Non-linear career paths

Finding purpose and embracing the zigzag

One thing I've been talking to several friends about recently is non-linear career paths, particularly paths outside of traditional tech startups + venture capital.

I've been running Slope full-time for 2.5 years now. If you had told me five years ago that I'd be running an agency, I wouldn't have believed you. I didn't even really know what an agency was at the time.

However, even though I find the agency incredibly fulfilling and exciting, I often struggle to provide an answer when friends ask, "How is running an agency? Do you like it? When do you think you'll do a real startup and raise venture?".

For the past few years, I've been trying to figure out why I've enjoyed running the agency so much and articulate how and why I even found myself here today. It's something I still struggle to answer.

Growing up in Palo Alto, I was surrounded by tech and Silicon Valley. Ever since I was in high school, I knew I wanted to work in tech - in fact, the narratives of success seemed to reinforce only two viable paths 1) building a venture-backed company or 2) going into venture capital.

The agency is neither, and I now realize that this discomfort in providing an answer is because the environments I've been in have only reinforced a few successful paths. It has taken me years to learn that it's OK for me not to fit into the mold of either and that it's possible to design my own career path and take time to figure out the right one for me.

Today, I am a founder, investor, and brand builder. I am the founder of SLOPE, a bootstrapped creative agency for startups, an investor of my own VC fund, and a brand builder working with the most incredible founders and companies across all industries (tech, venture, CPG, crypto, and etc). It has taken many years of uncomfortable zig-zagging and exploration - from starting my own YC company, joining two early-stage tech startups, and many side projects later - to feel closer to finding my purpose and personal fulfillment.

I think it's important to change the narrative of what career paths can look like. To begin, I hope to expand the definition of career success and share more stories of people charting their own unique paths and finding fulfillment in doing so. Whether it's a founder who pursued the venture path and turned bootstrapped (like myself), a finance associate turned beauty founder, or an engineer turned full-time writer, I hope to share more about how people navigated these transitions and normalize non-linear career paths.