October 17, 2018 • 37 mins
Puttylike.com founder Emilie Wapnick asks: do you have one true calling or are you a multipotentialite?
Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
I actually wrote my college essay on what I wanted
to be. I want to guess a renaissance woman. It
was just the way I said multi Potentially back in
the day, I should have known I was never going
to have a real job. That's awesome, but that's kind
of great. I mean, you knew, I didn't know. I
think I thought I was just bullshitting. Thanks so much
(00:32):
for listening. This is you Turns, the podcast where we
explore our personal journeys and the obstacles around those and
the way we triumphed through those obstacles because you have happens.
I am Lisa Oz and I'm Jill and today we
are we are talking to Emily Wapnick. I'm so excited
(00:54):
to have you. You're joining us from an island in
British Columbia. Emily is the founder and creative to rector
of a site which is really a community called putty Like,
and that community grew out of a ted talk and
a book. Um The book is called How to Be Everything,
a guide for those who still don't know what they
(01:14):
want to be when they grow up. Her Ted Talk
has five million plus views and has been translated into
thirty six or thirty seven. We've lost track languages because
so many people are, Um, I have no idea what
they want to be when they grow up. A lot
of a lot of people try and trying to answer
(01:36):
that question. So I can I just say that one
thing that you're Ted Talk did for me before I
even read your book, And as soon as I watched
Ted Talk, I went and read your book. It alleviated
so much guilt that I've had my entire life guilt
and shame. Um, it was almost like you'd written it
for me, like it was a personal therapy. So for
that alone, thank you so much. Do a lot of
(01:58):
people have that response? Yeah, Like it's kind of a
little shocking, how I think. I've received thousands of emails
at this point from people being like, well, I always
thought there was something wrong with me, and then I
saw your Ted Talk I found putty like and now
I realized, like, I'm not the only one like this.
You know, it's usually people who have a lot of
different passions and interests and don't easily fit into one
(02:22):
category or one role. Um, And I just I always
want to be like, yeah, like, you're not alone, but
it's not just me either. There's like I've received thousands
of emails just like yours. Alright, so step it back
for a second and explain what you mean by like this.
We're talking about the multi syllable word multipotentialite. Did you
(02:46):
just make that up in you know, in one night
and after some cookies and more? Not exactly. So, the
word multipotentiality is a real word case term in psychology
that refers to people who display aptitudes across multiple disciplines.
So multipotential is kind of a play on that word,
(03:07):
and I find it as someone who has many interests
and creative pursuits. Describe your moment when you I think
you were struggling with a little bit of shame maybe too.
Oh yeah, yeah, So I'd say that growing up and
in my early to mid twenties, I really struggled with
this issue and felt a lot of anxiety around my
(03:31):
pattern of becoming interested in something and really diving in
and kind of eventually losing interests and then becoming fascinated
by something something else, something totally different than diving into that,
And I really worried about, like, not just where am
I going to end up in terms of career but like,
what does this mean about me that I don't seem
(03:51):
to have like a thing like what is my purpose?
You know, we're told that we all have like one
true calling, like this one great thing we're meant to do,
and it just out like I didn't have that, um,
And so I really really worried about this. And it
was it was in my mid twenties, when I think
six when um, I had actually had taken an entrepreneur
(04:15):
entrepreneurship class when I was in law school, which is
like a weird thing to do when you're in law school,
but anyway, and um, I've gotten interested in the idea
of starting a business, and so I was taking I
started taking this business class and there is this module,
the second module. It was like choosing a niche and
I just like I started making all these lists of
(04:35):
things I was interested in. But the idea of just
focusing on one and letting all thegethers go, Like, really,
I can't just do that? What is wrong with me?
And you know what has been wrong with me my
whole life? Like like what's going on? So what were
you worried about? Did you worry that you just didn't
have like the grit and the stick tuitiveness that we're
all brought up to to try to have partial for sure,
(05:01):
But I also it was a bit more existential. I
think like it had more to do with identity and
like who am I? Like, you know, I mean, I've
been through all these experiences where like I was super
involved in music, had a band, I was writing my
own stuff, and then I'd start to lose interests for
several years and I was like, Okay, well if I'm
(05:22):
not a musician, then like who am I? You know?
And so then I would become interested in like web
design and then start to lose interest a few years
later and be like, uh, like now what you know?
And like what does this say both about my tenacity
and my ability to like have grit and stick with it,
but also like about who I am as a person.
(05:43):
And there was this moment when I was going through
this business course and having this like just kind of
thinking things over, when I was like, you know, what,
what if instead of fighting this, I found a way
to embrace the fact that I am this multifaceted person
with a lot of different passions and bosses. And I
found a way to make it work for me and
(06:05):
I started to wonder if there are other people out
there who are doing many things and are successful, like
have you know, stable financial professional lives and also get
to explore and how they do it. And I started
blogging about that and kind of seeking out other people
who are struggling with this and other people who are
kind of a bit further ahead who are making it work,
and just learning from them and sharing what I was learning,
(06:27):
what I was thinking about on this blog. And that
was back in two ten. And the blog is not
all obviously that you're doing. So do you need all
ten fingers to list all the different things you're doing?
Can you do it in five? Um? Well, so it
started with a blog and it's kind of I mean,
(06:48):
that was like almost nine years ago, so it's there
are a lot of things that have come out of it. Um.
And one of the cool things that I've I've learned
about was like one actually one of the strategies that
Multipotential lights us is one of the cool things about
running your own business and communities that a lot of
different things that go into it, right, So like I
(07:10):
can write, I can do speaking, I can lead groups
and do kind of group coaching, I can create products,
I can integrate my design background into the work. There
are all these different facets of this one project. Um.
So this is the thing I've discovered later is like
a strategy that multipotential it's will sometimes use in their work.
(07:30):
They'll find a job or a field, or they'll start
like a business that lets them do many things. So
that's kind of how I've managed to not get bored
of my work at putty like and everything else that
I'm doing. There's definitely group of people that are very
much like you in that that this multipotential light um
(07:53):
quality defines them and I would absolutely put myself in
that group. But I think that everybody. I think your
work is relevant to everyone because no one just loves
one thing, right um. And I think that what happens
is we tend to define ourselves by one thing, whether
(08:14):
it's our job or a specific relationship, so we let
the other parts of ourselves kind of get pushed into
the background. And So what I love about what you
do and talking about being a multi potential light is
I think people who see themselves, you know, categorized and
narrowly defined, can open up the rest of of their
(08:35):
personality because they can see that it's all part of
of what who they are and what they do. Um
that So, Joe, you, I would say that you you've
been very focused. I've definitely been very What am I
a uh uniqu potential light? No? No, no, I don't
(08:55):
know if there's a traditional achiever that sounds better than
you need anything? Um? So, yeah, I mean I've been
on this one track. I've been I've been a magazine
editor for almost a little more than twenty five years,
and now I'm out of that and looking for the
next thing. And one of the you know, one of
(09:15):
the things that was so interesting to me about looking
at your blog and reading your book was that it
made me think that even if that is who I
am by nature, I need some of this, some of
the I need something from your bag of tricks, you know,
to help me kind of find the pivot the next track.
