Do you have any like, final piece of advice for like me or
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00:00:03.770 --> 00:00:06.773 like younger people that you feel like
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00:00:07.841 --> 00:00:09.776 they need to know or like you want to give?
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00:00:09.776 --> 00:00:13.513 It can be overwhelming if you forecast forward too far.
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00:00:13.913 --> 00:00:16.449 If you like, really map out your life.
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00:00:16.449 --> 00:00:21.287 It's impossible first of all, because life is full of unexpected
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00:00:21.488 --> 00:00:24.724 twists and turns, but it's also overwhelming.
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00:00:24.724 --> 00:00:28.461 And then it can sort of overwhelm you to a point where you can't really
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00:00:28.795 --> 00:00:30.730 function or move forward.
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00:00:30.730 --> 00:00:34.868 So I like to think about it as like, sort of getting present with yourself
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00:00:35.035 --> 00:00:36.036 right now.
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00:00:36.036 --> 00:00:41.036 Where are you curious and what is the right thing, right now to go do?
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00:00:41.775 --> 00:00:43.543 What is the right next step?
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00:00:43.543 --> 00:00:46.546 But I would say, like, we all have an inner voice
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00:00:46.946 --> 00:00:49.616 and in any given moment is that inner voice
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00:00:49.616 --> 00:00:52.786 supporting you or is that inner voice undermining you?
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00:00:53.253 --> 00:00:56.990 And I think being able to have an awareness
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00:00:56.990 --> 00:00:59.225 of first of all, that you have this inner voice
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00:00:59.225 --> 00:01:02.695 and then also recognizing that it isn't you.
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00:01:03.229 --> 00:01:06.766 That voice is in there, but you get to choose
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00:01:06.766 --> 00:01:10.670 whether you let it undermine you or whether
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00:01:10.670 --> 00:01:15.041 you convert it to a voice that will support you from the inside.
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00:01:15.175 --> 00:01:16.209 I love that.
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00:01:16.209 --> 00:01:21.047 And think about it more in in terms of these small experiments, small steps,
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00:01:21.448 --> 00:01:23.783 instead of overwhelming yourself with the bigger picture.
 

2025 SXSW Conference
Interviewed in Austin, TX but works in Seattle, WA USA.

Each day is different—some mornings I’m deep in game design or planning new features, and other times I’m building partnerships or launching esports pilots with schools. I get to lead a team that brings learning to life through Minecraft, helping students stay curious and joyful. In my role, I’m surrounded by kind, heart-forward people who share a mission to make a real impact.

Head of Minecraft Education

You don't belong here. You're not smart enough and you haven't done enough.

