When I got what I thought I desperately wanted career-wise only to find that it didn’t bring fulfillment and I barely recognized many parts of myself, it stopped me in my tracks and I decided I needed to change my perspective entirely, rather than looking at the next move. Nonetheless, even after the kick-save I struggled during those years personally as I really remained in survival mode throughout and over time as work became a bigger and bigger part of my life, parts of my personality started slipping away. ![]() It also taught me to cherish friends who always help me connect back to my best self, to be that friend for others, and that you really have to stick your neck out and ask for what you want. That was a total career kick-save back then and it gave me the opportunity and insight to realize that I love building and rebuildling businesses. On the advice of a colleague who is still a close friend, I asked for a totally new job running a business that was a mess at the time, but that could be very relevant if turned around, and after a lot of pressing, I got it. Constant movement and “progress” felt safe.Īt one point I was in a role where I was really not performing and where I saw my relevance to the firm slipping away against the backdrop of a challenging time for the industry. I spent fifteen years focused on emerging markets, learned a lot about the world, and fought like hell to succeed by external standards. I majored in economics and went into finance, which felt like a security blanket. I thought I would manifest this by becoming an architect.ĭespite that clarity and drive at a young age, when my mother took her own life when I was 18, I went into survival mode and shifted gears entirely. One of my earliest memories is sitting cross-legged in my parents’ small study with the Whole Earth Catalogue on my lap, which sparked such deep curiosity for the solutions that can be found by creating at the intersection of design, technology, and science. The seeds for where I am now were sewn a long time ago. However, it is very possible that I could have kept going on a path fairly divorced from my personal values and the shift that made today possible is a function of my decision when I hit my mid-30s to find a way to live all facets of my life as a whole person and to use my energy with purpose, which for me has been largely defined by an intense desire to help realign human behavior with nature and with dignity. It is true that in many respects, this very moment is my life coming full circle to the values that I learned as a child combined with the professional experience of my life to date. ![]() Vanessa: The short, surface level version is that I went from a very creative, multifaceted, progressive and academic upbringing with access to some of the earliest internet technology in the corn fields and industrial towns of the Midwest and the Rust Belt to becoming an emerging markets finance professional in New York, and now am bringing my business experience to solving problems in the fashion sector through the tech-enabled sustainable apparel company I founded, Another Tomorrow. How did you get here? What experiences, failures, setbacks or challenges have been most instrumental to your growth? First things first, though, I am sure readers would love to learn more about you. Vanessa was previously a Managing Director at Morgan Stanley, where she held several leadership roles in the emerging markets institutional securities business.Īdam: Thanks again for taking the time to share your advice. Vanessa is the founder and CEO of Another Tomorrow, an end-to-end sustainable apparel company and platform for discovery and action. ![]() ![]() I recently went one on one with Vanessa Barboni Hallik.
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