RWL010 How to Transition from Corporate to Startup and Find Your Ideal Career Fit

Corporate to Startup

Speaker 1

0:00

I really wanted the flexibility and the ability myself to build something. So I was working for Marriott, and Marriott is an amazing powerhouse of a company. They've already developed all of their structures and all their systems, so it was pretty much me maintaining them. And I found myself after a couple of years with Marriott wanting to build and create something of my own, which is what really enticed me to jump over to a startup and have so much control. If I wanted to change a policy or procedure or try something wild new, I could just make that happen, and I had a team that was equally as excited and, plus, it was remote. So I got to jump out of the office and now I get to travel and go hang out with my family whenever I want.

Speaker 2

0:38

That was the voice of Tasia Dusky, who is the CEO of MuseumHack. You can find MuseumHack at museumhackcom and I was really fortunate and really privileged to have Tasia join me for that interview and that's just like 30 seconds of a 40-minute interview. If you want to hear the whole interview, go across to remoteworklifeio. And just I mean Museum museum hack. I I was really interested in interviewing tasia because museum hack and tasia have had very interesting well, they're very interesting. So if you look at museum hack, it's it's. They describe themselves as the world's best museum tours, and who doesn't like museum tours? They do corporate training, museum training etc. And Teja herself, she's had a very interesting and a pretty sort of rapid rise in her career to becoming Chief Executive Officer of MuseumHack.

Speaker 2

1:38

And I thought that little segment, that little snippet, was really useful because if you're looking to move from a corporate, established business, if you're looking to move from that to a business that is perhaps a little smaller, a business that is a startup, that little snippet gives you a real, I suppose, a little spotlight as to how it may be different and I think it's really important that you understand the differences before you make a leap. So you've got that informed sort of perspective as to how it may be. Does that sort of movement from corporate to startup does it suit you? Is it something where you're going to thrive or is it somewhere you think it's perhaps not for you? And that's the whole essence of remote life is to bring you those interviews so that you can get a real sneak peek into different ways of working, different work environments, different people you know, different mindsets, just to hopefully give you that sort of information that you need.

Speaker 2

2:49

And just on the subject of what it what you know, contrasting what it may be like to work in a startup as against or as opposed to, you know, a corporate setting, tajer says that as much as she really enjoyed working for marriott obviously marriott is a global giant in the hospitality industry as much as she enjoyed it, she wanted something different. She wanted to be able to really comp, or sorry, contribute her ideas into building the company. And her frustration, I feel, at that time, as much as she enjoyed the Marriott, was that there were systems in place already. There were things in place that perhaps either she couldn't move or she couldn't change, or she wasn't able to change at the pace at which she wanted them to change and that's one of the beauties, actually, of working in a startup. It's that fluidity of thought and ideas and innovation that she now has at MuseumHack, and that's something that you've got to think about.

Speaker 2

3:58

Is that, does that suit you? Because it doesn't suit everybody. You know working, and it's not to say that working in an established setup where everything is set up and pre pre sort of organized is a bad thing because it may suit you. Some people just prefer that way of working. You know, and taja goes on to. Well, in that whole contrast, if we continue that, the pace as well, the pace of life may be different and we all work at different paces. Some of us work at a expect that pace, that rapid pace usually, or at least a pace that is different to the corporate setting.

Speaker 2

4:57

Another thing is that I mean I've worked in a startup, in startups myself, and it's very intimate. I've worked in small teams where you're sitting across from the CEO and for some people that can be quite intimidating, whereas something like Marriott, for example again, we just carry on with that example Marriott it's unlikely that you will be sitting across from the CEO unless you're part of the board or part of the senior management team, you may not even see the CEO. So again, that's something else to think about. Is that intimacy? That's part and parcel of the startup scenario. You'll find that, as I said, there may be times, as much as you're hired to do a certain role, um, as much as you're hired to do that, you may be required to chip in from time to time into roles that perhaps you know, perhaps you may believe if, if you're that way inclined that you may believe are below your pay grade. So you can't go with the mindset of not wanting to contribute at any given moment.

Finding Your Ideal Career Fit

Speaker 2

6:11

And I remember I did an interview with Nick Francis of Help Scout and one of the things that he sometimes gets involved with some of the tickets I mean, he's the chief executive officer of Help Scout but he gets involved with, obviously, the strategy of the business. But he, because it's a startup, it's because it's a relatively small business compared to something like the Marriott, he's prepared to get his hands dirty. So you've got to ask yourself that question as well. So those are just some things to consider. And just I thought tasia's little segment there in which she has really found her place, she's found her niche, it's, it's, it's a great thing, it's a great feeling, and I could tell just just by interviewing her and just by feeling her energy and her sort of empathy for the company and what they do. She's really sort of set herself up for a great career ahead, and I think that's what you need to do.

Speaker 2

7:19

You need to think about what suits you, and it may be that you're in a situation now that doesn't suit you and there's nothing wrong with that, but as long as you recognize that and perhaps start to take steps to changing that, think about what you want from your next role.

Speaker 2

7:39

Think about the skills that you can transfer into your next role, the sort of business that you want, the sort of people that you want to work with. I know it's a wish list. You may not be able to get everything on your wish list and it's unlikely that you'll get it immediately, but I think it's important just to do that sort of um introspection and beginning to audit what you're doing, so that you too can begin to find what you really want to do and who you want to work with and what sort of environment suits you. So that's all I got for now. As I said, if you want to join me for the Remote Work Life Summit. I urge you to do so. Just go across to remoteworklifeio and sign up for your free ticket, and I'll speak to you soon.