[Music]
[Applause]
good evening there are so many of you so
let’s start with this I’m guessing when
you walked in today you probably met
some new people and they probably asked
your name and maybe you had some small
talk maybe someone was asking who you
came to see or what part of Boston you
lived in I had a similar experience and
I met some perfectly kind strangers and
after they asked me my name
guess what predictably the next question
they asked was anyone yeah close what do
you do why is this always one of the
first questions we asked each other
what if instead of asking each other
what we do we asked each other what we
love now this may sound absurd or
totally like totally too personal but we
learn at a very early age that our job
titles tell the world who we are and
what is more absurd than that right it
begins as early as kindergarten when
we’re asked what do you want to be when
you grow up
this is during our Dreaming phase where
we believe that we can do anything we
set our minds to where our perception of
possibility is endless and then before
we’ve even had a chance to experience
the real world were forced to choose an
identity that will unlikely reflect who
we will become how can we choose what we
want to be before we really even know
pick a major pick an industry of focus
why is it that between the ages of 18 to
22 do these decisions determine the next
40 to 50 years of our lives right why
must our lives or rather our work lives
be so linear so black and white so
defined and let’s be honest this is
where we’ll spend the most of our time I
came to this realization through my own
experience and I believe we’re on the
onset of a new model a new renaissance
we’re combining our skills and our
passions across many disciplines is more
crucial than ever why technology just as
a printing press paved the ways for the
new ideals and innovations that helped
form the Renaissance
I believe automation is the technology
that is taking us to this next big shift
now automation may sound scary but
actually it gives us the opportunity to
reevaluate what makes us humans amazing
and I’m guessing that most of you in
this room can identify with that desire
so what does this mean for you and what
does this mean for business as usual if
we learn to combine our skills across
many different fields our way of being
becomes more diverse more fulfilled and
better prepares us for the world that’s
coming I bet we all know businesses that
are over departmentalized where job
titles leave people feeling divided
unfulfilled undervalued maybe some of
you have even applied for these jobs
with the narrow resume molded never
presenting your whole self imagine a
world that gets happened with people’s
full
potential where natural talents are able
to shine if we could create a culture or
a business that had more flexibility we
would have more flexibility across the
whole unit the business the world
everything because instead of a person
needing to take a day off or maybe it’s
a to themselves instead we would have a
whole pool of multi-talented problem
solvers right at our fingertips this is
the future I believe on and it’s the
present I live in now I came to this
realization a bit late in life I’m a bit
of a late bloomer here on this one I
thought I was living the dream I had a
home a dog a husband and a job with a
401k right do people still have those I
don’t know but what became a recurring
realization is that I was living
everyone else’s vision of my life except
my own it was time to make a shift and
that shift came with great sacrifice
I left the comfort and the stability of
a community I’d had for over 10 years
not to mention my favorite taco truck
and traded it in for the exciting and
highly unpredictable city of New York
after graduating with my MFA right New
Yorkers after graduating with my MFA
from NYU and performance design jobs
were scarce and as a freelancer waiting
for my industry to locate me was not an
opportunity I could afford so instead I
went looking outside of those parameters
using my core wheelhouse skills I
suddenly found that I was qualified to
do many things I even started working in
fields that didn’t even though they
needed me yet
I entered jobs and projects
not particularly knowing or being
specifically trained in the work but
instead embraced it as an opportunity
for learning and for growth I embraced
thee why not me
now you can be trained and one thing yes
perfectly normal but instead of letting
not one thing control us I believe we
can let that one thing allow us to
diversify how we work and how we live it
even gives us permission to create jobs
that don’t even exist yet and so today
that’s exactly what I do and while I
masterfully trained as a costume set
designer I taken these core competencies
and distilled them down even further to
storytelling for the body and the
environment
I consider this my medium just like your
medium might be numbers or space or food
by using this as my foundational
reference point I found ways to innovate
ways of working across many verticals
beginning with theatre and film and
expanding into fashion experience design
wearable technology and even working in
