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As an alum of JHU, I was invited to moderate a panel oriented to helping recent and current undergraduate students at Johns Hopkins University’s Krieger School of Arts & Sciences gain a glimpse into the world of media, publishing and entertainment. The panel was composed of a broad spectrum of executives, journalists and entrepreneurs including:

• David Boxenbaum – AM Octone Records
• Eva Chen – Teen Vogue
• Francesco Clark – Clark’s Botanicals
• Matt Gross – New York Times journalist (Frugal Traveler)
• Joey Molko – MTV

Each of these panelists provided the students with their own personal experiences and opinions into how they were able to get into “the business” and most importantly how they navigated their careers. They brought equal parts energy, realism and sound advice to the rather interactive discussion and showed a real empathy with those in attendance trying to begin their journey. Their stories were incredibly varied, compelling, and real which made the two plus hours move along quickly for all involved.

Although the panelists paths varied from tragic to vagabond to planned every step, the take aways were consistent and the advice was solid:

Networking. Opportunities and growth in a career come from maintaining a strong personal and professional network. Virtually no one gets an initial job, the next position, or the interesting project without having personal and professional connections. People trust those they know and feel as if the relationship reinforces trust that the opportunity will not be squandered.  The advice was to work the networks by letting people know one’s interests but not to overstep the relationships and create expectations of favors.

Mentorship. Determining what to pursue, how to pursue it, when to move along and when to stay require quite a bit of self understanding.  However, external input and guidance is critical to career path and decision making. The panel discussed that a mentor can come in many forms and may not be just a wizened veteran within the current organization.  As one’s career is likely to feel like a journey one should seek others who may be in somewhat different fields or have paths that may have brought experiences that can help provide other potential approaches or even goals.

Observation. Being wholly focused on oneself can create a narrow view of how to gain opportunity and grow.  The panelists spoke about observing the behaviors and actions of those who are successful as well as those who may not be moving forward.  Both give clues on what methods and behaviors will work for each individual.

No Single Path. The single greatest insight is that everyones career is slightly different and for those just entering their post-college journey there no longer is a curriculum or a delineated path to success – the opportunities, choices and results will be unique to the individual.  The best summation was by one of the panelists who claimed that, “in truth it looks like we knew what we’re doing but in all honesty we have no clue other than to do what felt best.”

Besides gleaning foundational career advice, the evening had quite a few highlights in terms of anecdotes and interactions with students.  One such highlight involved a talented undergrad allowing the panel to determine whether she should spend the year following graduation coaching soccer as a representative of the United States in South America or to go to New York City and pursue a career in media.  The unanimous decision was soccer.

In summation, my colleague Todd Budnikas, who joined me at the event, and I had a great time.  We networked, observed and quite possibly helped a couple of people out.  Even if it was ourselves.