And also, yes, as you say, make sure it's not
(09:36):
too narrow so that so that there are other things
that branch out from it, so that the next you
term is maybe a little easier than this one is feeling.
Do you have any tricks for me? Um? Yeah? So
you can you sound a little bit like some of
the phoenix is that I interviewed from my book, which
are people that dive into one field for a long
(10:00):
a period of time. As you know, a multi potential
it who's a phoenix looks a lot like a specialist.
It's hard to say where the line is, but it's
someone who dives deeper into one area for a long
period of time and then shifts and dives into something new.
So that sounds like kind of what you're describing, lating
that a lot of people will kind of build things
(10:21):
up on the side before they make that shift start
exploring something new that would have been a good idea. Okay,
so that's but that's one strategy. If you like feel
like it's coming to an end. After the break, I'm
going to pull some more up. We were talking about
(10:48):
the types of multi potential lies because we're not all
the same, and um, you had mentioned that Jill could
be a phoenix, let's hope. So, but there are three
other types there, there's a hugger. Can you run us
through the different types of multi potential lie so our
listeners can maybe find where they fit in and see
(11:10):
how they could navigate this world of multiple opportunities. Yeah. Sure,
So I like to shy o a from UM, like
there four types of multi potential lies because I think
they're really more like work models, different strategies for building
a life around multiple passions UM and a lot of multipotential.
It's will be a hybrid, they'll kind of shift between UM.
(11:33):
So these are just like four strategies. I know, I
just I just called you a phoenix. But you know,
the phoenix is kind of cool though it's not the
worst thing I've been called. Yeah, I think I'm a hugger,
which I phoenix is much better something than a hugger.
But so okay. So the first approach that people will
use to kind of integrate their interests into their life,
(11:56):
into their careers is the group hug approach UM. And
this is where it's kind of like what I described before.
It's where you have one job or a business that
you run where you get to wear many different hats
and kind of integrate your multiple skills and interests into
your work. So a lot of people who use the
group hug approach will work in an interdisciplinary field, something
(12:17):
like urban planning or AI or instructional design, Like these
are fields where to do a good job, you really
need to have an understanding of a bunch of different areas,
and you need to have a lot of different skills
that you can shift between. So that's the first approach,
the group hug approach. Next we've got the slash approach.
That sounds worse. It sounds violent. At least group hug
(12:42):
sounds loving it. It's sort of like a serial killer.
But yeah, let's go ahead and talk about slash slashers.
So the slash approach is someone who's like the programmer
slash slash, stand up comedian, right, so like actors, slash models,
flash instagram sensation, that kind of person. Sure, yeah, okay,
(13:05):
if your slashes are much more authentic, no, no, okay,
So I get it. It's like it's could yes, yes,
many many, many hats in one title. Yeah. So instead
of combining your interest in one project and one work
project or job, you are keeping them separate and distinct,
and you've got two or three part time jobs and
(13:26):
or businesses that you kind of flipped between over the
course of a week. Then we've got the Einstein approach.
And I called it the Einstein approach because Albert Einstein
at the Patent office for several years. He was basically
employed by the government at this very stable, secure day
job that took care of his financial needs, and then
(13:46):
he developed his theories on the side. He was not
paid for them. So this is where you have a
job that you know you enjoy well enough. You shouldn't
hate it, you should enjoy it. Maybe taps into one
of your interests, but it isn't everything. Not integrating all
of your passions into this one job. It pays the bills,
takes care of your financial goals. Most importantly, it needs
(14:09):
to leave you with enough free time and creative energy
to pursue your many passions on the side as hobbies,
personal projects. And so you know, people who use this approach,
it's not for everyone. None of these are right for everyone.
But people who use the Einstein approach and like it
say that they really like the fact takes the pressure
(14:29):
off of having to monetize every little thing that they've
become interested in. They can just kind of explore freely. So,
like I I interviewed someone, this guy, Charlie Harper, who
is an I T manager by day, got this like
pretty standard nine to five and then at the end
of the day, he leaves at the office and he
goes to musical theater practice. He also sings in an
a capella group, and he builds furniture. When we spoke,
(14:53):
he had able to vote. So he's got all these
great projects and he doesn't have to worry about monetizing them,
and those kind of feed some soul deep hunger that
he has to do the things he's passionate about. Yeah,
and I think that the way to view this approach
is like your day job is the thing that is
funding all of these amazing hobbies and projects and so
(15:15):
so that you're not resenting the day job. And like
I said, it's not for everyone, but for some people
it really works. Well, what would you call someone who's
just like sort of rolled from one thing to another,
Like it's not really a phoenix, but you just kind
of wake up and you're some besides schizophrenic, just find
yourself in a different role pretty frequently. I mean, that
(15:39):
might be like a slash approach if you kind of
cycle back to other things. It's or maybe it's kind
of like a shortened phoenix, Like instead of spending five
to ten years in one field, he spends you know,
a few months. Some people take kind of six month
contracts because they like to work this way. Um So, yeah,
it's kind of maybe a blend between like a phoenix
(16:01):
or a slash, so that you can overlap with the
different types. You can go back and forth between, for sure. Yeah,
these are just tools kind of and like models because
a lot of people are like, I have all these interests,
but what does that look like professionally? So I wanted
to kind of set out these like different profiles, different
ways you can structure your work, and then go ahead
(16:21):
and mix and match these or customize them. Like that's
totally I'm very cognizant. I try I try not to
tell my multipotential readers that they have to choose one thing.
They wouldn't like that exactly. So here's four options, mix
and match, do your own thing from there. You know
(16:42):
what I love the best about your approach is for
so many of us who are going through changes, as
we all do in life, the fear of the next step,
the fear of failure, is paralyzing and acknowledging. Being a
multipotentially allows you not to have to be perfect at everything.
Um So that takes away some of that pressure because
(17:05):
you can do things and not have to be the best,
because um, it's just something that that is part of you,
not not that you have to be the world expert
on because you're not going to be the best best
cardia ex surgeon on the planet if you don't spend
a really long time perfecting that, right. I love that approach. Yeah,
So I will say that I did interview a surgeon,
(17:26):
which you know that seems like a it's a very
specialist job, but he also has this like incredible creative practice.
He paints and draws and plays music and reads Buddhist
studies Buddhist philosophy and does all these things. But he's
a surgeon. So I've kind of learned that you can't
really tell who a multipotentially it is just by looking
(17:46):
at their job. Is everybody a multipotential it? Maybe I'm
you know, I'm not sure. Like there are definitely some
people who hear about this idea and are like, huh,
like that's a thing, Like I relate to that at all.
And do you feel like everybody should be a little
bit that this is something that we should be nurturing
in ourselves or are there no shots in your in
(18:09):
your philosophy, identity away from ships. I feel like whatever
works for you is great. Um, but yeah, I think that,
like you know what you're we're saying earlier, Like there's
probably like nobody is just one thing. We're all multifaceted
to some degree, and maybe it's just a matter of degree.
And like some people just kind of are like, Okay,
(18:30):
I'm supposed to specialize, like no problem, I'm I'm excited
about that, and other people are like, oh, I don't know,
I don't know if I can just do that, and
I don't don't feel quite as easily into that model.
