What’s a key piece of advice you’d give to others looking to start their own business?
Be sure that you feel you’re the right person to be building the business. Either because you have very specific skills that you can bring and/or because you want to learn the skills required to make it great. You should have a lot of energy for solving that problem. Ideas may come often, but people often don’t realize that execution is about a few very specific problems that you will end up going very deep on, for a long time. So you have to enjoy the problem and the execution.
What time do you wake up?
I get up at 7:15 a.m., but that’s not my choice. In my natural state, I would go to sleep at 2 a.m. and wake up at 11 a.m. But since I work with other people and live with other people, I had to shift the schedule.
What’s your typical morning routine?
I take my daughter or son to school and then I go to the office. I try to pay as much attention to them on the way to school as possible by avoiding my phone. I hold my daughter’s hand on the bus or talk to my son about what’s on his mind.
How do you take your coffee?
At least one third of the cup is milk.
Your first childhood dream job?
An astronaut.
Your first actual job?
I worked at a candy store.
How do you typically deal with rejection in your field?
I try to see if there’s anything to learn, otherwise I use it as a way to laugh. I’m a firm believer in the saying that hard things over time are really funny. Also, I always say “no one ever said it was going to be easy.”
Is there a piece of career or financial advice you got that’s stuck with you?
The best career advice I received from a professor in college was “don’t be fungible.” You don’t need to try to become an all-around athlete. You need to become extremely good at something that you want to keep doing and that feels like play to you. You can always surround yourself with people who are good at the things you’re not. Become someone who will be hard to replace.
How about parenting advice?
Don’t think too hard about the greater meaning of life in the first few weeks after you have a baby, since you’re likely on a wild trip emotionally. It will get better, and it’s a huge accomplishment to have a child and to take care of them. You need to be nice to yourself in order to love them, and your love is what’s going to give them confidence for their whole life.
What’s your go-to work outfit or key pieces?
Recently I’ve been wearing a lot of midi dresses from the Danish brand Stine Goya because they’re really easy to wear. It’s just one item that you put on with tights in the winter. No more thinking necessary.
