Flow...

According to the Book of Changes, Confucius, standing by a river, said: "Everything flows on and on like this river, without pause, day and night."

In reading the I Ching, I came across the above quote and had to stop and reflect on where I am, where I've been and where I am going with life and career. Personally, life on life's terms has brought about many changes...some planned...some unforeseen...but as Herman Hesse penned in Siddartha:

“I have always believed, and I still believe, that whatever good or bad fortune may come our way we can always give it meaning and transform it into something of value.” 

―  Hermann Hesse,  Siddhartha

With regards to my professional path, the past months have forced me to dig deep and while simultaneously nearing the "mid-life," point...had me truly thinking about what's next.

I've been incredibly fortunate to have not one, but two distinctive career paths. The first was working in what was once a thriving, artist development-driven music industry. Lucky to be in the right place at the right time, the label I worked for blazed fiercely during the golden days of hip hop. As the industry resisted the birth of the Internet, Napster and eventually iTunes, Pandora and my favorite, Spotify...things began to go sideways and I jumped ship.

"Smile and dial dude," was my initiation into the world of recruiting then morphing into talent acquisition. Running the gamut from boutique, large firm, RPO and then as a talent acquisition leader, I found a second career that I loved as much as I did/do music. This path would finally take me to what I believed was recruiter mecca...LinkedIn. It was there that I was fortunate enough to have multiple roles in both Relationship Management and Customer Success. The people (my friends), the platforms(technology used to affect organizational change) and leadership (Jeff, Mike, Dan, Fred, Kevin, Larry and Natalie) set a very high bar that leveraged passion, knowledge, intellect and empathy.

Today, I have chosen and been chosen, to join Phenom People, whose mantra and mission has them striving to be the most innovative HR tech company in the world through their Talent Relationship Marketing (TRM) platform. As I begin my phenomenal journey (couldn't resist), I find myself surrounded by the same passion, intellect but also several very distinctive and new aspects that include true vision, laser-focus and scalable reach, quality of product and humble, aspirational leadership.

It was imperative that I join a company where I believed in what they do and stand for, as well as feel empowered to help scale and achieve great things for both the company and their clients. These are the things I've picked up along my professional journey that provide me with a sense of passion, wholeness and pleasure!

In closing, I share one last quote as I continue to keep what I've so graciously been given along the way and in turn, will give it away to those I work with...

He who flows as life flows, knows he needs no other force. — Lao Tzu