So so I'm now I think I'm a specialist who's
now finding herself in a slash situation. And I didn't
(18:52):
really develop so many of those tools. I mean, my
job asked me to do a lot of different things.
I had to constantly learn different things. And when you're
a magazine editor, you also if you're interested in something,
you just dream up some reason why you absolutely have
to do an article on it, and if you're the boss,
you get to say we're gonna do that and then
you get to learn about it. So so there was
there were a lot of learning opportunities, but still the
(19:12):
skill set was just like one solid skill set that
I was just developing and building on. And now that
I'm trying to learn so much and and develop in
so many different areas, I find my mind I do
have monkey mind. I feel like my mind is a
little bit scattered. My thoughts are scattered. Um, I'm working
really hard to do that thing. Everyone talks about setting
(19:32):
an intention for the day, but my intention seems to
blow up by eleven in the morning sometimes, so so
do you have any strategies for that? Yeah? Um so
when it comes to productivity, for lack of a better word,
this is something that multipotential lights and everyone really tends
to struggle with. Um. But I think especially people with
(19:54):
many projects and many different things on the go, you
need to find a bout lens between making progress and
like letting yourself explore. Sometimes you have to explore. It
sounds like in your case there's like going on. So
this is the strategy I usually suggests. Maybe there's a
modified version that will work for you. But you kind
of like you write down everything that you're working on,
(20:18):
everything you're learning, and then you pick the you know,
two to five priorities right now, like the main things,
and you kind of, if possible, write them down and
hang them by your by your workstation, you know, in
your office, and when it's time, when it's time to work,
you look up and you're like, okay, those are like
(20:40):
the four things, which one do I feel like working on? Now?
Pick one? Go At some point if you start to
lose steam, like either take a break and get back
to it, or switch just another one of your priorities.
And then when you have like shiny object syndrome and
there's like something that you want to try, just add
it to that other list. And you've got this long
(21:00):
list of like someday things or like backburner projects or
whatever you want to call it. And then at a
certain point, when you feel like you have reached the
natural end point with one of your priority projects, you
cycle one of the other ones in so you get
to pick from the shiny objects exactly. Yeah, And I also,
you know it's going to have to be like a consultant.
(21:22):
I'm going to have to buy one of those giants
sticky pad pad. Yeah, people use like different boards and
sticky things, and some people use digital stuff. But yeah,
and then, like you know, you can really start to
resent your as a multipotential that you can resent your
main projects if you're not allowing yourself to explore sometimes,
(21:44):
so I always encourage people like, if you really there's
something on your someday list that you really want to
play with, to try out, like set a timer and
have some tinkering time. I call it, so like set
a timer for forty minutes or twenty minutes or whatever,
and just like let yourself go down the rabbit hole,
be quote unproductive, like explore something new, whatever, and then
(22:10):
and maybe use this as a break after you've gotten
some work done. And then once the timer goes off,
you're like, okay, cool, get back to your main thing. Um.
And that just lets you kind of have a little
bit of that fun at the same time, so you
don't start to resent your main projects. The world seems
to possibly overvalue expertise and specialists, but you say that
(22:32):
there are some real um areas of where multi potential
lights excel and um where they're they're exceptional. Can you
go through those a little bit. We don't have to
be ashamed to be multi potentially. We're good multipentiallights were good.
They're not dilettents, No, definitely not. Yeah, I've kind of
(22:56):
identified what I call the multi potential lights uper powers.
Um we're good. We tend to be pretty adept at
these things. And I'm sure there's more, but um So,
the first is idea synthesis, and this is the ability
to take to take concepts and skills from two different
areas and blend them together and create something new. So
(23:19):
like it's you know, you're trying to solve a problem
in a particular field, and all these experts are working
on it, and like you all have the same background,
You've done the same reading, you know, but if you
have a few other backgrounds, a few other kind of
areas that you've explored, maybe you pull an idea from
somewhere else and it's like, oh, like this is a
really interesting solution to this problem that we wouldn't have
(23:41):
necessarily thought of. Um So, you know, you see this
a lot in like really innovative business ideas or you know,
like like there are some fields like um, I don't know,
I learned about ocean therapy recently, which is kind of
like a combination of talk therapy, and surfing. It's like
(24:01):
therapy while learning to surf, and it can be really empowering.
And there's something about the ocean, you know. UM their
psychiatrists basically, very basically, and if you're someone who's interested
in in psychology and surfing, like maybe there's a way
to integrate the two. UM And there are a lot
of interesting fields like this. You know, I was talking
with an occupational therapist I don't know why all my
(24:21):
examples have to do with therapy right now, who was
saying that he had patients who, you know, was having
trouble walking, and so together they went to the hardware
store and they built they built this intraption that would
like help him walk better, and they did it together
and it was really empowering. And like that's not something
(24:42):
he learned in occupational therapy school. It was like a past,
like an outside interest in carpentry UM that allowed him
to do this. So, you know, we tend to be
pretty innovative because we can blend all these different things
together and come up with solutions that like a specialist
might not have necessarily thought of. So idea synthesis is
the first one. UM rapid learning, we kind of touched
(25:04):
on this, but we tend to be pretty quick learners.
We picked things up fast because we're used to we're
used to being beginners, were used to kind of diving
into things, and also like multi potential, I tend to
be really passionate when we're excited about something, and so
we just like learned faster. I think we dive in
and we like absorb everything. Read all the books, listen
to all the podcasts, and um, so that that's a
(25:25):
huge benefits. Some people that I interviewed for for How
to Be Everything said that like they were real all
stars at work because they were willing to like try
new things and jump in where other people were like, Oh,
I'm scared to do that. What if I fail? What
if i'm you know, what if I can't pick that
up quickly enough? And so, um, that can be a
real benefits. Um. We tend to be really good at
(25:47):
kind of communicating with people from different walks of life,
both because we have these different backgrounds and because we're
really curious and really interested. And that is a huge
asset because it allows us to translate between people who
might be speaking different languages. So like let's say you're
leading a big interdisciplinary team and you've got designers on
(26:08):
the team and you've got programmers on the team, and
you have a background in both areas well. That allows
you to really like speak with them both and translate
between them and see this bigger vision comes to light.
That's a Lisa thing. That's a new thing. All right,
We're going to get back to this after the break.
(26:34):
Before the once we were talking about multi potentially superpowers
and we talked about idea synthesis and rapid learning, and
what was the other one? The ability to relate to
lots of people, relating and translating, right, Um, are there more?
There are a couple more, yeah. Um. So next we've
got adaptability, the ability to kind of take on different
(26:55):
things and um, shift between skills sets. And this is
hugely valuable in an uncertain economic environments, which you know,
I mean, things are evolving very quickly right now and
you don't really know what skills are going to be
useful in the future. So if you can do a
lot of different things, that's a huge asset and it
(27:17):
makes you like really more resilient. And then the last
super power that I identified is big picture thinking. And
I think a lot of multipotential lights kind of have
big visions for changes they'd like to see in the world,
and they're able to spot systemic issues and patterns because
they can kind of zoom out and see the big
picture a little bit. So, um, yeah, I've noticed a
(27:38):
lot of multi potential lights tend to be kind of
visionaries and like have big projects and and you know,
just like often they need a specialist to work with
to kind of like implement things, and multi potential it's
and specialists often make really great teams. But yeah, we
tend to be pretty big picture thinkers in general. I
(27:59):
think you're totally right that this is a time when,
given the fact that disruption is an everyday word and
it's exciting, but it also leaves a lot of people disrupted. Um,
this is a time when being multifested like this, being
that quick learner, that person who can pivot is really
just a huge asset and only getting more and more important.
