Globally Grounded: Episode 19
🎧 TUNE IN on Apple + Spotify (or wherever you listen to podcasts).
In this episode, Kyra reflects on what she'd tell her 18-year-old self about work…the one who went into college pre-med, convinced she'd be a neuroscientist, with her whole career mapped out. Fun fact, that's not what happened. From pre-med to international affairs to consulting to tech to entrepreneurship, Kyra's career has been anything but linear. She explores why we feel so much pressure to have it all figured out early, why pivoting feels like failure (when it's actually growth), and why caring about more than one thing isn't a flaw, but rather where the real through-line often lives. If you've ever worried that your winding path means you're doing it wrong, this one's for you, whether you’re 18 or 50!
Episode Takeaways
You're allowed to care about more than one thing. Just because something feels right at 18 doesn't mean it has to be the only thing that ever feels right.
Pivoting isn't failure, it's iteration. Careers aren't linear. You learn, you try things, you figure out what fits and what doesn't, and you adjust. That's not veering off course. That's how it's supposed to work.
Start tuning into your internal voice earlier. When you're young, it's easy to conflate external expectations with your own desires. Notice when you're curious about something, even if it doesn't fit the plan. That internal signal matters more than the so-called "safe" path.
The through-line isn't always a job title. Looking back, all of Kyra's pivots were connected by the same questions: Where's the leverage point for change? How do you create impact at scale? And how do you design systems or work structures that actually serve the people inside them?
You don't have to have it all figured out. Not at 18. Not at 25. Not at 45 or 50. And the people who seem like they do are just better at looking like they have it figured out. Ha! Optics is a wild game. The rest of us are learning as we go, and that's exactly as it should be.
