S1E23: Searching for Your Sweet Spot: The Courage to Change Career Paths

Summary: 

Our guest today, Evan Hacker, shares his fascinating journey from aspiring rapper to teaching English in China for eight years, then pivoting to software engineering before finding his sweet spot in book marketing with Book Thinkers. 

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Through Evan's story of multiple career transitions, listeners gain insight into the value of self-reflection, the courage required to pivot from comfortable but unfulfilling roles, and how seemingly disconnected experiences can ultimately weave together into a cohesive career path. 

Evan's refreshing perspective that "life is long—too long to be stuck in something that's not making you happy" offers valuable wisdom for anyone navigating their own professional journey. 

 
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Transcript

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Searching for Your Sweet Spot - The Courage to Change Career Paths 

Evan: [00:00:00] A lot of people say you're just jumping around from thing to thing to thing, and that's one way to look at it. But the way I like to look at it is I'm gaining experience, I'm gaining skills, and I'm trusting myself to try different things at different times.  

Georgi: Did you know the average person will work 90,000 hours in their lifetime? 

Georgi: What if you could use those hours to find fulfillment? And become a disruptor for good. Welcome to the work that's Worth It. Podcast. I'm Georgi Enthoven, and I'm here to demonstrate that an ambitious, meaningful, and rewarding career is not just a dream. It's achievable. Each episode will dive into conversations with global change makers who crack the code on com. 

Georgi: Binding income and impact. If you've ever felt like you were torn between a paycheck and your purpose, or maybe you simply yearn for more purpose, you're going to be exposed to the ambitious humans who have done it themselves ready to make your work worth it. Let's get started.[00:01:00]  

Georgi: Today, I'll be introducing you to a wonderful guest, Evan Hacker. Who came from a small town, yet his curiosity pushed him all the way to the other side of the world and back. He started as a rapper, then explored being an English teacher, and after a handful of interesting pit stops, he's now excited to be helping authors like me expand their reach. 

Georgi: Our conversation really got me thinking about timing. 90,000 hours is a long career. To put that in perspective. Every 10 years of your career, you spend approximately 20,000 hours at work, and those first 20,000 hours are best spent experimenting as you identify your advantages and lean into them, plus figure out what you really care about. 

Georgi: But this can go on well beyond the first 10 years, especially without guidance. So how do we arrive at the place where we feel fulfilled earlier in our journey? That's something I obsess over. While researching my book, I developed a simple two by two [00:02:00] framework that helps clients identify where they are now and what they need to address to get to a place where they want to be. 

Georgi: On one axis is good for you meeting your own personal needs, and on the other it's good for the world contributing positively to society. When combined, these factors create the magic formula for fulfillment becoming what I call a disruptor for good. Many of us experience multiple quadrants through our careers. 

Georgi: The others are the replaceable employee, the uninspired achiever. The unrewarded do-gooder, and I certainly have touched on all four. Like many, I spent years taking what I call the scenic route zigzagging without a clear direction about where I was talented and what I wanted to contribute overall. Our guest today is still on his journey to becoming a disruptor for good. 

Georgi: Many of our other guests have already crafted their career, finding their sweet spot of good for you and good for the world, and that's why I was drawn to Evan's [00:03:00] story since he is still experimenting to uncover his right path, which might well be helping authors expand their reach at book thinkers where he's now. 

Georgi: In our conversation, you'll hear a talented, kind and curious professional searching for his career sweet spot through multiple pivots. Listen and see if his zigzagging path resonates with you, your experience. Hi, really great to have you on the work that's worth the podcast.  

Evan: Hey, Georgi. Thank you very much. 

Georgi: Yeah. Well, I don't know too much other than I know that you have had a career that has not been linear and has involved some pivots, and we'd love to learn more about those today. But why don't we start when you went to college and what you went to college for, what you thought you were going to be. 