Planning

Support & Encouragement

Focus On The Now And Take Small Steps

Now that you've kind of already, you know, walked
 2
00:00:03.169 --> 00:00:06.806 a good amount of, of miles on your, on your journey.
 3
00:00:07.440 --> 00:00:12.412 If you could kind of go back and just meet yourself
 4
00:00:12.779 --> 00:00:15.949 and say like you're my age, like 17, 18,
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00:00:15.982 --> 00:00:19.919 almost going to adulthood, really uncertain about things right now.
 6
00:00:20.387 --> 00:00:23.156 What would you tell him?
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00:00:23.156 --> 00:00:25.458 I think I'd tell myself a couple things.
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00:00:25.458 --> 00:00:27.093 Go hard.
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00:00:27.093 --> 00:00:30.096 You know, if you're going to do something,
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00:00:30.597 --> 00:00:32.532 really work at it.
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00:00:32.532 --> 00:00:35.535 And try to be good at the basics.
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00:00:35.802 --> 00:00:38.838 Turns out that being good at the basics really stands out,
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00:00:39.372 --> 00:00:42.242 because then folks can rely on you for things,
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00:00:42.242 --> 00:00:45.912 and then you'll have opportunities to get other opportunities and learn from there.
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00:00:46.146 --> 00:00:49.849 I'd tell myself take care of my body and take care of my spirit,
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00:00:49.849 --> 00:00:51.484 and take care of my soul.
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00:00:51.484 --> 00:00:55.088 That it wasn't all going to be, you know, that I had this.
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00:00:55.088 --> 00:00:59.325 I was working with this machine that I needed to take care of along the way.
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00:00:59.626 --> 00:01:01.694 And to pay attention to that part of myself.
 20
00:01:01.694 --> 00:01:04.464 And then I guess the last thing I'd say is that
 21
00:01:04.464 --> 00:01:07.734 the ability to plan things out is pretty limited.
 22
00:01:08.068 --> 00:01:11.438 I often quote the great philosopher Mike Tyson, who said that
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00:01:11.438 --> 00:01:14.441 everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face.
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00:01:14.707 --> 00:01:17.010 And I think life happens.
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00:01:17.010 --> 00:01:19.913 You know, and life sometimes can punch you in the face.
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00:01:19.913 --> 00:01:23.483 And so, have a plan is what I tell myself.
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00:01:23.950 --> 00:01:26.853 But be ready for that plan to fall apart.
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00:01:26.853 --> 00:01:27.287 Right.
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00:01:27.287 --> 00:01:29.722 And then figure out what you're going to do from there.
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00:01:29.722 --> 00:01:33.827 That's sort of the magic of life is like what do I do when the thing that
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00:01:33.827 --> 00:01:37.897 I plan to do when I get up in the morning and go outside, doesn't work out?
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00:01:37.897 --> 00:01:41.534 Am I open to that experience or am I going to resist
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00:01:41.534 --> 00:01:45.038 the reality that, you know, this thing has changed?
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00:01:45.038 --> 00:01:46.039 What happens then?
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00:01:46.039 --> 00:01:48.975 And that's where you're found family.
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00:01:48.975 --> 00:01:51.945 You know, your spiritual perspective,
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00:01:51.945 --> 00:01:55.648 how you've taken care of your physical and mental and emotional health,
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00:01:55.648 --> 00:01:59.752 what you know, what you've studied, what you've learned, how much you know
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00:01:59.752 --> 00:02:03.490 about yourself and how much you're willing to learn and connect with other people.
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00:02:03.523 --> 00:02:05.291 That's when all that comes into play.
 

2025 SXSW Conference
Interviewed in Austin, TX but works in Chicago, IL USA.
advanced-degree

Work hard at learning the basics of whatever it is you want to do. If you're really good at the basics, then people can rely on you, which can help open a lot of doors.

I lead external affairs at the Obama Foundation, where I build partnerships, connect with stakeholders, and support young leaders through My Brother’s Keeper. My days are filled with storytelling, guiding youth to lead change, and helping shape a future that honors those who came before us. Every day, I get to work alongside people creating the world I hope to grow old in.

Executive Vice President for External Affairs

Advice For Young Career Seekers

How did you figure out that you wanted to work with what you're working right now?
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00:00:05.271 --> 00:00:07.640 And I really want to know about
 3
00:00:07.640 --> 00:00:11.644 how do you made that decision and how did you get there?
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00:00:12.379 --> 00:00:13.279 Let me make this clear.
 5
00:00:13.279 --> 00:00:17.484 I didn't make that decision when I was 17 years old, it came a lot longer.
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00:00:17.484 --> 00:00:21.388 Like I said, I'm going around and around and around to find where I needed to be.
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00:00:21.588 --> 00:00:25.425 I will say this the younger you are, the more options you have,
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00:00:25.692 --> 00:00:30.030 because you're not burdened by certain responsibilities that you might be later.
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00:00:30.030 --> 00:00:33.199 So then your options are narrowed down and you can't make as many as you do.
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00:00:33.333 --> 00:00:37.737 So work backwards from what you like or what interests you
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00:00:38.038 --> 00:00:40.940 and what you're passionate about and just get through college.
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00:00:40.940 --> 00:00:44.044 It's not like you have to decide your entire life in college.
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00:00:44.210 --> 00:00:46.713 Yeah. And I'm saying the same advice to my son.
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00:00:46.713 --> 00:00:48.615 I'm just like, what are you passionate about?
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00:00:48.615 --> 00:00:50.583 Get through college and then figure it out.
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00:00:50.583 --> 00:00:53.887 Unless it's a very specific path in medicine or something
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00:00:53.887 --> 00:00:58.224 that you actually need to start taking courses that lead you to that goal.
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00:00:58.224 --> 00:01:02.295 But for most people, if you ask them what they majored in college
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00:01:02.295 --> 00:01:05.932 and what they do for a living now, it's not exactly the same.
 

