Action is personal. Success is collective

I believe every success is always a group effort, even when it looks like you achieved it alone. Take my own journey as an example: I spent countless hours practising, building a portfolio, designing a website, writing résumés, preparing for interviews, failing, trying again—until I finally joined my dream company. On the surface, it looks like I fought those battles by myself. It looks like I alone made it happen.

But that’s not true. How could I have had the time and energy to push forward without Kate supporting me outside of work—listening when things got tough? Even colleagues, whether kind or difficult, played a role in my success. They taught me lessons that I could never have learned on my own. They pushed me to change things I wouldn’t have dared to change otherwise. My portfolio, my résumé, even the way I spoke in interviews—these were all dots that others helped me plot along the way. And I’m grateful for all of them.

That’s why I believe action is personal, but success is collective. I’m glad that in every success—and even in every failure—I’ve had someone to share it with. I’m glad that what I’ve learned can be passed on to help someone else succeed faster, or go further than me. I believe there’s enough for everyone—if we learn to make the cake bigger, instead of fighting for the biggest slice.