Evan: Absolutely. I think there's been a lot of pivots. So many pivots. It's kind of like a spiral at this point, but I enjoy that and I'm excited to get into all of those pivots as we continue. So [00:04:00] looking back at college, I am from a small town in Massachusetts and I always wanted to go somewhere bigger and explore the world. 

Evan: So for me, the first step was to go to school in Chicago. I also wanted to go there because I was rapping at the time throughout high school, middle school. I like to write raps, record them, and have fun with my friends performing them. So I went to school in Chicago to study music business. My thought was I was gonna make all these connections in music business. 

Evan: It would either be a career full of my own music or working with others who I thought were on the right track to making it.  

Georgi: Yeah. So you had big dreams and what happened?  

Evan: Well, I enjoyed it for about a year in college, which was the eighth, I believe, the eighth of my rap music career. But during that year, I kind of. 

Evan: More exposed to what really goes on in the music industry, and I felt a lot of it was fake. A lot of what I gotta experience firsthand was fake. So I was still grateful for the experience [00:05:00] to be there. And I still made some friends that I'm still in touch with to this day, but I decided that I didn't wanna spend the next 10, 20, 30, or longer years going down that, yes, at that time, one of the was very interested in. 

Evan: Was one of the pivot points for me. Seeing his experience with the Japanese language made me wanna start exploring that, and that led into my next step in the journey,  

Georgi: your next adventure. So it sounds like you were disillusioned by what you thought that wrapping slash business career could be, and then were open to looking for new opportunities. 

Georgi: And so what about Ja Japan or Japanese intrigued you?  

Evan: It was the fact that it was very different. Just the world was different, the language was different. Everything. You know, it's ABCs own alphabet, seeing. Mind blowing to me and it excited me. [00:06:00] And from that, I decided to try to teach myself. As I was figuring out my next step on the college journey, I successfully taught myself one of the three alphabets used in Japanese. 

Evan: And at that same time, I started reflecting on what did I really like in school? I wanted to take a step back, what did I like in high school and. 

Evan: And so I wanted to go back to school and study history instead of music business, but I wanted to use this newfound love of languages and kind of combine that with history. So that led me to start to pursue other cultures and other languages, and that led me to Japanese, which then we can get into, led me to Chinese and China, and the next step of the journey, the next pivot. 

Georgi: Yeah. So definitely coming from a small town influenced your decisions. 'cause it sounds like what's a common thread in all of this is you wanted to discover a bigger world. You wanted to explore and have adventures.  

Evan: Absolutely. I was always interested [00:07:00] in things that were just different. Whether it was, like I said, the language, the food, the culture. 

Evan: That was something that always excited me. So at first I thought, Chicago, that's a big city. That's a big enough difference. And although I had a good time there, I said, this is not a big enough change. I wanted something, an even bigger change.  

Georgi: Yeah, the listeners can't see it, but you have a big smile on your face and it just keeps getting bigger as you talk about the bigger changes. 

Georgi: So there's something that really got you excited about throwing yourself way out of your comfort zone.  

Evan: Absolutely, and I think that goes back as far as I can remember. Even with rap music, a lot of people were like, why did you just suddenly stop? I felt that I achieved what I wanted to in terms of recording and in terms of performing, and a challenge, a bigger challenge. 

Georgi: Yeah. Next. You had mentioned China. Did you end up in China?  

Evan: Yes. So what I ended up doing after that year and a half in Chicago was moving back to Massachusetts, attending Bridgewater State University, which was about 20 minutes away from the home that I grew up in. [00:08:00] So I graduated from there. But while I was there, I studied history and I took a Japanese class after the first semester. 

Evan: I thought this is kind of fun, but I didn't love the language as much as I expected. One of the guys in my class, he said, oh, you should consider Chinese. There's less different kind of writing system that's related, and you should just check it out, see what you think. So I tried that first semester and I fell in love with it. 

Evan: I had already loved Chinese food and loved the sounds of the Chinese language, but I wanted to really dive into it. So when I was there, I studied it for one semester. And then one of the professors told me if I chose to study for another semester for Chinese 1 0 2, they would send me to Beijing for a summer. 

