The Art of the Attempt

How did I get to this point? Here’s the real story:

I began thinking about my future career my freshman year, while taking my first entry level financial accounting class. I was exposed to a professional skill that I was good at. And I liked it. So I decided I wanted to make a career out of it. After getting into the Professional Program of Accounting, interning at BBC in London in their corporate finance division, and spending my entire spring semester recruiting with the Big 4 accounting firms, I realized that I, in fact, did not want to make a career out of accounting.

Shortly thereafter, I was exposed to the joys of the rest of the business world. I had a fantastic course about corporate strategy that semester, and I realized that I really was fascinated by the tactics and strategies behind a successful business. Fast forward to the present. I’m  getting my masters in management (specializing in entrepreneurial leadership), I’m working for a small business consulting group, and I’m an advocate for the Center for New Ventures and Entrepreneurship.

I’ve embraced this entire culture, and I want to make this my life. I love strategy and innovation and start ups and entrepreneurial spirit and social media and design and organizational influence and everything else that I can get my hands on. Essentially, I want to be the maverick among conventional corporate drones. I want to provide constant change and improvement. The problem is, companies don’t exactly put that sort of thing on a job description. (“Seeking entry-level Maverick to provide innovative thinking with practical implications. Should be a young charismatic renegade looking to change the face of corporate America, one company at a time.”)

I have a really unique combination of strengths that could land me in a number of different careers, but I don’t really know which one I want most. Furthermore, I don’t really know how to get there. It’s easy to tell a CPA firm, “Hey, I have a 3.6 GPR. I am in PPA at Texas A&M. I am interested in Audit. I will be CPA-certified by May 2011.” And they would say “Okay. Internship in the spring. Full-time employment post-graduation. Here is your starting salary. Here is your cubical. Get to work.” Done and done. Not that that’s actually desirable. That’s why I rejected the industry. It’s dull. My point is that I don’t know how to get my foot in the door of a less structured area of business–maybe a business development group, a consulting firm, a marketing team, heading up a small business, etc.

So this site is my Attempt at finding what I’m good at, where I can find my niche in this huge business culture, and how I’m going to get there. I’m going to take a stab at a number of different skills, strategies, ideas, etc. Right now, at the inception of this experiment, I don’t really know what I want, specifically. But I know what I love. I know what I’m passionate about. I know that I spend every free minute on innovation/creativity/design/blogging/technology blogs while still keeping up with WSJ and FT. My bookcase used to be filled with fiction, but is now incredibly similar to a bookstore’s small business section. My iPhone used to include apps like Crossword Lite, E! Online, Cows in Space…, but now I’m looking at Business Week, NYT, Wall Street Journal, and all those social media apps.

Let’s hope this endeavor leads to some sort of actionable conclusion. If not, at least I will have given the world an opportunity to read the eloquent musings of a brilliant young visionary. You’ll be able to say “I knew her when…” You’re so lucky!

Anyways, thanks for stopping by. Hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it.