(28:20):
I think I've read that millennials will be changing not
just jobs, but careers, every career paths every three years
that rapidly. Yes, oh my god, that they'll be you know,
really just hopping from one career path to another that's dizzying. Yeah,
it sounds dizzying. But I think what you're saying is
that as this kind of crowd grows and we all
(28:44):
pick up some of these skills, it won't maybe be so.
But what if you're in that situation, if you're a
listener right now, and you are looking at that on
the horizon and it's maybe not your skill set. Maybe
there's someone more like you, Jill, who is made vaguely
nauseous by that. Well, yes, where they always saw themselves
as I'm really good at math, for example, but you
realize that you have to be more adaptable. Are is
(29:05):
there a way for um anyone to to develop a
multipotentially skill set so that they can be more facile
and and and you know, more comfortable in different situations. Yeah,
you know, I think that it's naturally within all of us.
Like as little kids, we don't usually have special specialties.
(29:28):
You know, we're curious about everything. So I think just
like it's not encouraged as you get older, right, we're
not encouraged to like develop new hobbies once we're like
in our twenties, and even like so just letting yourself
have some free time and some fun time, and like
not having to be the best at things, and just
like and like not even worrying about skill level, but
(29:50):
just like letting yourself learn something new. I think all
of those things can be really helpful as you develop,
like the one career path if that's if that's what
you're doing. Um, And I will say that like, even
though things are shifting, we don't really know where they're going,
and all of those really kind of established tracks are
(30:11):
still a lot of them are still there. Um, So
kind of pursuing one if that's what you want to do,
while still saying adaptable and trying new things on the
side as much as you can is not a bad idea.
So that bartending job, Jill has this incredible ability to
make you do I do. I think it might be
(30:33):
the one thing I actually have kind of a big
head about. I mix up an awesome cocktail, and Emily,
I wish you were with us so I could do
that for you. Just knows what your potential would be
with one of my cocktails in your Actually, what you
were saying really resonated with me because I've just gone
through the experience of getting my older daughter through the
college process, supporting her through that process, and one of
(30:54):
the most depressing parts of it for me was the
insistence by all of the counselors that she, you know, well,
what's your story, what's your thing? You've got to find
your thing so that you can tell the college what
your thing is and that's what you're going to write
your essay about, and all your extracurriculation need to be
aligned around it. And it was really I mean, here,
we are trying to raise our kids to thrive in
(31:18):
this world that, as you say, is full of disruption
and requires all this nimbleness, and she needs a brand?
Is that? Nobody said that because I would have thrown up.
But you know, but they are being tracked. Feel like
kids are being tracked and we're not doing right by them. Yeah,
(31:38):
would you agree? Yeah. I think it's taking some time
for schools and um some employers to really catch up
with what's happening, because I do see a shift coming.
You know. I've heard from people who in their college
application essay wrote about being a multipotentially and that worked
for them. Um. But yeah, the old model is really
(31:59):
in the old ideas that the only way to to
really thrive and to succeed professionally is to specialize. Like
that's just it's not really true anymore. And you're working
with corporate clients to kind of help them change the
environment a little bit. Or is it mostly focused on individuals?
(32:19):
It's mostly focused on individuals. I have done a little
bit of kind of speaking in corporate settings, but I
tend to prefer working with people just me. But imagine
that I actually wrote my college essay on what I
wanted to be. You want to guess, a renaissance woman.
It was just the way I said multi potentially back
(32:41):
in the day, I should have known I was never
going to have a real job. That's awesome, but that's
kind of great. I mean, you knew, I didn't know.
I think I thought I was just bullshitting, but I
manifested that reality. It doesn't sound bullshit. It sounds like,
you know, like no college counselor bullied you into saying no,
here's here's how I'm spinning myself. This is It was
(33:03):
really just why I wanted and I'd never seen it
articulated before Emily put a name to it. It just
felt like I had too many interests to be you know,
to put in a box or didn't want to work
hard enough to be a specialist in any one of
those boxes. Yeah, I mean it's it's it is incredibly
liberating because you know, as any of us face a change,
(33:26):
I think I think the door that's opened and the
light that's turned on here is you know, you don't
have to pick, no follow, do what you love and
if you love a lot of things, do them all. Yeah. Yeah.
Can we go back to your experience a little bit,
so after that initial epiphany and sort of starting to
(33:47):
free yourself to explore different things. I mean, have there
been stumbles along the way where you got really discouraged
or the world just wouldn't hear um what you wanted
to say, m Um. You know, it was a bit
of a slow, slow, steady climb, Like nothing really exploded until,
(34:10):
you know, five years in when I did the Ted talk.
But initially there was there are people who were like,
oh me too, Like I didn't realize there were other
people out there, like listen, they started coming out of
the woodwork. But it didn't you know, it took some
time to build the community. Um. For the first year
of running the site, I was relying a lot on
web design, which is something that I've done through college,
(34:32):
um and a little bit of help from my parents,
if I'm being honest, you know for that first year.
Um yeah, and it took a little bit of time
to kind of get going, you know, as with like
any business. I think, so if you had kids, or
you your future kids, or two parents of America who
want to raise their children to be multifaceted and have
(34:54):
varied passions, what advice would you give two parents? Yeah,
I mean I think firstly, like don't just made me
relax a little. Some parents are like parents. I would
not say that they were chill, but both my parents
are professors, so um, they really value like learning and
(35:18):
to them, like any path leads towards academia. So just
like go ahead, and you know, I know that's the
best approach. But like, yeah, I think, like just give
your kids time to kind of figure things out and
and don't rush them as much as as you can.
And I know a lot of like this all comes
from a place of love, um, and we worry about
our kids and um, and I also think like if
(35:40):
you as a parents are a bit of a multipotential,
I like, let your kids see you engaging in some
of your different activities and passions and showing them that
that's okay, and it's it's okay to like have all
these other things on the go even if it's not
your main thing. Um. Yeah, and just like encouraging different
interests of their in like a responsible way. Like I
(36:01):
remember when I was thinking about switching from violin to
like some quote unquote cooler instrument as I'm sure if
it was going to be guitar or drums instead of
like buying me something that they were like okay, like
can we borrow an instrument from someone? Can we rent
something for a month? And then I definitely had a
month of like banging. They knew what they had on
their hands from an early age, like before we put
(36:24):
the money down. So yeah, if you can borrow stuff
and like encourage their different interests, but like if you
can do it an affordable way, that's always good. I
love that. To follow and connect with Emily on Facebook,
go to at Putty Like on Twitter, it's at Emily
Webnick and her book is How to Be Everything. I'm like,
(36:45):
thank you so much for thank you very much having me.
This was great. Share your stories with us about all
the things you're passionate about and achieving, and you're varied
interests at You Turns Podcast. See you next time.