the field of sports and medicine if my
journey can be pioneer new ways of
working
why can’t yours I firmly believe that to
position yourself and the way that I
have you need to acutely view the world
at a very micro level you need to tap
into the vibrations around you and find
your superpower and then you let this
superpower guide your personal and
professional growth let it take you in
many diverse places
and embrace the not knowing and maybe
like me you might just fall in love with
your job each and every day there are
some challenges of working this way of
course without a definitive title people
sometimes don’t know how to locate you
and it’s natural to want to fit in how
can you be at the top of your game when
nobody knows what your game is but I
would like to suggest an alternative
mindset the combining your skills across
many fields actually gives you more
freedom more agency and more ways to
succeed by being open to the Whaley
Master artwork we gain the ability to
adapt we become more resilient and again
and the age of automation this will
prove to be indispensable even as we
speak new jobs are being formed at a
rapid pace replacing the rigid ones of
the past jobs well-paying jobs we never
could have even dreamed of with
technology and every aspect of our lives
there are new holes to fill and younger
generations are filling them with
creative and unprecedented untitled I
mean I’d like to be a meme Lord wouldn’t
you even kids today are identifying a
more fluid ways they’re shedding
archetypes shedding labels moving in and
other front groups listing different
types of music challenging gender norms
even the way they learn is shifting they
are ahead of the game and I propose we
join them this perspective shift yes
thank you let’s join them
we gotta hurry this perspective shift
does challenge our notion of success
we’re instead of checking boxes and
upward movement it looks more like a
Venn diagram there is a Japanese concept
to living a more fulfilled life called
it key guy it is less about success but
more about happiness and fulfillment it
combines how you need to make money what
you need what you’re good at and what
you love it is the intersection of these
four core ideals that is at the sweet
spot for a new authenticity it brings us
closer to our true selves so whatever it
may be that tool set that will house
that medium consider the possibility of
a new paradigm where work feels less
like work and more like a purpose so
even when you’re asked what do you do
you can actually answer with what you
love thank you
[Applause] [Music]
[Applause]
good evening there are so many of you so
let’s start with this I’m guessing when
you walked in today you probably met
some new people and they probably asked
your name and maybe you had some small
talk maybe someone was asking who you
came to see or what part of Boston you
lived in I had a similar experience and
I met some perfectly kind strangers and
after they asked me my name
guess what predictably the next question
they asked was anyone yeah close what do
you do why is this always one of the
first questions we asked each other
what if instead of asking each other
what we do we asked each other what we
love now this may sound absurd or
totally like totally too personal but we
learn at a very early age that our job
titles tell the world who we are and
what is more absurd than that right it
begins as early as kindergarten when
we’re asked what do you want to be when
you grow up
this is during our Dreaming phase where
we believe that we can do anything we
set our minds to where our perception of
possibility is endless and then before
we’ve even had a chance to experience
the real world were forced to choose an
identity that will unlikely reflect who
we will become how can we choose what we
want to be before we really even know
pick a major pick an industry of focus
why is it that between the ages of 18 to
22 do these decisions determine the next
40 to 50 years of our lives right why
must our lives or rather our work lives
be so linear so black and white so
defined and let’s be honest this is
where we’ll spend the most of our time I
came to this realization through my own
experience and I believe we’re on the
onset of a new model a new renaissance
we’re combining our skills and our
passions across many disciplines is more
crucial than ever why technology just as
a printing press paved the ways for the
new ideals and innovations that helped
form the Renaissance
I believe automation is the technology
that is taking us to this next big shift
now automation may sound scary but
actually it gives us the opportunity to
reevaluate what makes us humans amazing
and I’m guessing that most of you in
this room can identify with that desire
so what does this mean for you and what
does this mean for business as usual if
we learn to combine our skills across
many different fields our way of being
becomes more diverse more fulfilled and
better prepares us for the world that’s
coming I bet we all know businesses that
are over departmentalized where job
titles leave people feeling divided
unfulfilled undervalued maybe some of
you have even applied for these jobs
with the narrow resume molded never
