APU Business Careers Careers & Learning

Step Out of Your Comfort Zone and Into a Career Adventure

leaping-into-new-jobBy Enid M. Naranjo, JD
Associate Professor, School of Business at American Public University

I would like to share an experience related to me by a colleague who has been a marketing professional for over 15 years and has worked in a variety of job settings from sports to entertainment, corporate events, and shopper marketing. It is a great story about the career opportunities that can open up when you step outside your comfort zone.

One of her most rewarding work experiences happened almost by accident. While working the NBA Jam Session as a publicist in Mexico City, she was being observed by a gentleman who happened to be at all of the events she had to work. At first, she wondered if he was interested in her romantically – but fortunately, that was not the case. The gentleman eventually introduced himself as the licensing director for Major League Baseball. MLB was about to launch their first Hispanic market license for bilingual trading cards and they were searching for someone to lead their Hispanic marketing efforts.

She wondered – “What did this have to do with me?” You see, she had no love for baseball and never envisioned herself working anywhere near sports.

The MLB licensing director stated that he had been observing her at each of the games and noticed that she was even tempered throughout her dealings with the players, the media, the staff, and the fans. He also heard some of the media interviews she participated in regarding NBA activities with the Hispanic market in the US and liked the perspective that she shared.

My colleague was just puzzled. Why not hire a Hispanic advertising or PR agency she asked? He stated he had vetted several of them and felt that they were too stodgy and not multi-faceted enough. Then she started to find every possible solution for their marketing problem and never stopped to think that she was the solution to the equation. Why?

Because it was just too far out of her own comfort zone!

While he continued to press her to consider the opportunity, she just kept coming up with more excuses not to do it because she knew nothing about baseball and it bored her to tears. Her final attempt at squashing this altogether was to present a proposal of what it would take to engage her for the assignment. She tried to attach the highest fee possible in order to deter him, but it didn’t work and it backfired – he accepted all of her terms and asked for her start date.

Little did she know that she was about to embark upon the adventure of a lifetime. She travelled to each MLB team in a high-density Hispanic market to analyze their engagement with the Hispanic community and upon completion, her report gave MLB very poor marks on the Hispanic end, and opened the door for her to be the first director of Hispanic marketing for Pacific Trading Cards.

She did this work for five great years and it taught her the biggest lesson of her life. Never say never when opportunity knocks, because you may miss out on one of the best experiences your life has to offer.

[Related: Try Out a New Career]

Have you considered stepping outside of your comfort zone? Here are some suggestions to give it a try:

  • Bring your skillset to a volunteer “executive” position. LinkedIn now has a tool called Volunteer Match where you can seek out opportunities that match your skillset and offer them to non-profits. It’s a great way to experience doing your work in different business settings.
  • Apply your talents within a start-up business. AngelList Talent is a great place to learn about start-ups in need of talent to support their growing business.
  • Start with one new project. Thumbtack allows you to create a profile and vie for projects that need your specific skillset.

About the Author: Enid M. Naranjo is full-time professor in the School of Business and Management. She has been teaching online classes in both English and Spanish since 2009. She is an expert in all aspects of Business Law but also specializes in student mentorship.

Comments are closed.