A former Nike director shares how side projects and self-directed learning mattered more for entrepreneurship than her official role. Building skills outside your job description, even without a promotion, accumulates real value. Leaders reward initiative and passion more than titles.
Chapters
I never learned in my day job at Nike that are now helping me as an entrepreneur. You got to a director spot at Nike, the thing you wanted to be at, and you left. If you have been hustling for a while and you're not landing that role, but you are actively building skills, you're learning things, none of that is a waste. All of that will add up. There are things and skills that I was building back then that I never perhaps learned in my day job at Nike that are now helping me as an entrepreneur. Just utilize the tools that you have at your disposal at that time and build something that doesn't exist in the world. And I think this is a skill that people don't understand enough that bosses are really looking for. Sometimes your passion thing that you built with a similar tech stack or skills that you're developing for a day job, but you did on the side, is actually going to show that you have initiative, that you have passion, that you are an interesting person, that you are cool, that you are someone good to work with. And those are very underrepresented, underrated skills that I do think leaders start to value over time. My compass, my transport.