2025 SXSW Conference
Interviewed in Austin, TX but works in Washington, DC USA.

You aren't supposed to have your career path figured out at 17 years old, but if you have an idea of what you're interested in and what drives you, then follow that. I realized early on that I was driven by service to my community. From there, I was willing to take chances and find inspiration anywhere. Try anything. If someone wants you in a room, show up and be loud. Try out all avenues and stay connected to that core value driving you.

I get to dream big and make it real—whether it’s developing a Latino-themed Minecraft game or teaching kids to code. I work closely with students, teachers, and parents, building programs that blend creativity and purpose. Every day brings a new challenge, but it’s all about impact—amplifying voices, creating community, and empowering young people to lead. I’m fueled by inspiration and driven by service.

President & CEO

You need to decide your career path before going to college.

Work Backwards From Your Interests

There is no one way to get to anywhere.
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00:00:02.535 --> 00:00:06.239 I think there is a misconception that you need to check off particular boxes
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00:00:06.239 --> 00:00:09.209 or that you need to have accomplished certain things at certain times
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00:00:09.209 --> 00:00:11.911 or like your educational career has to look a particular way in order
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00:00:11.911 --> 00:00:14.381 for you to accomplish something in particular.
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00:00:14.381 --> 00:00:18.084 But that's just not how human lives work, right?
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00:00:18.084 --> 00:00:20.020 That's not how our society works.
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00:00:20.020 --> 00:00:24.891 And so I think we shouldn't write ourselves off when we don't maybe
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00:00:24.891 --> 00:00:29.129 accomplish something that we wanted to at a- by a certain date or in a certain way.
 10
00:00:29.295 --> 00:00:30.697 You know, I certainly did not get
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00:00:30.697 --> 00:00:34.134 the best grades ever in high school, but I'm now a Ph.D.
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00:00:34.134 --> 00:00:34.701 candidate.
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00:00:34.701 --> 00:00:37.270 And a lot of that has to do with, like endurance
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00:00:37.270 --> 00:00:41.241 and just the fact that I like doing this job.
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00:00:41.307 --> 00:00:45.578 So really people I think, need to allow themselves
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00:00:45.578 --> 00:00:50.550 the grace to figure out like their own paths and to not expect
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00:00:50.550 --> 00:00:55.121 too much of themselves in the sense of thinking that the molds and that
 18
00:00:55.121 --> 00:00:59.793 the pathways that are outlined for us, you know, being able to take
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00:00:59.793 --> 00:01:03.596 those as references is a good, you know, a good to help us like plan.
 20
00:01:03.830 --> 00:01:06.032 But again, you can't plan everything.
 21
00:01:06.032 --> 00:01:07.801 You can't expect everything.
 22
00:01:07.801 --> 00:01:11.905 And when you try to stick to a plan like too tightly,
 23
00:01:11.905 --> 00:01:15.141 I think that also closes you off from a lot of opportunities that you otherwise
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00:01:15.708 --> 00:01:16.943 wouldn't have encountered.
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00:01:16.943 --> 00:01:21.381 Like, you know, I kind of decided to apply to this program on a whim.
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00:01:21.714 --> 00:01:24.084 It wasn't something I had planned for to go to grad school
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00:01:24.084 --> 00:01:26.319 because no one ever told me I really should.
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00:01:26.319 --> 00:01:30.490 So if I had just thought, well, you know, I don't have good grades.
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00:01:30.657 --> 00:01:33.460 I didn't do these things by this date.
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00:01:33.460 --> 00:01:35.361 I shouldn't go to grad school. I wouldn't be here.
 