I actually wrote my college essay on what I wanted
to be. I want to guess a renaissance woman. It
was just the way I said multi Potentially back in
the day, I should have known I was never going
to have a real job. That's awesome, but that's kind
of great. I mean, you knew, I didn't know. I
think I thought I was just bullshitting. Thanks so much
(00:32):
for listening. This is you Turns, the podcast where we
explore our personal journeys and the obstacles around those and
the way we triumphed through those obstacles because you have happens.
I am Lisa Oz and I'm Jill and today we
are we are talking to Emily Wapnick. I'm so excited
(00:54):
to have you. You're joining us from an island in
British Columbia. Emily is the founder and creative to rector
of a site which is really a community called putty Like,
and that community grew out of a ted talk and
a book. Um The book is called How to Be Everything,
a guide for those who still don't know what they
(01:14):
want to be when they grow up. Her Ted Talk
has five million plus views and has been translated into
thirty six or thirty seven. We've lost track languages because
so many people are, Um, I have no idea what
they want to be when they grow up. A lot
of a lot of people try and trying to answer
(01:36):
that question. So I can I just say that one
thing that you're Ted Talk did for me before I
even read your book, And as soon as I watched
Ted Talk, I went and read your book. It alleviated
so much guilt that I've had my entire life guilt
and shame. Um, it was almost like you'd written it
for me, like it was a personal therapy. So for
that alone, thank you so much. Do a lot of
(01:58):
people have that response? Yeah, Like it's kind of a
little shocking, how I think. I've received thousands of emails
at this point from people being like, well, I always
thought there was something wrong with me, and then I
saw your Ted Talk I found putty like and now
I realized, like, I'm not the only one like this.
You know, it's usually people who have a lot of
different passions and interests and don't easily fit into one
(02:22):
category or one role. Um, And I just I always
want to be like, yeah, like, you're not alone, but
it's not just me either. There's like I've received thousands
of emails just like yours. Alright, so step it back
for a second and explain what you mean by like this.
We're talking about the multi syllable word multipotentialite. Did you
(02:46):
just make that up in you know, in one night
and after some cookies and more? Not exactly. So, the
word multipotentiality is a real word case term in psychology
that refers to people who display aptitudes across multiple disciplines.
So multipotential is kind of a play on that word,
(03:07):
and I find it as someone who has many interests
and creative pursuits. Describe your moment when you I think
you were struggling with a little bit of shame maybe too.
Oh yeah, yeah, So I'd say that growing up and
in my early to mid twenties, I really struggled with
this issue and felt a lot of anxiety around my
(03:31):
pattern of becoming interested in something and really diving in
and kind of eventually losing interests and then becoming fascinated
by something something else, something totally different than diving into that,
And I really worried about, like, not just where am
I going to end up in terms of career but like,
what does this mean about me that I don't seem
(03:51):
to have like a thing like what is my purpose?
You know, we're told that we all have like one
true calling, like this one great thing we're meant to do,
and it just out like I didn't have that, um,
And so I really really worried about this. And it
was it was in my mid twenties, when I think
six when um, I had actually had taken an entrepreneur
(04:15):
entrepreneurship class when I was in law school, which is
like a weird thing to do when you're in law school,
but anyway, and um, I've gotten interested in the idea
of starting a business, and so I was taking I
started taking this business class and there is this module,
the second module. It was like choosing a niche and
I just like I started making all these lists of
(04:35):
things I was interested in. But the idea of just
focusing on one and letting all thegethers go, Like, really,
I can't just do that? What is wrong with me?
And you know what has been wrong with me my
whole life? Like like what's going on? So what were
you worried about? Did you worry that you just didn't
have like the grit and the stick tuitiveness that we're
all brought up to to try to have partial for sure,
(05:01):
But I also it was a bit more existential. I
think like it had more to do with identity and
like who am I? Like, you know, I mean, I've
been through all these experiences where like I was super
involved in music, had a band, I was writing my
own stuff, and then I'd start to lose interests for
several years and I was like, Okay, well if I'm
(05:22):
not a musician, then like who am I? You know?
And so then I would become interested in like web
design and then start to lose interest a few years
later and be like, uh, like now what you know?
And like what does this say both about my tenacity
and my ability to like have grit and stick with it,
but also like about who I am as a person.
(05:43):
And there was this moment when I was going through
this business course and having this like just kind of
thinking things over, when I was like, you know, what,
what if instead of fighting this, I found a way
to embrace the fact that I am this multifaceted person
with a lot of different passions and bosses. And I
found a way to make it work for me and
(06:05):
I started to wonder if there are other people out
there who are doing many things and are successful, like
have you know, stable financial professional lives and also get
to explore and how they do it. And I started
blogging about that and kind of seeking out other people
who are struggling with this and other people who are
kind of a bit further ahead who are making it work,
and just learning from them and sharing what I was learning,
(06:27):
what I was thinking about on this blog. And that
was back in two ten. And the blog is not
all obviously that you're doing. So do you need all
ten fingers to list all the different things you're doing?
Can you do it in five? Um? Well, so it
started with a blog and it's kind of I mean,
(06:48):
that was like almost nine years ago, so it's there
are a lot of things that have come out of it. Um.
And one of the cool things that I've I've learned
about was like one actually one of the strategies that
Multipotential lights us is one of the cool things about
running your own business and communities that a lot of
different things that go into it, right, So like I
(07:10):
can write, I can do speaking, I can lead groups
and do kind of group coaching, I can create products,
I can integrate my design background into the work. There
are all these different facets of this one project. Um.
So this is the thing I've discovered later is like
a strategy that multipotential it's will sometimes use in their work.
(07:30):
They'll find a job or a field, or they'll start
like a business that lets them do many things. So
that's kind of how I've managed to not get bored
of my work at putty like and everything else that
I'm doing. There's definitely group of people that are very
much like you in that that this multipotential light um
(07:53):
quality defines them and I would absolutely put myself in
that group. But I think that everybody. I think your
work is relevant to everyone because no one just loves
one thing, right um. And I think that what happens
is we tend to define ourselves by one thing, whether
(08:14):
it's our job or a specific relationship, so we let
the other parts of ourselves kind of get pushed into
the background. And So what I love about what you
do and talking about being a multi potential light is
I think people who see themselves, you know, categorized and
narrowly defined, can open up the rest of of their
(08:35):
personality because they can see that it's all part of
of what who they are and what they do. Um
that So, Joe, you, I would say that you you've
been very focused. I've definitely been very What am I
a uh uniqu potential light? No? No, no, I don't
(08:55):
know if there's a traditional achiever that sounds better than
you need anything? Um? So, yeah, I mean I've been
on this one track. I've been I've been a magazine
editor for almost a little more than twenty five years,
and now I'm out of that and looking for the
next thing. And one of the you know, one of
(09:15):
the things that was so interesting to me about looking
at your blog and reading your book was that it
made me think that even if that is who I
am by nature, I need some of this, some of
the I need something from your bag of tricks, you know,
to help me kind of find the pivot the next track.
And also, yes, as you say, make sure it's not
(09:36):
too narrow so that so that there are other things
that branch out from it, so that the next you
term is maybe a little easier than this one is feeling.