Evan: So I thought, you know, that's a, a perfect opportunity. Let's do it. So I did that, and then it was the summer of 2013 I spent in Beijing traveling around the city, seeing all of the. Landmarks and learning the language for a few hours a day. [00:09:00] While I was there, I decided this is the next challenge. I was sure this is exactly what I wanted to do. 

Evan: So I came back to the States graduated, and then I got a master's degree in international studies, which allowed me to spend one more year teaching English in China, and that one year turned a second. Third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh. I spent about eight years there in China teaching English.  

Georgi: Okay. 

Georgi: Teaching English? Yes. Yeah. And what came next?  

Evan: Well, there were a lot of things in there that were minor pivots. I was always teaching English, but I tried to find ways to make it unique. One was just teaching at the university where I was, felt like it wasn't enough of a, a challenge or an adventure. So I also started teaching on social media. 

Evan: Using English with Evan was the name I was using at the time, making short videos or doing live calls with students who wanted to practice English from all around the world. And that was exciting. And then my wife and I opened an English school and an English summer camp in China. [00:10:00] So all of that was going well. 

Evan: But then something happened, you may have heard of in the end of 2019, early 2020 was Covid. And that was an interesting experience being in China at that time. But it really made me stop and think, what did I wanna do next? What I realized was I wanted to come back and duplicate or recreate the successes I was having in China back in the States with my wife here in the United States. 

Evan: So we came back in 2021 and yeah, moved back to the states and we're ready for the next step of the adventure.  

Georgi: Yeah. So having Covid come across your life allowed you to reflect on maybe even how deep your roots were and your commitment to being in China, and that made you think about, okay, maybe this is not the place long term for us. 

Evan: Yes, and it wasn't even that like I wanted to leave a. Place. It was again, just that I wanted a bigger challenge and it felt like it would be a bigger, more interesting adventure to come back at that point. So it wasn't that I never wanted to [00:11:00] go back there or I wanted to get out, it was more so I just was ready for whatever the next step was. 

Evan: Yeah.  

Georgi: Yeah. And so back to the us, how was that transition coming home?  

Evan: Interestingly enough, it was much harder to adjust to being back in the States after about eight years than it was when I first moved to China. I'm not sure exactly why that is. I do reflect on it a lot, and I think part of it was. I was 22 when I first went to China, so I wasn't really reflecting or thinking that much. 

Evan: I kind of just took a leap of faith, whereas coming back at about 30, I spent a lot more time thinking about my future, what I wanted for myself, for our family, and it was just difficult to come back because. While I spent those eight years learning Chinese and learning how to teach and learning a lot more about myself, I felt in some ways that I was behind in the job market, that my friends and classmates were eight years ahead of me for. 

Georgi: Yeah, that's so interesting that you say that. So that pressure sort of felt like it was mounting [00:12:00] and coming back to the US, which is a highly competitive culture of what people talk about, their ambitious goals and their successes a lot. Probably brought it all to the forefront.  

Evan: Absolutely. And you know, I had this idea in my head that I would go learn Chinese in one year, which. 

Evan: Looking back was kind of impossible. It takes a lot more than that, but my thought was I would learn in one year and I would come back to the States and people would be lining up to hire me because I'm an American guy who could speak English. But I learned that is not the case. Most jobs that I was looking at, they didn't really care. 

Evan: Like it was a nice addition if you could speak Chinese, but they cared a lot more about what you studied in school or what. 

Evan: Framing that or translating that of how did I teach for eight years and run my own teaching business? How was that gonna help with a job here in the States?  

Georgi: Yeah, so really understanding that transferable skills was trickier than imagined. Like obviously you had built a lot of skills, but getting that into a way that companies could recognize that and appreciate it and give value to those [00:13:00] eight years was harder for you than expected. 

Evan: Absolutely. That's right.  