2024 VOHE Roadtrip
first-in-family
advanced-degree

I recommend attending a community college first and then working as a political practitioner either before, during, or after earning a four-year bachelor's degree before attending graduate school.

I come from an Asian refugee family and often felt othered by my peers in the affluent conservative community I grew up in.

In my higher education journey, there's rarely been a time where I wasn't working at least two jobs while going to school. I love academia but I'm not always able to focus completely on it because I have to supplement myself through other work.

As a Ph.D. candidate, I study immigrant and refugee communities and issues of poverty and immigration enforcement. My family is Vietnamese, so I'm really interested in examining how welfare programs, policing, and immigration enforcement systems impact our community. As a teaching assistant, I run discussion sections, where I help students understand class material, answer any questions, and prepare for assignments. I also hold office hours and spend a lot of time grading.

Teaching Assistant

Choices

Exploration

It’s Okay To Take Different Paths

The biggest
 2
00:00:01.401 --> 00:00:03.236 thing that I had to overcome, which in some ways
 3
00:00:03.236 --> 00:00:04.938 is even a struggle for me right now.
 4
00:00:04.938 --> 00:00:08.708 I am in the writing process for four different books
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00:00:08.708 --> 00:00:10.577 right now, including The Uncommons.
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00:00:10.577 --> 00:00:13.013 They're all at various bits and they all have deadlines
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00:00:13.013 --> 00:00:15.982 due across the next, maybe like three or four weeks.
 8
00:00:16.016 --> 00:00:20.220 But I'm in a place right now where some people call it mission drift.
 9
00:00:20.220 --> 00:00:23.757 I say we just took on some things that are kind of over our capacity a little bit,
 10
00:00:24.024 --> 00:00:27.794 but the thing that is making it over our capacity is not the organization,
 11
00:00:27.994 --> 00:00:28.895 it's me.
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00:00:28.895 --> 00:00:33.233 I made myself a bottleneck for a bunch of different things in the org
 13
00:00:33.566 --> 00:00:36.369 because I wasn't clear on what I wanted
 14
00:00:36.369 --> 00:00:40.173 to dedicate my time to and spend my time doing as a leader.
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00:00:40.573 --> 00:00:43.043 I knew what I wanted our impact to be.
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00:00:43.043 --> 00:00:46.913 So I started taking on a bunch of things, but I didn't think about what role
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00:00:46.913 --> 00:00:48.314 I played in that end goal.
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00:00:48.314 --> 00:00:53.314 And as a result, I didn't develop a plan for where I stop
 19
00:00:53.386 --> 00:00:57.791 and where a team member begins, what I do and what gets delegated somewhere else.
 20
00:00:57.791 --> 00:01:02.529 And I think what happens is people take advantage of like our innocence
 21
00:01:02.529 --> 00:01:06.900 sometimes like the altruism, the desire to like, do something positive.
 22
00:01:07.167 --> 00:01:08.268 And they go, Well, that's cool.
 23
00:01:08.268 --> 00:01:10.737 You can burn yourself out doing that. That's okay.
 24
00:01:10.870 --> 00:01:14.207 And I think the way to avoid that and also
 25
00:01:14.207 --> 00:01:17.477 to give yourself some clarity on where do I start, where do I begin?
 26
00:01:17.677 --> 00:01:19.679 Is like, what am I doing?
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00:01:20.880 --> 00:01:23.716 What would make me feel good as an executive director?
 28
00:01:23.750 --> 00:01:25.919 Like, there are always going to be parts of your job that you don't like,
