Written by Alena Malloy, Part-Time MBA class of 2019
I walked through the outdoor market, killing time before my bus arrived. There were the standard fruits and veggie booths, a handful of street musicians, and locals buying their groceries for the week. I noticed that there was one booth surrounded by people that had a variety of yellow ribbons, Catalonia flag with a star keychains, canvas bags, and a few t-shirts. Curious, I wandered over and asked, “Hola, comó está?” (This is about the extent of my Spanish skills, by the way.)
The woman turned to me and rattled off in Spanish for about four minutes! I must have had a deer in the headlights look because she paused, mid-sentence (I think?) and asked in English, “Oh, you don’t speak Spanish?”.
Smiling, the woman explained in English that the booth was to raise funds for Catalonian independence. She went on to explain what it meant to be independent and how that would impact the community.
We didn’t speak for very long as there were other customers who were trying to show their support (I think?). But I realized how much passion was behind the campaign. Not just at a local farmer’s market but with Catalonian Independence flags flying across the city. Even at the government square, the Federal building had the Spanish Flag and the normal Catalonia state flag, while the State building across the plaza boldly raised the Independence flag.
This fervor wasn’t just limited to Independence. We met with several entrepreneurs throughout the week. Each one had the same level of passion for their business.
As an example, we met with Exceed which is a start-up app that partners with different bars/club venues in major cities to promote events. The 30 year old CEO explained his business model and discussed funding. He and his partners had been working on the business since early college. They sacrificed for the business, even eating ‘tuna cans’ dinners for years while they got it running. They entered multiple funding competitions, only to place 2nd in several. The CEO was even informed by the VC that they should have won but the VC just “couldn’t justify giving government money to a Clubbing app”.
But this didn’t derail him or his team.
And we heard similar stories from other entrepreneurs. The struggled, they sacrificed, but they were chasing a dream, creating a vision.
As I mentioned in a previous post, I took this class to help me decide how I should change my career. While it did not narrow down any specific paths, it reminded me that being passionate about your career is just as important as the job itself. It has been a long time since I felt enthusiasm about my advertising jobs, and I see the difference between work and what a career path should look like.
This trip created a new qualifier for whatever career choice I make: I need to be passionate about it.
We’ll see where I land! #careerlifegoals
