A New Life Course

Yes, I know I haven't posted in FOREVER. Why? Because I'm in my senior year of a strenuous program and it's beyond stressful. Plus I'm running a business and have had some mental health issues. I'm going to work on writing more...after this semester. In the meantime, here is the big "I'm changing the entire direction of my life" blog post you've all been waiting for (and by you all, I mean 3 of you).

As many of you know, I have been attending school for the last (almost) four years to become a biomedical engineer. I am on the final stretch! I have less than six months until I graduate (assuming I don't crash and burn...We're trying to avoid that). Anyway, for the first three years of my ASU career, the goal was to graduate, get a job in a big medical device company as a junior engineer, and start earning some money.

Then things started changing.

First, in August of 2017 I opened my massage business and then in March 2018, I took a leap of faith and got a physical location and started seriously building my business. This was supposed to be a side gig until I graduated, maybe pay my way through grad school as well. Little did I know it would prove to be the foundation of everything.

The thing is, I really like working in a small business as my own boss. I even like being other people's boss. I don't mind the responsibility and I like figuring out how to make things "go". From the beginning, I've loved going to work more than going to school, and it's not just that doing massages relaxes me. I even like doing the paperwork more than I like going to school. I'd rather do my business taxes than attend my thermodynamics course. This is something I noticed last spring, but I simply put the thought on the back burner and moved on with my life.

At the start of Fall semester, one of my engineering professors talked about this class called "MedTech Ventures" where you build a venture based on a medical device, including designing and building the device. It sounded a lot like my capstone course and I thought it would provide me with another great opportunity to design a medical device before graduation, thus increasing my chances of getting a good job. I signed up. And I fell in love--but not with the "medical device designing" part. No, I fell in love with the "building a venture" part.

Doing MedTech Ventures at the same time as I'm doing Capstone has been eye opening. Essentially, they're really similar. Come up with a medical device, design the device., figure out what it takes to sell the device. The focus is different though. In Capstone it's about the engineering and the business is a tool to help get the device created. In MedTech Ventures it's about building a venture and using engineering as a tool do create a successful business. As I've progressed through the year, I realized over and over again that I would rather be doing what I'm doing in MedTech Ventures than what I'm doing in Capstone.

Part of the appeal of MedTech Ventures is the role I get to play. See, in that "class" (it's more of a program), I get to play a unique role. I get to be the go-between for engineers and business people. From three and a half years of engineering school, I speak the engineering language. What I don't understand, I know how to learn, and I can quickly be caught up to speed. I also speak enough business between my own experience running a small business and the class that I can hold competent conversations with the business people as well. Best part? I can translate between the two. I can take what the business people want and word it in a way that the engineer understands the importance. I can also take what the engineer is saying and simplify it so that the business people can understand the essentials.

It turns out, there's a real position in companies that would allow me to be the translating-go-between for these departments. It's called "Product Manager". There's a lot more to it than that, but essentially I'd be working with the two departments, translating between the two, and making sure the product was developed in a timely manner. I'd also get to be the boss, which is appealing for me. When I found out about this position last fall, my brain starting going crazy, but I didn't significantly change my plans. I was still looking at getting a job in engineering this year.

The next twist that happened was I decided to go to grad school. I took the GRE and everything. My plan was to get a degree in biomedical engineering and open up more engineering options for me. This locked my brain back into engineering mode and I began pursuing that path.

Then the last few weeks happened. I don't have time here to talk about what all that entailed, but the essentials is I've had some major head-space shifts and I decided I didn't want to be an engineer. At all. Ever. I love being involved in the process of device creation. I really don't like being the one doing the detailed engineering work. Someone else can do that, please. This lead me back to what I've loved the most in the last year: being involved in building businesses/ventures.

So, here's where I'm at: I'm looking at two options for grad school. One, I get an MS in Innovation something or other. This option may not even be an option as the program was supposed to launch this fall, but it looks like they might delay it. The other is I get an MBA. Right now, I'm leaning toward the MBA option. I'm thinking of applying now, even though I'm just coming out of my undergrad, because the fact I'm a non traditional student might get me in anyway.  Plus, how many of the undergrads can say they started and ran a successful business while going to school full time? If it doesn't work, my plans don't change significantly--it just puts the school piece on hold.

The rest of the short term plan is to get some experience in ventures, preferably MedTech and preferably in Product Management. I am not looking for a full time job as I plan on a) going to school, and b) keeping my massage business going. I actually believe that the MedTech Ventures program will open this door. I have some amazing connections now that I wouldn't have had without this program. If I get into an MBA program, I'll go to school while doing this, but do it part time. This will provide me with the skills, experience, and connections I need for future goals.

The long term plan is to be involved in the creation of MedTech businesses. I want to help build them from the ground up and then when they get big enough to garner attention, sell them off to the big companies and start fresh. If I'm not in an owner role (which I'm not necessarily opposed to), I do the same but don't sell it--just leave for a new venture when it's sold. There's going to be some failures in there. That's OK. I think failure can be a great tool. But there's also bound to be some successes.

My life is much less "sure" than it was a few weeks ago, but I'm way more excited and happy than I used to be as well. My sister commented that I seem lighter, like a weight has been taken off. It's true. I'm actually looking forward to graduation. While I was before in the sense that I wouldn't have to go to school any more, now it's because I'm passionate about the future. Before, I just was sick of school but (frankly) terrified of what would come after. It gave me some bad anxiety this semester, but once I started making these decisions, the anxiety has gone away almost completely. I'm feeling really happy and really blessed.

I can't wait to see what my future holds.