September 12, we were privileged to hear some nuggets of wisdom from Susan Chapman-Hughes, Vice-President and General Manager of Global Digital Operations for American Express! Our Ambassadors loved hearing her story and her journey that got her to the position she is in today. Her community-mindedness landed her an early career in community planning, and with an engineering background she became a city planner. Noted early on in her lecture, “Corporate America” was foreign to her, and she didn’t know the scope of corporate jobs that existed. So, hearing from her about her track to get to American Express and corporate America was something that we hope our Ambassadors took note of. Half of the battle is knowing what’s available and out there, and what better way to figure it out than from someone who has gone through that journey of discovery!
One key takeaway from this Masterclass is that while traditional jobs are never bad, it is so important to keep your mind open to the more unconventional paths that life and your career may take you on. Just because you get training in one specific field doesn’t mean you have to go into jobs traditional to that field. Susan Chapman-Hughes certainly didn’t. She took that engineering background from Vanderbilt University and she forged her own path because she knew that a traditional engineering job was not what she wanted. Open your minds and open your hearts to what all is out there. With the growing advancements in technology, the number of unconventional paths available, Ambassadors, will only grow. Nothing about our current global circumstances are traditional, not even our educational spaces. So, keeping our minds and hearts open to unconventional paths will be a vital ability to possess as we get older.
Another important nugget of information that Susan Chapman-Hughes dropped on us was the power and importance of networking. It’s not just what you know, it’s also who you know. And for that reason, building strong and strategic relationships is just as important in building your career as making sure you have the right educational tools in your pocket. The people you network with will not only help you in the beginning, but can also help you with navigating and developing what you do as you advance in your career.
We were so excited to hear from Susan Chapman-Hughes, and hope you were too! Her infinite wisdom was such a guide for our Ambassadors. Let’s keep learning together!