Do you have any tricks for me? Um? Yeah? So
you can you sound a little bit like some of
the phoenix is that I interviewed from my book, which
are people that dive into one field for a long
(10:00):
a period of time. As you know, a multi potential
it who's a phoenix looks a lot like a specialist.
It's hard to say where the line is, but it's
someone who dives deeper into one area for a long
period of time and then shifts and dives into something new.
So that sounds like kind of what you're describing, lating
that a lot of people will kind of build things
(10:21):
up on the side before they make that shift start
exploring something new that would have been a good idea. Okay,
so that's but that's one strategy. If you like feel
like it's coming to an end. After the break, I'm
going to pull some more up. We were talking about
(10:48):
the types of multi potential lies because we're not all
the same, and um, you had mentioned that Jill could
be a phoenix, let's hope. So, but there are three
other types there, there's a hugger. Can you run us
through the different types of multi potential lie so our
listeners can maybe find where they fit in and see
(11:10):
how they could navigate this world of multiple opportunities. Yeah. Sure,
So I like to shy o a from UM, like
there four types of multi potential lies because I think
they're really more like work models, different strategies for building
a life around multiple passions UM and a lot of multipotential.
It's will be a hybrid, they'll kind of shift between UM.
(11:33):
So these are just like four strategies. I know, I
just I just called you a phoenix. But you know,
the phoenix is kind of cool though it's not the
worst thing I've been called. Yeah, I think I'm a hugger,
which I phoenix is much better something than a hugger.
But so okay. So the first approach that people will
use to kind of integrate their interests into their life,
(11:56):
into their careers is the group hug approach UM. And
this is where it's kind of like what I described before.
It's where you have one job or a business that
you run where you get to wear many different hats
and kind of integrate your multiple skills and interests into
your work. So a lot of people who use the
group hug approach will work in an interdisciplinary field, something
(12:17):
like urban planning or AI or instructional design, Like these
are fields where to do a good job, you really
need to have an understanding of a bunch of different areas,
and you need to have a lot of different skills
that you can shift between. So that's the first approach,
the group hug approach. Next we've got the slash approach.
That sounds worse. It sounds violent. At least group hug
(12:42):
sounds loving it. It's sort of like a serial killer.
But yeah, let's go ahead and talk about slash slashers.
So the slash approach is someone who's like the programmer
slash slash, stand up comedian, right, so like actors, slash models,
flash instagram sensation, that kind of person. Sure, yeah, okay,
(13:05):
if your slashes are much more authentic, no, no, okay,
So I get it. It's like it's could yes, yes,
many many, many hats in one title. Yeah. So instead
of combining your interest in one project and one work
project or job, you are keeping them separate and distinct,
and you've got two or three part time jobs and
(13:26):
or businesses that you kind of flipped between over the
course of a week. Then we've got the Einstein approach.
And I called it the Einstein approach because Albert Einstein
at the Patent office for several years. He was basically
employed by the government at this very stable, secure day
job that took care of his financial needs, and then
(13:46):
he developed his theories on the side. He was not
paid for them. So this is where you have a
job that you know you enjoy well enough. You shouldn't
hate it, you should enjoy it. Maybe taps into one
of your interests, but it isn't everything. Not integrating all
of your passions into this one job. It pays the bills,
takes care of your financial goals. Most importantly, it needs
(14:09):
to leave you with enough free time and creative energy
to pursue your many passions on the side as hobbies,
personal projects. And so you know, people who use this approach,
it's not for everyone. None of these are right for everyone.
But people who use the Einstein approach and like it
say that they really like the fact takes the pressure
(14:29):
off of having to monetize every little thing that they've
become interested in. They can just kind of explore freely. So,
like I I interviewed someone, this guy, Charlie Harper, who
is an I T manager by day, got this like
pretty standard nine to five and then at the end
of the day, he leaves at the office and he
goes to musical theater practice. He also sings in an
a capella group, and he builds furniture. When we spoke,
(14:53):
he had able to vote. So he's got all these
great projects and he doesn't have to worry about monetizing them,
and those kind of feed some soul deep hunger that
he has to do the things he's passionate about. Yeah,
and I think that the way to view this approach
is like your day job is the thing that is
funding all of these amazing hobbies and projects and so
(15:15):
so that you're not resenting the day job. And like
I said, it's not for everyone, but for some people
it really works. Well, what would you call someone who's
just like sort of rolled from one thing to another,
Like it's not really a phoenix, but you just kind
of wake up and you're some besides schizophrenic, just find
yourself in a different role pretty frequently. I mean, that
(15:39):
might be like a slash approach if you kind of
cycle back to other things. It's or maybe it's kind
of like a shortened phoenix, Like instead of spending five
to ten years in one field, he spends you know,
a few months. Some people take kind of six month
contracts because they like to work this way. Um So, yeah,
it's kind of maybe a blend between like a phoenix
(16:01):
or a slash, so that you can overlap with the
different types. You can go back and forth between, for sure. Yeah,
these are just tools kind of and like models because
a lot of people are like, I have all these interests,
but what does that look like professionally? So I wanted
to kind of set out these like different profiles, different
ways you can structure your work, and then go ahead
(16:21):
and mix and match these or customize them. Like that's
totally I'm very cognizant. I try I try not to
tell my multipotential readers that they have to choose one thing.
They wouldn't like that exactly. So here's four options, mix
and match, do your own thing from there. You know
(16:42):
what I love the best about your approach is for
so many of us who are going through changes, as
we all do in life, the fear of the next step,
the fear of failure, is paralyzing and acknowledging. Being a
multipotentially allows you not to have to be perfect at everything.
Um So that takes away some of that pressure because
(17:05):
you can do things and not have to be the best,
because um, it's just something that that is part of you,
not not that you have to be the world expert
on because you're not going to be the best best
cardia ex surgeon on the planet if you don't spend
a really long time perfecting that, right. I love that approach. Yeah,
So I will say that I did interview a surgeon,
(17:26):
which you know that seems like a it's a very
specialist job, but he also has this like incredible creative practice.
He paints and draws and plays music and reads Buddhist
studies Buddhist philosophy and does all these things. But he's
a surgeon. So I've kind of learned that you can't
really tell who a multipotentially it is just by looking
(17:46):
at their job. Is everybody a multipotential it? Maybe I'm
you know, I'm not sure. Like there are definitely some
people who hear about this idea and are like, huh,
like that's a thing, Like I relate to that at all.
And do you feel like everybody should be a little
bit that this is something that we should be nurturing
in ourselves or are there no shots in your in
(18:09):
your philosophy, identity away from ships. I feel like whatever
works for you is great. Um, but yeah, I think that,
like you know what you're we're saying earlier, Like there's
probably like nobody is just one thing. We're all multifaceted
to some degree, and maybe it's just a matter of degree.
And like some people just kind of are like, Okay,
(18:30):
I'm supposed to specialize, like no problem, I'm I'm excited
about that, and other people are like, oh, I don't know,
I don't know if I can just do that, and
I don't don't feel quite as easily into that model.
So so I'm now I think I'm a specialist who's
now finding herself in a slash situation. And I didn't
(18:52):
really develop so many of those tools. I mean, my
job asked me to do a lot of different things.