Georgi: Yeah. How were you able to break the ice and move on from there?  

Evan: I applied to a lot of different jobs. I figured what I needed to do was really reintegrate with American society, so I was kind of just looking for anything. I thought maybe something in sales where I could sell using my Chinese language skills, but even that, I was not getting callbacks for jobs, and this was at the height of the pandemic on the US side, so it was really tough for everyone. 

Evan: But I felt like things were really hard for me based on my. Lack of US based work experience. So I spent a few months trying to learn this, trying to learn that, figure out what I could do, and then I came across the opportunity to do a software engineering bootcamp, which is something that I had a little bit of an interest in before I had tried to teach myself basics of computer programming with just. 

Evan: HTML, CSS and the beginnings of Python. So I thought this would be a really good opportunity. It's a program that's three, about three to four months, [00:14:00] and I would be able to make the connections and learn the skills. And then I thought as soon as I graduate, then I'll be able to find a job.  

Georgi: Yeah, it's like always. 

Georgi: And then, and then, and then I need this. And then stepping  

Evan: stones.  

Georgi: What I am amused by on your story so far, Evan, is your ambition. You don't choose the easy path, correct?  

Evan: Correct.  

Georgi: You choose some very hard tasks. So how did that go? How did that program work out for you?  

Evan: Well, I definitely would say it worked out, and this is another thing I've been thinking over for the last few years, like, did it work? 

Evan: Did it not work? But it was a big financial investment for me to get into this. So a lot of the money that I had saved in China, I put towards this, and I was able to earn that back because I got a job soon after graduating. However, I knew from probably day two or day three that this wasn't something I was passionate about at all. 

Evan: I felt that it was very solitary. It was just me talking to someone on. Isolated [00:15:00] job, which I learned is not good for me and my personality. I love chatting with people, getting to know them, getting to know their stories. So I knew early on this was not for me, but I had no idea what the next step would be or should be. 

Evan: So I kind of just put my head down and, and stuck through it and tried to convince myself that it was right, and I just needed more time. That went on for almost two. 

Evan: I didn't wanna be stuck in this position forever, and I know that I had to face it head on and just admit that this was not the right field and the not the right role for me. So I tried to apply for other jobs. Again, I wasn't hearing back. And so even though I was discouraged, I said, I know you shouldn't really leave one job until you have another one lined up. 

Evan: But I trusted myself and I trusted the process. So I decided to leave this job where I was doing software engineering. What's next? My favorite question?  

Georgi: Yeah. Yeah, [00:16:00] so for you, it's really important to actually have the time to try stuff before you know if you'd like it. And that can be expensive and costly on time, and also the investment you make. 

Georgi: But it seems like for you, that is the way that you will know if you're in the right spot or not.  

Evan: Absolutely. I also think it can be very expensive to stay somewhere for too long because you think you should, or you think you have to. And like I said, in this situation, I did not lose money the way I look at it. 

Evan: I did not lose money. However, even if I did, I think that is okay sometimes as long as you, you know, you have faith in yourself and you're, you either have a plan or have the beginning of a plan and know that you're working towards something that's fit.  

Georgi: Yeah. Was it harder having a partner in this situation? 

Georgi: 'cause you've gotta get somebody else on board as well, or maybe it was easier, maybe you had the support and somebody else's financial stability to help you through these transitions.  

Evan: That's a really good question, and when I've shared this story with people, they kind of jump right [00:17:00] to that and that is an important part. 

Evan: I would say. There's pros and cons. I mentally felt a lot more pressure, like as the man I felt I was supposed provide for my family, and I still feel that way. And so there was a lot of pressure, like, what if I'm not making money soon? Or what if we end up going through all the money that we had saved for years? 

Evan: But on the other side, my wife is very supportive and she knew that I wasn't happy in what I was doing. And we both believed that happiness is extremely important for life and for success. So I had her support there. But also, as you mentioned, financially. She in the same time started her own business, a handmade crochet business. 

