Natalie McCullough: "I was a bike guide and geologist and then a consultant -- it was not a straight line"

How I Got Here

A common career trope we hear constantly is to pick something, anything really, and focus entirely on it from the earliest age possible. Work 10,000 hours and you'll achieve success, or something of the like. Range, a book by David Epstein, pushes back on this advice. David argues that having a diverse set of experiences actually makes us better in the modern working world. In fact, it's important to explore and sample, because if you stick with something you don't like, you'll end up not only unhappy, but failing to achieve your full potential. Our guest today is an amazing case study of this winding and exploratory approach. Natalie McCullough, currently the President and Chief Commercial Officer at Guild Education, didn't start her career off in business. In fact, her first job out of college was as a geologist, doing environmental assessments on groundwater contamination. In this episode, Natalie shares her career journey from geologist, to bike guide, to management consultant, to finally where she is today: an executive business leader at a mission driven company, helping frontline employees get more education affordably.

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