I had to constantly learn different things. And when you're
a magazine editor, you also if you're interested in something,
you just dream up some reason why you absolutely have
to do an article on it, and if you're the boss,
you get to say we're gonna do that and then
you get to learn about it. So so there was
there were a lot of learning opportunities, but still the
(19:12):
skill set was just like one solid skill set that
I was just developing and building on. And now that
I'm trying to learn so much and and develop in
so many different areas, I find my mind I do
have monkey mind. I feel like my mind is a
little bit scattered. My thoughts are scattered. Um, I'm working
really hard to do that thing. Everyone talks about setting
(19:32):
an intention for the day, but my intention seems to
blow up by eleven in the morning sometimes, so so
do you have any strategies for that? Yeah? Um so
when it comes to productivity, for lack of a better word,
this is something that multipotential lights and everyone really tends
to struggle with. Um. But I think especially people with
(19:54):
many projects and many different things on the go, you
need to find a bout lens between making progress and
like letting yourself explore. Sometimes you have to explore. It
sounds like in your case there's like going on. So
this is the strategy I usually suggests. Maybe there's a
modified version that will work for you. But you kind
of like you write down everything that you're working on,
(20:18):
everything you're learning, and then you pick the you know,
two to five priorities right now, like the main things,
and you kind of, if possible, write them down and
hang them by your by your workstation, you know, in
your office, and when it's time, when it's time to work,
you look up and you're like, okay, those are like
(20:40):
the four things, which one do I feel like working on? Now?
Pick one? Go At some point if you start to
lose steam, like either take a break and get back
to it, or switch just another one of your priorities.
And then when you have like shiny object syndrome and
there's like something that you want to try, just add
it to that other list. And you've got this long
(21:00):
list of like someday things or like backburner projects or
whatever you want to call it. And then at a
certain point, when you feel like you have reached the
natural end point with one of your priority projects, you
cycle one of the other ones in so you get
to pick from the shiny objects exactly. Yeah, And I also,
you know it's going to have to be like a consultant.
(21:22):
I'm going to have to buy one of those giants
sticky pad pad. Yeah, people use like different boards and
sticky things, and some people use digital stuff. But yeah,
and then, like you know, you can really start to
resent your as a multipotential that you can resent your
main projects if you're not allowing yourself to explore sometimes,
(21:44):
so I always encourage people like, if you really there's
something on your someday list that you really want to
play with, to try out, like set a timer and
have some tinkering time. I call it, so like set
a timer for forty minutes or twenty minutes or whatever,
and just like let yourself go down the rabbit hole,
be quote unproductive, like explore something new, whatever, and then
(22:10):
and maybe use this as a break after you've gotten
some work done. And then once the timer goes off,
you're like, okay, cool, get back to your main thing. Um.
And that just lets you kind of have a little
bit of that fun at the same time, so you
don't start to resent your main projects. The world seems
to possibly overvalue expertise and specialists, but you say that
(22:32):
there are some real um areas of where multi potential
lights excel and um where they're they're exceptional. Can you
go through those a little bit. We don't have to
be ashamed to be multi potentially. We're good multipentiallights were good.
They're not dilettents, No, definitely not. Yeah, I've kind of
(22:56):
identified what I call the multi potential lights uper powers.
Um we're good. We tend to be pretty adept at
these things. And I'm sure there's more, but um So,
the first is idea synthesis, and this is the ability
to take to take concepts and skills from two different
areas and blend them together and create something new. So
(23:19):
like it's you know, you're trying to solve a problem
in a particular field, and all these experts are working
on it, and like you all have the same background,
You've done the same reading, you know, but if you
have a few other backgrounds, a few other kind of
areas that you've explored, maybe you pull an idea from
somewhere else and it's like, oh, like this is a
really interesting solution to this problem that we wouldn't have
(23:41):
necessarily thought of. Um So, you know, you see this
a lot in like really innovative business ideas or you know,
like like there are some fields like um, I don't know,
I learned about ocean therapy recently, which is kind of
like a combination of talk therapy, and surfing. It's like
(24:01):
therapy while learning to surf, and it can be really empowering.
And there's something about the ocean, you know. UM their
psychiatrists basically, very basically, and if you're someone who's interested
in in psychology and surfing, like maybe there's a way
to integrate the two. UM And there are a lot
of interesting fields like this. You know, I was talking
with an occupational therapist I don't know why all my
(24:21):
examples have to do with therapy right now, who was
saying that he had patients who, you know, was having
trouble walking, and so together they went to the hardware
store and they built they built this intraption that would
like help him walk better, and they did it together
and it was really empowering. And like that's not something
(24:42):
he learned in occupational therapy school. It was like a past,
like an outside interest in carpentry UM that allowed him
to do this. So, you know, we tend to be
pretty innovative because we can blend all these different things
together and come up with solutions that like a specialist
might not have necessarily thought of. So idea synthesis is
the first one. UM rapid learning, we kind of touched
(25:04):
on this, but we tend to be pretty quick learners.
We picked things up fast because we're used to we're
used to being beginners, were used to kind of diving
into things, and also like multi potential, I tend to
be really passionate when we're excited about something, and so
we just like learned faster. I think we dive in
and we like absorb everything. Read all the books, listen
to all the podcasts, and um, so that that's a
(25:25):
huge benefits. Some people that I interviewed for for How
to Be Everything said that like they were real all
stars at work because they were willing to like try
new things and jump in where other people were like, Oh,
I'm scared to do that. What if I fail? What
if i'm you know, what if I can't pick that
up quickly enough? And so, um, that can be a
real benefits. Um. We tend to be really good at
(25:47):
kind of communicating with people from different walks of life,
both because we have these different backgrounds and because we're
really curious and really interested. And that is a huge
asset because it allows us to translate between people who
might be speaking different languages. So like let's say you're
leading a big interdisciplinary team and you've got designers on
(26:08):
the team and you've got programmers on the team, and
you have a background in both areas well. That allows
you to really like speak with them both and translate
between them and see this bigger vision comes to light.
That's a Lisa thing. That's a new thing. All right,
We're going to get back to this after the break.
(26:34):
Before the once we were talking about multi potentially superpowers
and we talked about idea synthesis and rapid learning, and
what was the other one? The ability to relate to
lots of people, relating and translating, right, Um, are there more?
There are a couple more, yeah. Um. So next we've
got adaptability, the ability to kind of take on different
(26:55):
things and um, shift between skills sets. And this is
hugely valuable in an uncertain economic environments, which you know,
I mean, things are evolving very quickly right now and
you don't really know what skills are going to be
useful in the future. So if you can do a
lot of different things, that's a huge asset and it
(27:17):
makes you like really more resilient. And then the last
super power that I identified is big picture thinking. And
I think a lot of multipotential lights kind of have
big visions for changes they'd like to see in the world,
and they're able to spot systemic issues and patterns because
they can kind of zoom out and see the big
picture a little bit. So, um, yeah, I've noticed a
(27:38):
lot of multi potential lights tend to be kind of
visionaries and like have big projects and and you know,
just like often they need a specialist to work with
to kind of like implement things, and multi potential it's
and specialists often make really great teams. But yeah, we
tend to be pretty big picture thinkers in general. I
(27:59):
think you're totally right that this is a time when,
given the fact that disruption is an everyday word and
it's exciting, but it also leaves a lot of people disrupted. Um,
this is a time when being multifested like this, being
that quick learner, that person who can pivot is really
just a huge asset and only getting more and more important.
