Is There Such a Thing As Being Too Passionate?
Some food for thought from something I heard during an interview at a BIG company.
As I’m sure you’ve heard / seen / learned by now, I’m job hunting. The market is tough, but I am tougher. It’s been a long 6 months, albeit, I’ve interviewed with some incredible brands during this time.
One of the high points of this shitty time has been interviewing for a job at TikTok Shop. I spent three+ weeks interviewing for a really cool role there, but didn’t land an offer. If I had gotten that job, my whole life would have changed. I would have moved away from the little life I’ve built in New York, and would have had to start from scratch in Seattle. I have a ton of family in WA, so maybe I would have had the best time...OR I’d be miserable. For now, I am keeping my fingers crossed for the universe’s grand plan, while actively interviewing for jobs I am very excited about.
At one such interview, the hiring manager expressed her concerns about this role failing to fulfill me. What she meant was, I came from such a high velocity environment in the start-up world that she was worried this corporate job may not excite me as much.
And so, a question came to mind: Is there such a thing as too much passion?
I may not agree with that, but I could see that it was a real concern for her—she wanted to make sure this job fulfilled the person signing the dotted line. You see, the thing is, when you see a high velocity environment from the outside, it seems chaotic and overwhelming. When you’re in the eye of the storm, it’s all but normal. The chaos becomes your every day. I was taking meetings at 11:30 pm, and starting my day at 8 am the next day, to talk to our teams in APAC—that was my normal.
Did I enjoy it? NO. Did I normalize it? Of course, I did. What choice did I have?
Anyway, what I really wanted to tell my interviewer was that I am no longer looking for my job to fuel my passion. I am very passionate about the work I do, but I don’t want to pour that fire into someone else’s legacy. I want to work hard, explore new avenues, and climb up the corporate ladder. But the passion, I am saving for my own legacy!
The legacy is ROSTER RADIO—LIVE, PODCAST, and JOURNAL.
If you haven’t heard yet, I rebranded my podcast and launched it as a multi-hyphenate platform. I’m hosting live panels (with a live audience) that will be recorded and published as podcasts, and hosting global podcast interviews on Zoom, all with experts from the beauty world. ROSTER RADIO: THE BEAUTY DISCOURSE is my second run, and it’s here to stay. My first event in New York City is scheduled for 7/2, and IT IS SOLD OUT. Not just is it an incredible, diverse panel, but it’s also a room full of equally inspiring peers. The cherry on top? The venue—Chief’s NYC clubhouse—is a place for the meeting of the greatest minds (women in the c-suite).
All this to say (in my humble opinion), passion is a superpower. It allows you to push the boundaries, make new rules, and challenge the norm, to make way for greatness. While I hope, with all my heart, that Roster Radio becomes the greatness I imagine it to be, it is my passion that will also keep me afloat if I fail. Let’s see which way the bat swings, yeah?