S1EP35: Why Your Messy 20s Are Actually Perfect for Finding Your Dream Career

Alex Blumberg started out confused about his career—like so many of us. A big breakup was a wake-up call that landed him in the "right place" at This American Life, where he started to lose track of time, wanted to learn everything, and became really good at something.  

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This confidence boost became the foundation for his entire career as a master storyteller. He went on to build and sell Gimlet Media to Spotify, then made another bold pivot into climate entrepreneurship with Daisy Chain Energy.  

His key insight: the people who know what they're doing don't expect you to fake expertise—they want your energy, enthusiasm, and genuine desire to learn. This conversation reveals why your messy, experimental 20s might be exactly what you need to find work that's truly worth it. 

 
Key Points: 

• Your 20s should be spent experimenting to find what truly engages you - don't expect to have all the answers immediately. 
• Fear of failure often keeps people from pursuing what they actually want to do; sometimes a major life disruption can provide the push needed to take risks. 
• When starting out, focus on being helpful, enthusiastic, and asking questions rather than pretending to know what you're doing. 
• Look for clues about what work suits you: What do you find engaging that others find boring? What can you get lost in during your free time? 
• Master storytellers learn to translate their personal curiosity into compelling narratives that make general audiences care about complex topics. 
• In-person collaboration and mentorship remain valuable even in a remote work world - try to build in face-to-face time when possible. 
• Climate solutions often exist but face implementation challenges due to messy, uncoordinated systems rather than lack of technology. 
• Career transitions can happen in phases - Alex went from journalist to podcast entrepreneur to climate entrepreneur, building on previous skills. 
• The most impactful work often involves taking existing solutions and figuring out how to implement them at scale rather than inventing new breakthroughs. 
• Aligning incentives is crucial for systemic change - Daisy Chain Energy solves the "split incentive problem" in building decarbonization. 
• Climate work doesn't need to be moralized - it's about building better systems that create value while solving problems. 
• Finding work that "clicks" involves discovering what you naturally find exciting and engaging, even when others find it tedious. 

Resources: 

• Daisy Chain Energy  
• This American Life (radio show/podcast) 
• How to Save a Planet