The Ingredient My Career Was Missing
For the longest time, I thought I was already owning my career.
I chose my major.
I chose my career path.
I chose to keep learning new skills.
So in my mind, I was already in control… right?
I assumed choosing = owning.
Turns out, it doesn’t.
And it took 1 years of my career to finally understand,
I wasn’t owning my career.
I was… waiting.
I waited for opportunities to present themselves.
I waited for leaders to see my potential and promote me.
I waited to be known for something — instead of deciding what I wanted to be known for and doing the work to be seen.
Little did I know, I was outsourcing my career growth to everyone except myself.
What owning your career actually looks like
When you are a product owner of your career, you don’t just complete tasks.
You don’t just follow the roadmap.
You don’t wait for the opportunities, you create them.
Julia Fedorin wanted to work at Shopify. They didn’t have a marketing internship open.
So she created a video campaign.
No application. Just initiative and show her good work.
Within 24 hours, she got the offer.
Not just because she was lucky, but because she created an opportunity when there wasn’t any.
When you operate like a product owner, your work becomes meaningful.
When you operate only as an executor, your work becomes draining. 🫤
📈 How to own your career?
Here’s what’s working for me: start seeing yourself as a product.
Our work sells our value every day.
And when we don’t market ourselves?
No one is responsible for doing it for us.
Start thinking strategically about everything you do:
What are we building?
Why does it matter?
How does my work fit into what the business strategy?
Where are the gaps I can help improve?
What would I build to solve the problem?
How can I test, iterate, and fail fast?
build v1 → v2 → v3
This applies at work.
This applies to personal projects.
This applies to your brand.
Because owners don’t wait to be picked, they know their value and they pick themselves. 💡
They decide what they want to be known for, what skills matter, and what direction they want to grow.
They track their progress, set clear KPI, and keep improving.
No one can’t improve what doesn’t exist, so they ship even when it’s imperfect.
Instead of waiting for permission to innovate, they create opportunities where none existed.
🧠 Why so many of us wait
Most of us don’t wait because we’re lazy.
We wait because we overthink. 🤯
We’ve spent years being rewarded for following the rules.
So without realizing it, we keep waiting:
“I’ll lead when someone gives me a leadership project.”
“I’ll speak when someone invites me.”
“I’ll grow when someone assigns me the right task.”
But the people who grow fastest don’t wait.
They self-assign.
At a book launch I went to this week, one of the authors joked:
“This book only exists because we didn’t know how hard it would be.
If we knew, we would’ve never started.” — Mengying Li
Overthinking kills more dreams than failure ever will. 🥊
You may want to start posting on LinkedIn… but worry what colleagues will think.
You may want to try speaking… but wait for someone to say you’re ready.
You may want new skills… but wait for the “right project.”
I get it... the hardest part of owning your career is often emotional (filled with imposter syndrome, fear of conflict, etc).
But the moment you stop waiting is the moment your career actually begins.
💭 Final Thoughts
Owning your career isn’t about having every step figured out.
It’s not about confidence, the perfect plan, or waiting to feel “ready.”
It starts with one simple shift:
Stop waiting for someone to choose you, and choose yourself.
Xoxo,
Kessie 🧚♀️
🤝 P.S. If something here resonated, and you’d like support navigating your career with more clarity and confidence, I’m always here to help.
Book a strategic session to crush your biggest roadblock. I’ll map a personalized plan, share practical frameworks that work, and support you without overwhelm. 🫶🏻
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