don’t initially work out. When he didn’t get into his dream school, Jeff made some different choices to not only become a better actor, but to become the person he wanted to be. Life circumstances gave him reason to take some unexpected turns along his career path (political campaigns?), but everything came together in the career he has t...

Most of us have encountered Human Resources when we have applied for jobs or internships, through our applications, interviews, paychecks, and policies. What is it like to work in Human Resources? What kind of things do you do? Melissa had many interests in college and began to identify some things about her strengths and interests to help guide her in her early career decisions. She has taken intentional actions throughout her education and career to learn more and gain skills to...

From a young age, Christina loved reading and writing, so she thought she would someday become an author. As she grew up, theater became another love in her life, and she was encouraged by her voice teacher to pursue singing. When looking at colleges, Christina wanted to find a school where she could pursue both English and Music. Join us as Christina describes her experience double majoring in undergrad, what graduate school taught her, her first career as an active opera singer ...

Life events can often shape how we choose the career path we follow and how we want to make a difference in the lives of others. For Jennifer, a significant event in her teenage years impacted her significantly and led her to learn how she could use her love of music as a career in a way she had not imagined before. Even if you think you know something about Music Therapy, you will leave this conversation knowing so much more and be inspired by the limitless possibilities to help others...

How did Kylie go from studying journalism and Spanish in college, to working several years in advertising, and then return to school to pursue a fulfilling career in nursing? You may be surprised by how many skills are transferable between these different academic and career spaces. Join us to hear how Kylie wove everything together along her unique career path, while continuously following what was best for her and her family in each chapter of her life. It’s never too late to alter yo...

Choosing a major in college often begins with a subject we enjoy, and for Dr. Bledsoe, it was no different when her love of reading and writing led her to major in English Literature, which eventually led to a Masters Degree in Advanced Literary to help others learn to love and value reading. Many of us find our calling through our work experiences, as Ripsime did in her first few positions out of school. We never know where we are going to discover the thing that becomes our care...

How does one go from planning to obtain a PhD to become a professor, to instead entering the corporate software industry, to then starting and owning an Art & Furniture Gallery, then adding a leather goods company? John has had an interesting path, filled with life lessons and a heart for positively impacting his community. Not only does John discuss evaluating his options realistically along the way, but also how other life events can often direct our path in unexpected ways–your a...

Like many students, Amanda started her college path doing something she loved: playing her clarinet. After some time in college, she realized that even though she loved music, she didn’t necessarily want that to be her career path. Once she transferred schools, she took advantage of an opportunity to speak to multiple professionals in a field she was interested in to help guide her decisions to a new major. Technology and the cybersecurity landscape have changed significantly in t...

From a young age, Andy loved his American Airlines mechanic grandfather teaching him about airplanes. From the day he took his intro flight, he knew he wanted to pursue flying as his career. Join us for this conversation about the different ways you can obtain your certifications (and how the cost of each path varies), advantages and disadvantages to aviation degrees, what the schedule of a pilot is like, the enjoyable perks, and how your career can change over time. If you or som...

Raised in a Mexican-American family in San Antonio, Texas, Francisco’s mother insisted that he pursue a college degree. The importance of higher education would become an essential theme later in Francisco’s journalism career. As a student who loved writing, Francisco led and founded student newspapers at the middle school, high school, and collegiate level, eventually leading to a position with the Los Angeles Times. Join us for this important conversation about ethics in the wor...

From her early high school days on the yearbook staff, Sarah dreamed she may one day work for the fashion magazines that she loved to read. Beginning her college career as a Magazine Journalism major, she started to realize that she would need to forge her own path to be able to work in the areas she was most interested in. Join us as Sarah describes how she created a path for herself into the world of luxury goods, working for recognizable brands like Harry Winston, La Prairie, and MAC Cosme...

Many kids have dreams of becoming an astronaut or working at NASA, but how many actually pursue the path to that dream? As a high school student, after watching the movie Apollo 13, Christie knew that she was interested in working at NASA. Join us as Christie shares highlights about her degree in Aerospace Engineering, her work as a NASA Academy student, and how her path has progressed through her work today. Her roles within Human Space flight include projects with the Inte...

What do you do when you work to get into law school, and then once you get there, realize that is not where you want to be? If you are Laura Gassner Otting, you start dating the “world’s worst boyfriend”, who happens to take you by a campaign office where you meet a presidential candidate who inspires you to drop out of law school, work for his campaign, and eventually join the White House staff! Don’t miss this insightful conversation about how Laura’s path, including twenty years in E...

After receiving a music scholarship, Elizabeth initially decided to be a clarinet performance major. Join us as she describes her path from music to Graphic Design and Illustration, her first job at Hallmark, graduate school in New York City, and her successful journey in the publishing world, including meeting Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg after the publication of I Dissent! Elizabeth Baddeley is a New York Times Bestselling and award-winning illustrator of I Dissent: Ruth Bader Ginsburg...

The Challenge Mindset helps students find what sparks their interest using a different method to think through how to consider college and career path options that is different from our traditional approach. When I heard JP speak about this at a recent conference, I had to ask him to come talk to us about it! Don’t miss this insightful conversation about JP’s own journey in I/O Psychology, and how he has invested years in helping others to discover their strengths, become better leaders...