Evan: So I was able to step in and help out with that a little bit, even though all the successes for her. And that took some of the financial strain off of that, and I was less concerned about finding the next thing right away. I was more concerned with finding the right opportunity.  

Georgi: Yeah, so you were really in the right partnership that allowed the two of you to be supportive of each other's quest for [00:18:00] happiness in work. 

Georgi: And it sounds like you were able to use some of your time to actually help advance her goals, her desires.  

Evan: Yep, absolutely.  

Georgi: Yeah, so you took some time off. What kind of reflections did you do? Did you do anything formally or was this just thinking on your own, or what was it that helped you try and gather the right information of what would be right for you? 

Evan: So a little bit of both. I got a little bit more into reflective writing, which I have journaled every day since I believe 2019, mid 2019. That's helped me immensely on this journey, but especially in that time rather than just like a little block every day. I was going through pages of thinking of my past, looking at pictures. 

Evan: Reflecting on things that I liked and things that I didn't like. And then the reverse of that was thinking of the future things that I wanted, things that I didn't want. And I was frustrated because I didn't have like one clear answer. I was hoping there's a job title and like this is what I need to go [00:19:00] for and there should be a clear path. 

Evan: But I realized that. In my successes and happiness in the past, I did not have a clear title and a clear path. It was more enjoying the moment and learning from experience and again, reflecting on it. So I decided to try that again. I, for a short term, worked in real estate. I had my real estate license down here in North Carolina, and that was an interesting opportunity where I knew it wasn't something I really wanted to do. 

Evan: But I knew that I could make some money and make some interesting connections using my Chinese language skills. And then also just getting to know the city that I lived in, the area that I lived in as someone who's not from here. So I was able to help people who moved to the area, whether they were coming from another country or just from another city and state. 

Evan: So I did that for a little while, but that time I was still reflecting. I end. 

Evan: With my mind [00:20:00] rather than just in sales.  

Georgi: Okay. So your ambition like that, that, um, nagging voice just kept nudging you to continue to pursue something that would be more fulfilling?  

Evan: Yes.  

Georgi: Yeah. Where did you land?  

Evan: So now I. But the, the most current part of the story is I work with book Thinkers, which is a book marketing agency that markets books, and I have the chance to work with amazing authors who write books about business or personal development or work, and that's. 

Evan: An opportunity that I really love because every day I get to meet people who are experts in different fields or they have experience in different fields. And I feel like I can learn so much from not only their books, but the conversations I get to have with them and the team that I work with is also really inspiring. 

Evan: And that's something that I think is very underrated in work. Is the people you work with, do they, you know, do they lift you up or bring you down? And everyone that I [00:21:00] work with right now really lifts me up and makes me want to. Continue my journey and continue to improve.  

Georgi: Yeah. So you found for now work that's worth it? 

Evan: Absolutely. I would say percent.  

Georgi: Yeah. I am imagining as you're working with all these authors, it is a way of traveling in their experience or having these adventures through the authors and understanding different perspectives or different mindsets of learning. And that probably fulfills your desire to shake things up and have things be new. 

Georgi: And then this idea of connection with people and that be such a important part of your day in software. It sounds like it was lonely and isolating, and so you were able to. Find a role where you're able to get the aspects of adventure and connection.  

Evan: Yep, 100%. I think having that environment where it's changing every day, but always changing in a positive direction and just networking with these people. 

Evan: And also, another piece that I love [00:22:00] is I like to celebrate other people's wins, to celebrate with them and for them. So when somebody has an upcoming book and I'm working with them and then they have that book released, I might be just as excited as they are because I wanna see how it does. And I also just like not only learning from them in terms of what put in their book. 

Evan: How they came up with their book. Because as someone who likes to write as as a hobby, I think that's something that may, in my future, I would like to write a book in the, and be able to have conversations with so many people who have already done and.  

Georgi: Yeah. So tapping into stories and storytelling is exciting. 

Evan: Yes.  

