114. Knowing When to Pivot with Athletes Unlimited’s Senior Director of Special Projects Athletes Unlimited Nicole Pawlak

114. Knowing When to Pivot with Athletes Unlimited’s Senior Director of Special Projects Athletes Unlimited Nicole Pawlak

Introducing Nicole Pawlak

Today I’m talking to the Senior Director of Special Projects for Athletes Unlimited, Nicole Pawlak, about knowing when to pivot.

Her Career Journey

Nicole earned her bachelor’s in psychology with a minor in marketing at Iona University where she also played water polo. She went on to earn her MBA in marketing and management with a certificate in international business, also from Iona. Nicole has held many roles with different organizations, teams, and leagues. This led to a stint in consulting, which she describes as a second MBA for the variety and depth of projects and brands she worked with. She currently serves as the senior director of special projects for Athletes Unlimited.

Knowing When to Pivot

Nicole knows her job needs to match her mission and values and is not afraid to change when the time is right. Nicole reflects how she would have missed out on many of the incredible opportunities she’s had if she felt she owed her time to a certain company or role. Her loyalty is to honor what’s best for her because she’s the one who has to sit with herself when the workday is done. Nicole also finds comfort in knowing that if she’s made the jump to a new job before, she can do it again.

Inside this episode:

    • Nicole looks back at all the opportunities she pursued simultaneously in the years after college and wonders if our caution is holding us back in the later stages of our careers. 
    • She feels she may have forced her career in the direction of sports early on and would have enjoyed parts of the journey more if she had stayed more open to the opportunities that came to her. She feels her love of the common language of sports would have led her there naturally. 
    • Nicole knows when to pivot and do what’s right for her. She doesn’t feel she needs to spend an arbitrary amount of time with any one company if it’s not the right fit for her.
    • She puts herself first and knows that you can’t pour from an empty cup. Nicole’s self-care takes the form of prioritizing exercise for herself before her work.
    • Her competitive spirit and experiences as an athlete prepared her for the business world. From the stubbornness to not stop until she’s mastered a new skill or the resilience to show up the next day after a loss, Nicole benefits professionally from the same attributes that made her an incredible water polo player. 
    • Through her consulting work, Nicole added a new set of skills to her toolbox. She’s still using these tools today and knows that she’s uniquely prepared to take on a whole host of challenges than she otherwise would.

Resources

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