Everything Works

By Guido Rossetti, Growth Marketing Director.

When you finish school — at least in my case — you feel like going out and making a change in the world.

My aspirations ranged from being a professional NBA player to becoming CEO of a multinational company. But there was something in particular that interested me a lot: I was passionate about understanding the WHAT and HOW of the commercial success of things.

The problem was that I had no idea how to get started. In a more practical, earthy sense, I was clear about where my career was going to go, but I wasn’t sure how to approach it. I couldn’t sign up for careers that were 100% geared to my interests and, at the same time, I didn’t know what jobs would give me the experience I needed. As it turns out, the answer was very simple: everything works.

I found it out later, but it would have given me great peace of mind to have received a message in a bottle from the Guido of the future assuring me that there are no wrong paths, only forks in the road. I would have had the confidence and security to have tried some things that I avoided because of fears or insecurities. At that time I felt pressured not to make a mistake in my path; like in Interstellar, I felt that a small maneuver was going to take me 25 years, for some strange reason.

But now I know I wasn’t the only one. Some people have a very clear path in front of them, but I dare say that most people find it as they go along. I started the same way most people do: walking in a room with the light off and blindfolded.

The only thing clear to me was that I was going to sign up for Business Administration at UBA, even though anyone I told seemed to be a member of a conspiracy to prevent me from doing just that.

  • “It’s better for you to be an accountant, it gives you more money.”
  • “Public College? It’ll take you too long… You’d better go to a private one”.
  • “What are you going to administrate? Buildings?”

This, contrary to what one might expect, convinced me even more. It’s inevitable, the more people I get the more I’m attracted to the possibility of proving them wrong.

So, I signed up. Years later, I got my degree.

But, in the professional field, it was more complicated… Where do I start? I had no idea.

Some jobs asked for 10 years of experience and others had ridiculous conditions. Finally, I started with a friend of mine as an Insurance Auditor. It wasn’t a job I was particularly interested in, but it was fun to be with my friend.

I quit years later — something that gave my mother a heart attack — and decided to “do my own thing”…. That is, quit without even the prospect of another job. A week after I quit, I got on a plane for the first time.

(My first airplane trip; I went to New York. Another heart attack for my mom).

I had already studied English, but it was the first time I “needed” it. I came back from that trip with a million ideas, but with the precise idea of perfecting it so I could open more doors; have more opportunities. My brain could not conceive of not being able to communicate with other people, so I vowed never to be limited in that way again.

Then I got another job… and then another. On paper, it may seem like I didn’t know what I wanted, but for me it was a “discovery” stage. Like Homer, I can name you some of the jobs I had: Artist Manager, Waiter. Drummer, Event Producer, Tourist Guide, Insurance Auditor, Financial Analyst, Assistant Teacher, Videoclip Director, among others.

(A photographic review. Tour guide in Paris and Ireland, meeting huge groups of people and some wild friends; behind the drums, producing music events and many other things).

As a waiter I lost my fear of talking to strangers. As an Artist Manager I learned what an “ego” was. As a financial analyst I learned the importance of checking an account 20 times before declaring it as correct… All these experiences ended up being tools that I have available to me at all times and what gives me a particular perspective on some things. Who would think that the day-to-day dynamics of a tour guide is so similar to that of a salesperson?

But the discovery never ends.

(I’m now settled and in a role I love).

As for now, I’m administrating buildings…

Not true. I don’t do that (for the moment), but I must admit that the question I was asked some time ago was excellent; and, if I had to work on that, I know I would have done it in an excellent way and the industry would have rewarded me with a lot of learning.

Today, I’m Marketing Director at PSh and I don’t lose that “itch” that I believe I’ll never lose. Rather than calming it, I prefer to listen to it, to keep me always on the edge of my seat; because the most enriching experiences come from exposing yourself to situations that you fear or are completely unfamiliar with.

So don’t be discouraged if sometimes it seems like you’re wasting your time or someone tells you that you are lost doing this or that, believe me.

Everything works.

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