Sometimes you just need to spread your wings, try something new. That was the case for Shira Averbuch. She had a good gig with Major League Soccer. Yet, she wanted to venture into a new space. So, she explored new career adventures.
Now, Shira is VP of Innovation & Partnerships with Venture Fuel, a growing professional services company. Venture Fuel helps the world's best enterprise organizations commercialize innovation to ignite change. At Venture Fuel, Shira plays matchmaker. She helps big companies identify partnership opportunities with startups.
Shira shares the ins and outs of her journey and some of her career advice on the Career Adventurer Podcast. She talks about how she found her way to fueling Bigco tech after starting her career in publishing and managing partner marketing with the MLS. Plus, she shares a few tips that have been useful in her journey.
Listen to the full episode. You’re sure to pick up a nugget or three.
Don’t have time on your commute to work? Skim the top five themes below. Then listen to the full episode on your commute home.
5 Core Themes
Shira highlighted a few major themes. Here are five you should take note of in your own career adventures.
Ask Questions
Career Adventurers ask questions. They ask lots of questions. They continuously seek learning, thus asking questions is critical. They ask themselves and others questions. Remember, there are no dumb questions. Asking questions is scary. But, if you pretend like you know everything, you will not challenge yourself.
“often I'm faced with how do I get smart quickly on an area of technology or even an area of industry and business that I have no background in. I've always kind of had the soft skills of I can listen and ask good questions, but I don't have many of those, those hard skills. I've never been a programmer.”
Spreading Your Wings
Sometimes you just have to spread your wings and soar. You need to fly away from the pond you are currently inhabiting. You know this. Shira knew this. When you share ideas, opinions, and insight and it isn’t taken seriously, it’s a sign you might want to put your talents to use elsewhere.
“I just felt as a young professional that I was looking for an opportunity to spread my wings a bit more. I had ideas, had opinions, but then when I'd share them, they didn't really go high up enough the food chain. Nothing would really change. I felt like, ‘Hey, didn't we talk about changing this or doing something a bit more innovative or different?”
Project Power
Dabbling in a new area with project work is a great way to explore a new space. It’s using the idea of a minimum viable product for your career. Shira talked about doing a project for a prospective company to try it out. Now she is VP of Innovation at that company. You might think you’ll do a terrible job. That’s ok! That’s natural. Find out! How might you dabble in a new space with project work?
“I thought, I have no idea if I can do this. So as part of the interview process, we jive from a personality perspective, a way we work, but he gave me a project because again, I didn't know if I could do this whole connecting an enterprise with a startup. And I did the project. I remember thinking this could either be great or just really horrible”
Happiness is Day-to-Day
We confuse what happiness means. We think it’s pure joy. We think it’s more money and a bigger house. The reality is that happiness is day-to-day. It’s about how we approach the opportunities we face. It’s about how we show up and learn. Not every day will be magical. Some will suck. But, when we jump into something we care about and try to make a mark, we look back with admiration.
“I'm really proud of my openness to new opportunities and jumping into things that I have no right to be involved in on paper. I feel imposter syndrome like every other day, but I'm proud of the fact that I show up and I want to learn and I want to get better, even when I feel as if I'm in a space that I have no idea what to do.”
Courage to Ask
Curious about leaping into something new? Just ask. Ask someone who is playing in a space that interests you. It takes courage. They will most likely say yes. People are flattered when you want to learn from them. Buy them a coffee or tea. Have the courage to connect.
“Good questions from an informational interview is just having the courage to ask someone for their time. I think that is the biggest hurdle to any informational interview is, you look at this person, their title, their resume, they must be so busy. Why would they want to give any time to me?”
Hear the full story
Shira’s perspective and experiences are noteworthy. She’s helping companies explore new frontiers. She got there with good old fashioned hardwork, introspection, and vision.
Thanks for you support!
Paul G. Fisher
I’d love to hear from you. Have any guest recommendations listeners should learn from? Shoot me a note!
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