(28:20):
I think I've read that millennials will be changing not
just jobs, but careers, every career paths every three years
that rapidly. Yes, oh my god, that they'll be you know,
really just hopping from one career path to another that's dizzying. Yeah,
it sounds dizzying. But I think what you're saying is
that as this kind of crowd grows and we all
(28:44):
pick up some of these skills, it won't maybe be so.
But what if you're in that situation, if you're a
listener right now, and you are looking at that on
the horizon and it's maybe not your skill set. Maybe
there's someone more like you, Jill, who is made vaguely
nauseous by that. Well, yes, where they always saw themselves
as I'm really good at math, for example, but you
realize that you have to be more adaptable. Are is
(29:05):
there a way for um anyone to to develop a
multipotentially skill set so that they can be more facile
and and and you know, more comfortable in different situations. Yeah,
you know, I think that it's naturally within all of us.
Like as little kids, we don't usually have special specialties.
(29:28):
You know, we're curious about everything. So I think just
like it's not encouraged as you get older, right, we're
not encouraged to like develop new hobbies once we're like
in our twenties, and even like so just letting yourself
have some free time and some fun time, and like
not having to be the best at things, and just
like and like not even worrying about skill level, but
(29:50):
just like letting yourself learn something new. I think all
of those things can be really helpful as you develop,
like the one career path if that's if that's what
you're doing. Um, And I will say that like, even
though things are shifting, we don't really know where they're going,
and all of those really kind of established tracks are
(30:11):
still a lot of them are still there. Um, So
kind of pursuing one if that's what you want to do,
while still saying adaptable and trying new things on the
side as much as you can is not a bad idea.
So that bartending job, Jill has this incredible ability to
make you do I do. I think it might be
(30:33):
the one thing I actually have kind of a big
head about. I mix up an awesome cocktail, and Emily,
I wish you were with us so I could do
that for you. Just knows what your potential would be
with one of my cocktails in your Actually, what you
were saying really resonated with me because I've just gone
through the experience of getting my older daughter through the
college process, supporting her through that process, and one of
(30:54):
the most depressing parts of it for me was the
insistence by all of the counselors that she, you know, well,
what's your story, what's your thing? You've got to find
your thing so that you can tell the college what
your thing is and that's what you're going to write
your essay about, and all your extracurriculation need to be
aligned around it. And it was really I mean, here,
we are trying to raise our kids to thrive in
(31:18):
this world that, as you say, is full of disruption
and requires all this nimbleness, and she needs a brand?
Is that? Nobody said that because I would have thrown up.
But you know, but they are being tracked. Feel like
kids are being tracked and we're not doing right by them. Yeah,
(31:38):
would you agree? Yeah. I think it's taking some time
for schools and um some employers to really catch up
with what's happening, because I do see a shift coming.
You know. I've heard from people who in their college
application essay wrote about being a multipotentially and that worked
for them. Um. But yeah, the old model is really
(31:59):
in the old ideas that the only way to to
really thrive and to succeed professionally is to specialize. Like
that's just it's not really true anymore. And you're working
with corporate clients to kind of help them change the
environment a little bit. Or is it mostly focused on individuals?
(32:19):
It's mostly focused on individuals. I have done a little
bit of kind of speaking in corporate settings, but I
tend to prefer working with people just me. But imagine
that I actually wrote my college essay on what I
wanted to be. You want to guess, a renaissance woman.
It was just the way I said multi potentially back
(32:41):
in the day, I should have known I was never
going to have a real job. That's awesome, but that's
kind of great. I mean, you knew, I didn't know.
I think I thought I was just bullshitting, but I
manifested that reality. It doesn't sound bullshit. It sounds like,
you know, like no college counselor bullied you into saying no,
here's here's how I'm spinning myself. This is It was
(33:03):
really just why I wanted and I'd never seen it
articulated before Emily put a name to it. It just
felt like I had too many interests to be you know,
to put in a box or didn't want to work
hard enough to be a specialist in any one of
those boxes. Yeah, I mean it's it's it is incredibly
liberating because you know, as any of us face a change,
(33:26):
I think I think the door that's opened and the
light that's turned on here is you know, you don't
have to pick, no follow, do what you love and
if you love a lot of things, do them all. Yeah. Yeah.
Can we go back to your experience a little bit,
so after that initial epiphany and sort of starting to
(33:47):
free yourself to explore different things. I mean, have there
been stumbles along the way where you got really discouraged
or the world just wouldn't hear um what you wanted
to say, m Um. You know, it was a bit
of a slow, slow, steady climb, Like nothing really exploded until,
(34:10):
you know, five years in when I did the Ted talk.
But initially there was there are people who were like,
oh me too, Like I didn't realize there were other
people out there, like listen, they started coming out of
the woodwork. But it didn't you know, it took some
time to build the community. Um. For the first year
of running the site, I was relying a lot on
web design, which is something that I've done through college,
(34:32):
um and a little bit of help from my parents,
if I'm being honest, you know for that first year.
Um yeah, and it took a little bit of time
to kind of get going, you know, as with like
any business. I think, so if you had kids, or
you your future kids, or two parents of America who
want to raise their children to be multifaceted and have
(34:54):
varied passions, what advice would you give two parents? Yeah,
I mean I think firstly, like don't just made me
relax a little. Some parents are like parents. I would
not say that they were chill, but both my parents
are professors, so um, they really value like learning and
(35:18):
to them, like any path leads towards academia. So just
like go ahead, and you know, I know that's the
best approach. But like, yeah, I think, like just give
your kids time to kind of figure things out and
and don't rush them as much as as you can.
And I know a lot of like this all comes
from a place of love, um, and we worry about
our kids and um, and I also think like if
(35:40):
you as a parents are a bit of a multipotential,
I like, let your kids see you engaging in some
of your different activities and passions and showing them that
that's okay, and it's it's okay to like have all
these other things on the go even if it's not
your main thing. Um. Yeah, and just like encouraging different
interests of their in like a responsible way. Like I
(36:01):
remember when I was thinking about switching from violin to
like some quote unquote cooler instrument as I'm sure if
it was going to be guitar or drums instead of
like buying me something that they were like okay, like
can we borrow an instrument from someone? Can we rent
something for a month? And then I definitely had a
month of like banging. They knew what they had on
their hands from an early age, like before we put
(36:24):
the money down. So yeah, if you can borrow stuff
and like encourage their different interests, but like if you
can do it an affordable way, that's always good. I
love that. To follow and connect with Emily on Facebook,
go to at Putty Like on Twitter, it's at Emily
Webnick and her book is How to Be Everything. I'm like,
(36:45):
thank you so much for thank you very much having me.
This was great. Share your stories with us about all
the things you're passionate about and achieving, and you're varied
interests at You Turns Podcast. See you next time.
Road to Somewhere News
Hosts And Creators
Lisa Oz
Jill Herzig
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.