Experience is often valued because of the lessons prior jobs have theoretically provided us with. While hearing about those lessons isn’t a replacement for actually experiencing it, we thought it would be very helpful to create a space where sharp and generous members of the community can come together to share stories and lessons learned at prior jobs for the benefit of others.

Casey Mossholder

I was a helicopter mechanic in the military for nine years. While I certainly enjoyed it for a long time, during my last few years I started to feel like it was no longer what I wanted to do. After doing something for so long, having the certainty of the job, and the regular paycheck, it felt scary to leave and do something else. Read More>>

Berkeley Clements

In my mid twenties I worked a corporate job (which I swore I would never do… but the cost of living was incredibly high so I relented) as an Executive Assistant to the Marketing and some sub departments. Due to the nature of the work we often would work closely with the Legal team.  Read More>>

Grace Millsap

This question brings up more than just one job that I’ve had over my life, but rather a realization of how all the seemingly random jobs (and detours) that feed into my current life. First, I worked in restaurants for many years and pretty much had every job (minus kitchen duties) that one could have. Read More>>

Jenice Owens

There are people in this world who have not done the work to heal their internal wounds and they have a tendency to project their unhappiness onto others. Unfortunately, I experienced this first hand on many occasions. I used to think there was something wrong with me until I understood that when light enters places it often disrupts atmospheres that operates in darkness. Read More>>

Emily Schmidt Riddle

My first ‘real job’ was as a sales associate at a local vintage store in college. At the time, it was my dream job, and I loved being so involved in the vintage and retail world- two things that I love. Read More>>

Victoria Clark

The most important lesson I learned as a business owner came from two moments in my life that seemed completely unrelated until they collided years later. The first happened when I was a kid. My family lost our home to foreclosure. I remember my dad fighting for that house. He wasn’t ignoring the problem or running from it. Read More>>

Shelbi Drake

Before beginning my career as a sound practitioner, I worked in the insurance industry, spending my days behind a desk and on the phone with clients. Time and time again, people would share their life stories with me, and I found myself naturally drawn to listening, supporting, and connecting with them on a deeper level. Read More>>

Clarissa Barboza-Cantu

For over a year, I lived in a state of constant, low-grade dread. It wasn’t one single project that broke me; it was the relentless, daily grind of a toxic environment. Every day I felt defeated. It started to bleed into my life outside of the office. My mental health suffered because I couldn’t switch off. Even in routine meetings about mundane, everyday tasks, I would find myself getting worked up, my heart racing before anyone even spoke. I reached a point where nothing could calm me down; Read More>>