Georgi: Yeah. Now, if we go back and think about what you would've done differently, perhaps in your experience, is there anything that you would've trimmed out or edited if you had the chance?  

Evan: Honestly no. And not in terms of work. The one piece of, I like to say I have no regrets. The only thing I do wish I did was start journaling earlier. 

Evan: I know I [00:23:00] mentioned that. I think I said 20 mid 2019. Yeah. I love looking back at that and I think as I continue my journey of life, I'll always look back at that. I wish I did that a little earlier because I would like to know what was I thinking in you The early, so workwise, even though. Some of the things on my journey, they were not what I really wanted. 

Evan: I think something I.  

Georgi: Yeah. And these milestones of going to college, picking a major after college. Thinking about what you want to do, what do you wish of resources you had access to or somebody to talk to about a particular topic that would've helped guide you to get to your work that's worth it maybe faster? 

Evan: That's an interesting question. I. There needs to be more conversations of non-traditional careers or non-traditional paths. Because I went to college mainly because I thought I had to go to college. That was how it was presented to me, or at least that's how I interpreted it. So I think it would be nice [00:24:00] to have more opportunities to see what entrepreneurship could look like, especially as we move more into AI age and a digital economy. 

Evan: Jobs or careers or paths that are going to be coming in the next few years, or the ones that are already here that we just did not know about when I was in school. So for me, it was you have to follow this path to get where you want go, but where I am now, I see that that's not the case.  

Georgi: And then graduating from college. 

Georgi: I know the research shows so many college students, especially at campuses that are incredibly hard to get into, feel funneled into very few channels, whether it's like big tech or consulting or banking, and it is hard to even know what the possibilities are outside of work or outside of college for work. 

Georgi: Mm-hmm. And did you experience enough variety or were. In contact with enough people that inspired you or you were curious about what they were doing?  

Evan: I would say, honestly, no, [00:25:00] not through college. I took that upon myself to connect with people, to network with people, and through the internet I've had a lot of amazing opportunities to do that, whether it was social media or watching YouTube videos of people that I wanted. 

Evan: There's a lot more out there rather than just what schools can show you or how schools can connect you. I do think there's a lot of value in when you go to college or even if you go to a trade school in networking, and I think that's something that, again, is underrated because I really believe with finding the right work, it's not just about what you know, but it's also who you know. 

Evan: And I think that goes for every field, of course. 

Evan: But I think it's really important for us to network. So whether that is in person, in school, or if you take it upon yourself to do that through the internet, I think that's something that people really need to focus on.  

Georgi: Yeah. And what would be your top recommendation for networking?  

Evan: Be genuinely interested. 

Evan: I love LinkedIn. I'm on LinkedIn a lot now. I [00:26:00] get so many messages every day where it's just copy and paste and they forget to take out the name. And when I message people on there, it's, it's genuine. And I understand there's a lot of. Of hesitance there. There's a lot of people thinking when I send a message at first, they might think I'm trying to sell them something or get something from them, but really I'm just interested in people's stories. 

Evan: So I think you have to connect with people that you're interested in, whether it's, you know, their background or what they're building right now, or just something you heard them say or read something that they wrote. You really have to be interested in who 

Evan: conversation someone. I mentioned something that I liked, that I saw they had said, or something I was impressed with, and then just start chatting with them, asking them questions and sharing information.  

Georgi: Yeah. If you had to define your top capabilities or the advantages you have at work that your gifts per se, what would you say are the top three? 

Evan: The first one that came to mind is [00:27:00] caring. Maybe we can call that compassion. Like I just said a moment ago, I really care about other people, their success and also their feelings. So that's definitely a big one. I would say another one that's somewhat related to that is understanding. Even though we might have very different lifestyles, I feel that growing up in my small town in Massachusetts to being a white rapper in the city of Chicago to being an American English teacher in a city of 8 million people in China, I feel that I've experienced a few different things. 

Evan: So when I hear someone else's experience, I like to try to put myself in. 