 29
00:01:26.019 --> 00:01:29.823 but if you were like every day I wake up and 90% of
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00:01:29.823 --> 00:01:33.893 my job is stuff that I actually want to do, what's that?
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00:01:34.194 --> 00:01:37.597 If I am happy about how I'm spending majority of my time,
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00:01:37.764 --> 00:01:39.032 what am I doing every day?
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00:01:39.032 --> 00:01:40.934 Because that will let you know what you're not doing.
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00:01:40.934 --> 00:01:43.603 So, for example, I don't like working with schools.
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00:01:44.070 --> 00:01:45.271 They frustrate me.
 36
00:01:45.271 --> 00:01:46.773 And the reason that they frustrate me
 37
00:01:46.773 --> 00:01:50.076 is for whatever reason, like the way that a product gets into a school
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00:01:50.076 --> 00:01:53.313 very often, it's not about the strength of the product, it's about the strength
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00:01:53.313 --> 00:01:58.251 of the budget that you have to go and pay these gatekeepers like 20, 25K
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00:01:58.418 --> 00:02:00.587 to go sit with these three superintendents
 41
00:02:00.720 --> 00:02:01.821 that'll then implement it
 42
00:02:01.821 --> 00:02:04.124 in like one or two schools and gradually scale it out
 43
00:02:04.124 --> 00:02:05.959 and then go tell their superintendent buddies
 44
00:02:05.959 --> 00:02:09.629 regardless of like what impact it's actually having.
 45
00:02:09.796 --> 00:02:12.332 Post-COVID, we started offering the product for free
 46
00:02:12.332 --> 00:02:14.467 and like not even dealing with monetization
 47
00:02:14.467 --> 00:02:16.102 from like school leaders entirely
 48
00:02:16.102 --> 00:02:19.272 because I realized that was not a game that I wanted to be a part of.
 49
00:02:19.906 --> 00:02:23.276 I don't want to be at these conferences like two times
 50
00:02:23.276 --> 00:02:26.913 a month standing in front of a booth with my cape on like a zoo animal.
 51
00:02:27.213 --> 00:02:27.914 So cool.
 52
00:02:27.914 --> 00:02:30.250 How do you build a business where you don't have to do that?
 53
00:02:30.517 --> 00:02:32.085 Well, I know how not to do it now.
 54
00:02:32.085 --> 00:02:33.853 Like some people say, Just try it.
 55
00:02:33.853 --> 00:02:35.822 You'll try this, you'll fail here and then you'll improve
 56
00:02:35.822 --> 00:02:38.491 and you'll go here and I'm like, That's cool.
 57
00:02:38.491 --> 00:02:40.460 But I also feel like we get told to do that
 58
00:02:40.460 --> 00:02:43.129 because people take advantage of how like generous we are.
 59
00:02:43.463 --> 00:02:45.698 And people are like, Well, you care about the work.
 60
00:02:45.698 --> 00:02:48.601 So even if you keep running into walls, you'll keep going.
 61
00:02:49.169 --> 00:02:50.904 But I don't want to run into walls.
 62
00:02:50.904 --> 00:02:53.006 I don't and I don't want you to have to do that either.
 

I got to where I am because I had a very clear and strong vision about what I wanted. You'll get farther if you honestly ask yourself the question, "What do I want?" Rather than charting your path based on what sounds good in a Forbes interview or in a Nobel prize acceptance speech, figure out what you actually want when it's only you that you're answering to.

I dealt with mental health issues as a child. I know how it feels to have a person who caress about you be in a leadership position and how it feels like to wish someone in leadership cared about you. That perspective drew me to the work I do today.

Writer & Influencer

Your project on media misrepresentation isn't what we cover.

