“I wasn’t interested in leading a double life,” said AJ a former colleague of mine who co-founded Infuse, a not-for-profit entrepreneurship program for inner-city high school students in Silicon Valley. Her dual risk arose because she works as a program manager at Infinera, a publicly traded optical networking company. It’s easy to get inspired when speaking with AJ. She is a bundle of energy and passion. Aside from being enthused about her work at Infuse I’m fascinated by her dual dilemma ‘approach.’ Continue reading…
Voices of Transition: Choices and Learning
“I got a sense of breathing for the 1st time,” said Shannon Breuer, a former Sunoco executive who shared with me her truly inspirational journey through transition as part of Novofemina’s Voices of Transition column. “I had no idea how much I was going to grow…I feel so fulfilled.” Continue reading…
Voices of Transition #3: A transition journey….
“From now on you’ll be traveling the road between who you think you are and who you can be,” said a letter addressed to Anne Hathaway in her role as Mia in the Princess Diaries, a 2001 movie that my 8-year-old daughter and I enjoyed over the holidays. Hathaway went on to read more of the letter by saying, “the key is to allow yourself to make the journey. Courage is not the absence of fear but the judgment that something else is more important that fear.”
I frantically jotted down this exchange. It seemed more profound than the typical Disney “G” rated movie. Maybe I’d had enough of turkey and relatives? Continue reading…
Voices of Transition #2: An ode to networking
“I couldn’t believe it. No one had ever done that for me before. I was having a conversation with a venture capitalist who said ‘you have to meet so-and-so’. He immediately turned and picked up the phone to call the person while I was sitting in his office,” said Karen, a food industry executive and dear friend from HBS. “I didn’t really know this guy. His wife and I connected one day during pick-up at our children’s school. She said ‘you have to talk to my husband’ once she understood my status.” Karen was sharing the positives – the surprises if you will – of transition after having navigated two unexpected transitions within five years. Continue reading…
Transition Triumphs?
“I’ve been reading your blog and thinking ‘ugh’ all this transition stuff,” said Victoria Taylor, CEO and founder of Victoria Gourmet, lamenting that transition would be ahead of her again sometime. Victoria’s remarks made me wonder, ‘Can we ever triumph over transition?’ Continue reading…