Evan: I have tried things and they have not, but I up every morning with a smile on my, and I. 

Georgi: Yeah, this may be cheesy, but I'm thinking don't judge a book by its cover because you've been able to [00:28:00] accomplish all these things that maybe seemed outside of scope.  

Evan: A lot of people say you're just jumping around from thing to thing to thing, and that's one way to look at it. But the way I like to look at it is I'm gaining experience, I'm gaining skills, and I'm trusting myself to try different things at different times. 

Georgi: Yeah. What about you makes it so important to find the a plus job versus just settling for a B job or a C job?  

Evan: I'm a very happy person by nature, I believe, and I don't want work to pull that down. And I talk to a lot of people, as I keep mentioning. I like conversations. I always ask people what they do and what do they like or dislike about their job. 

Evan: I'm really saddened to see that so many people tell me they hate their job, but they think they can't leave or it's too late to leave, even though they're, you know, the same age as me. And I think avoiding finding myself waking up in that position and say, well, I wish I, you know, I wish I took a bigger risk. 

Evan: I don't wanna be in that position. And yeah, one, one thing I always like to say is [00:29:00] that I always hear life is short. I love the term, life is long. Some people disagree, but I do think life is long and. 

Georgi: Obviously the listeners can't see it, but you are somebody who smiles a lot and I just imagine that separation of who you are at work and who you are at home is a pretty thin line, whereas some people have to have a very different personality or show up differently to work and that is something that sounds like you just feel more authentic and more aligned like that. 

Evan: Absolutely. I don't want have to put on a different face at work. And I also want, you know, when I. 

Evan: Not feel like I need to completely decompress from a long day of work.  

Georgi: Yeah. Well, I've so enjoyed listening to you and understanding all these adventures. I also felt like I took, I like to say the scenic root of figuring out really what's important to me and what I care about and what I want to do with what's left of my 90,000 hours. 

Georgi: So I relate a lot to the pivots and [00:30:00] variety in your journey, and it's just been wonderful to get to know more of it. Thank you.  

Evan: Appreciate it. 

Georgi: Yeah. Thanks so much, Evan. Bye.  

Evan: Thank you. Bye-bye.  

Georgi: I want to highlight two points from this episode. The first is the value of diverse experiences. Evan's, fascinating journey from rap music to living in China and learning a completely new language to software engineering demonstrates how our varied experiences eventually weave together into a cohesive story. 

Georgi: For those in their twenties and thirties, imagine the benefit of intentional self-reflection earlier in your career path. While pivots would still happen, they could be more purposeful, potentially helping you reach the disruptive, a good phase much sooner. The second is the courage to pivot. What stands out about Evan is his willingness to give himself permission to pivot when his needs weren't being met. 

Georgi: Changing [00:31:00] direction when things are going reasonably well can be harder than leaving a terrible situation. It's less obvious that change is necessary. His self-confidence and courage to trust his instincts are truly admirable qualities. If you find yourself needing to pivot but feeling uncertain about direction, you're in the right place, and that's exactly what I'm here to help with. 

Georgi: Getting your direction right. Keep listening to these podcast episodes for inspiration. And yes, this is a plug, but please consider buying my book for a deeper dive into finding your own path to becoming a disruptor for good. You can even get the first chapters for free in your inbox today. Check the show notes for details, and that's a wrap for today's episode of work That's Worth It. 

Georgi: Remember. Every conversation we share is designed to empower you to build a career that's truly worth your time and energy. There are future disruptors out there just like you, who would appreciate the conversations in this podcast. Please support me by spreading the word and sharing this episode with a friend or [00:32:00] two, or visit my website@georgienthoven.com. 

Georgi: That's spelled G-E-O-R-G-I-E-N-T-H-O-V-E-N.com. Until next time, ask yourself, what problems am I solving and are they worth my valuable time? Your intentional choices today can lead to exponential impact tomorrow.  
 
Thanks for listening.