Staci on going from academia to educational startup

In this episode of What Do People Do All Day? we talk to my mentor, Staci. Staci loves learning and chemistry, so she thought she wanted to go into academia and higher education. She even got a Masters and then started a PhD in chemistry. But she began to realize that it might not be the right fit for her. So she moved across the country and started tutoring, which led her to join an educational startup called Polygence. Listen to learn more about her journey and startup life. 

This episode is best for: learning how to create your own serendipity, reflecting on what you want out of your career; pivoting career paths

Contents:

1:00 - Meet Staci

07:12 - Graduate school

12:35 - Pivoting from academia and thinking about next steps

17:52 - Starting at Polygence

21:07 - Day-to-day at an educational startup

30:55 - Reflecting on her career path

34:01 - Good career advice (given and received)

Note: A few weeks after recording this episode, Staci accepted a position in operations at Synthesis School--an online enrichment program for kids ages 6-14. Synthesis teaches critical thinking and collaboration by thrusting kids into complex game simulations that model real world decision making. It was originally just a class at Elon Musk's secret SpaceX lab school, and now it is offered to kids world wide. She's pretty sure that one of the main reasons she was granted an interview and offered a position was because she had experience as an early employee at an early stage start-up.