presenting your whole self imagine a
world that gets happened with people’s
full
potential where natural talents are able
to shine if we could create a culture or
a business that had more flexibility we
would have more flexibility across the
whole unit the business the world
everything because instead of a person
needing to take a day off or maybe it’s
a to themselves instead we would have a
whole pool of multi-talented problem
solvers right at our fingertips this is
the future I believe on and it’s the
present I live in now I came to this
realization a bit late in life I’m a bit
of a late bloomer here on this one I
thought I was living the dream I had a
home a dog a husband and a job with a
401k right do people still have those I
don’t know but what became a recurring
realization is that I was living
everyone else’s vision of my life except
my own it was time to make a shift and
that shift came with great sacrifice
I left the comfort and the stability of
a community I’d had for over 10 years
not to mention my favorite taco truck
and traded it in for the exciting and
highly unpredictable city of New York
after graduating with my MFA right New
Yorkers after graduating with my MFA
from NYU and performance design jobs
were scarce and as a freelancer waiting
for my industry to locate me was not an
opportunity I could afford so instead I
went looking outside of those parameters
using my core wheelhouse skills I
suddenly found that I was qualified to
do many things I even started working in
fields that didn’t even though they
needed me yet
I entered jobs and projects
not particularly knowing or being
specifically trained in the work but
instead embraced it as an opportunity
for learning and for growth I embraced
thee why not me
now you can be trained and one thing yes
perfectly normal but instead of letting
not one thing control us I believe we
can let that one thing allow us to
diversify how we work and how we live it
even gives us permission to create jobs
that don’t even exist yet and so today
that’s exactly what I do and while I
masterfully trained as a costume set
designer I taken these core competencies
and distilled them down even further to
storytelling for the body and the
environment
I consider this my medium just like your
medium might be numbers or space or food
by using this as my foundational
reference point I found ways to innovate
ways of working across many verticals
beginning with theatre and film and
expanding into fashion experience design
wearable technology and even working in
the field of sports and medicine if my
journey can be pioneer new ways of
working
why can’t yours I firmly believe that to
position yourself and the way that I
have you need to acutely view the world
at a very micro level you need to tap
into the vibrations around you and find
your superpower and then you let this
superpower guide your personal and
professional growth let it take you in
many diverse places
and embrace the not knowing and maybe
like me you might just fall in love with
your job each and every day there are
some challenges of working this way of
course without a definitive title people
sometimes don’t know how to locate you
and it’s natural to want to fit in how
can you be at the top of your game when
nobody knows what your game is but I
would like to suggest an alternative
mindset the combining your skills across
many fields actually gives you more
freedom more agency and more ways to
succeed by being open to the Whaley
Master artwork we gain the ability to
adapt we become more resilient and again
and the age of automation this will
prove to be indispensable even as we
speak new jobs are being formed at a
rapid pace replacing the rigid ones of
the past jobs well-paying jobs we never
could have even dreamed of with
technology and every aspect of our lives
there are new holes to fill and younger
generations are filling them with
creative and unprecedented untitled I
mean I’d like to be a meme Lord wouldn’t
you even kids today are identifying a
more fluid ways they’re shedding
archetypes shedding labels moving in and
other front groups listing different
types of music challenging gender norms
even the way they learn is shifting they
are ahead of the game and I propose we
join them this perspective shift yes
thank you let’s join them
we gotta hurry this perspective shift
does challenge our notion of success
we’re instead of checking boxes and
upward movement it looks more like a
Venn diagram there is a Japanese concept
to living a more fulfilled life called
it key guy it is less about success but
more about happiness and fulfillment it
combines how you need to make money what
you need what you’re good at and what
you love it is the intersection of these
four core ideals that is at the sweet
spot for a new authenticity it brings us
closer to our true selves so whatever it
may be that tool set that will house
that medium consider the possibility of
a new paradigm where work feels less
like work and more like a purpose so
even when you’re asked what do you do
you can actually answer with what you
love thank you
[Applause] [Music]
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