The preconceived notion our career paths cannot contain any "wrong turns" drives many of us to take a very conservative approach to the working world. We define ourselves and our career opportunities by formal education and experiences, ultimately ensuring a less-fulfilling and less rewarding future. In this talk we will explore how to tell your story, how to use self-awareness to your advantage, and how to embrace the journey.

ABOUT THE PRESENTERS:
Jeremy Arkin
Product Strategist @Skookum
Jeremy is a Product Strategist at Skookum with a focus in Customer Experience Design and Corporate Innovation. Jeremy discovered his love for problem-solving and value creation while pursuing his Master's degree in Biomedical Engineering at University of Texas at Austin. This realization led him to become a commercialization consultant for a $10B, non-profit healthcare system where he helped identify, vet, and pilot startups to help solve strategic pain points across the system as well as commercialize new IP created internally. Jeremy's time working in healthcare innovation exposed him to the importance of human-centered design and design thinking in solving complex problems which led him naturally to Skookum. Now Jeremy applies his skills in ethnography, digital strategy, and design thinking to help clients harness the power of digital solutions in order to enhance customer experience and ultimately build brand loyalty.

Kristi Brecht
Senior Product Strategist @Skookum
Kristi is a Senior Product Strategist at Skookum where she specializes in business problems that can be solved with big data, machine learning, and Robotics Process Automation (RPA). She has a history of working with startups and media companies in NYC, and most recently was a senior product manager at URL-shortening platform, Bitly. Kristi has a BA from UPenn and an MA from Columbia. She lives in Denver with her husband and their collection of skis and snowboards and is looking forward to the start of the triathlon season.

Mike Boehm
Product Strategist @Skookum
Mike is a product strategist at Skookum. Mike found a passion for technology and entrepreneurship through the Entrepreneurship Initiative Lab at NCSU while pursuing a Zoology and Biomanufacturing double major. After 6 months of working as a lab technician for the Merck Chicken Pox Vaccine production group, Mike went back to NCSU to pursue an MBA in Supply Chain and Entrepreneurship. Prior to working at Skookum, Mike acted as a Digital Strategy and Organizational Design Consultant for a Big 4 consulting firm, and then as a Product Manager for a technology startup focused on reshaping the dynamic use of curb space within cities In his spare time, Mike likes to hike and mountain bike Western North Carolina, and has recently found a passion for putting his $60k biomanufacturing degree to some use through fermentation experiments and baking bread.