Pressure

Prioritize Your Time

How did you kind of choose which thing to do next? What led you to each of your different battles that you chose to fight, I guess, that you chose to fight? &gt;&gt; I've always said yes to things. And it's taking me into some very strange places. But when I look back on my life and ask your parents, ask your friends who are older, if they look back on their lives, was it the thing that they had a five-year plan for where they followed that plan? Was that the thing that brought them the most happiness, the most joy? Or was it serendipity? How do they weigh the effect of careful planning of a career? Versus those kinds of serendipitous synchronicity meetings that have occurred to them. And if it is the serendipity, then open yourself up for those things. So I would always be prepared for letting a little bit of magic in. 

2023 IMAG Roadtrip
Virtual Interview
advanced-degree
Interviewed in unknown but works in unknown (used Berkeley because it's the location of Seva Foundation).

Author & Technologist

Chance

Opportunities & Possibilities

Building A Career Path On Serendipitous Moments

What does your work-life balance kinda look like in this industry? &gt;&gt; My role is a little bit different in that I don't participate in direct patient care all day but for nurses that work with patients daily that you can have anything from an 8 hour shift, to a 10 hour shift, and 12 hour shift. So you can kind of take and pick or help, form your plan for your week if you want three days off or four days off in a row, something like that. You can pick and choose, they're pretty malleable with their staffing and scheduling. So it's important to everybody to have a good work-life balance because you're more efficient at work and your happier at home too. &gt;&gt; I hear this stereotype of people in the medical field, they're always at work, they have no time for home, they just have no time for their kids. Did you ever struggle with that? &gt;&gt; Yes, and being on different shifts, that can definitely affect home-life things, it's how you make it work. You just find a way because a lot of times, in healthcare, you start not on the ideal shift to start with, whether that be first shift, second shift, third shift, so you just make do until your time comes to get the shift that you want. And being on call is also part of being in healthcare, so you need to be fairly close to a hospital. And so you have to think about a lot of things, where you wanna live, the types of hospitals or facilities close to you, those kinds of things. 

I'd recommend pursuing educational goals uninterrupted. If a bachelor's degree in nursing is the ultimate goal, I would recommend attending a baccalaureate nursing program opposed to an ADN program and completing bridged RN-BSN coursework.

I meet patients prior to having surgery to teach about the entire surgery and recovery process. I round on post-surgical patients to promote successful recoveries. I remain as a resource to patients after discharging from the hospital in the event any questions or concerns arise during their recovery period.

Spine and Total Joint Replacement Navigator

Adversity

Work-Life Balance In The Medical Field

There's always a fear in taking a risk, right? And I think for some people they can manage that fear more easily than others. I have gotten to a point again with my education and experience that I'm very comfortable taking risks, knowing that I always have a backup plan [LAUGH] or three or four backup plans if something doesn't work out. So I would strongly encourage plans B, C, D, and all of the above. And then I would say the more you can research what your next move is or what you're interested in doing, and that includes you can look up salary information online, you can look up job growth online. The Bureau of Labor Statistics is a place that I and my team regularly go to when we're looking at creating a new program to see what the outlook is for particular jobs. So doing that kind of research, I think provides you with a measure of security but also I think having those backup plans if something doesn't turn out the exact way you would hope it does, then you have a plan B to go to or a C or a D. 

2023 WISC Virtual Interviews
advanced-degree

I recommend trying out a healthcare role first to see if it's right for you. There are so many different jobs within healthcare and not all of them are for everyone. Try an entry-level clinical role like an EKG tech or a certified nursing assistant. The hands-on experience will be great for helping you decide if it's right for you.

Growing up, my family was at the poverty level. Fortunately, my dad was working in healthcare and was trained on the job for sonography, which greatly influenced our economic status. That pushed me to look into imaging as a career as well.

Planning

Focus On The Now And Take Small Steps

Focus On The Now And Take Small Steps

Allison Matthews

168 videos on Planning: