Asad Zulfahri is an SEO & Growth Manager at Zapier, a web-based company that helps users connect all their diverse apps like Slack, Evernote, and Dropbox for example. Asad’s thirst for travel is relatively new, but he has approached it as enthusiastically as he did starring in a Malaysian sitcom when he was 10, and building his own websites when he was 13. Our conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
 
When you were 17, what did you want to be?
 
Before high school, I was a child actor – I did a small local TV show for three or four seasons. I don’t have the direct translation but the title basically means, “Grandson, Father & Grandfather,” and I was the grandson. I had so much fun. When I was in that phas, I thought, “I’m going to go to Hollywood, I’m going to be a big movie star.” But then my mom said, “Stop, study, go to school.” It was just taking too much time. My mom was basically chauffeuring me everywhere, and I was not doing great in school.

​Kaitlan Whitteberry is the social media manager for iOFFICE, Inc., a software company based in Houston, TX. Before we started chatting, I was curious where our conversation would go, as I already knew that Kaitlan had worked for the same company since she graduated from college four years ago. But of course, I should have known never to underestimate how variable things can be, even though they look seamless on the outside. By the end of our interview, I had a completely different perspective on the individuality and spontaneity of this woman’s career path. Our conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
 
When you were 17, what did you want to be?
 
I was in a program at my high school called KDGN, which was basically our broadcast service to the high school. We made a video every day, kind of a news program, kind of fun stuff, what’s going on in the school, on campus. My teacher, Ms. Rose, who was just incredible, was the journalism teacher. She focused on traditional broadcast journalism while allowing us to do fun, goofy, high school stuff. I loved that. I loved creating things every day, I loved not sitting at a desk. We got to leave campus, we got to come up with really fun skits. I was always in those creative and kind of nerdy classes, and this was a way to do that and have it be cool.

Nathan Yates is the co-founder and CEO of We Roam, so one half of the reason I get to write this blog post from sizzling Split, Croatia. Before we started talking, Nathan mentioned that he thought he might be a terrible subject for this series, because he’s a real, live 10-year plan kind of person. But those interviews have been some of my favorites because of how divergent that is from my own experience. Nathan did in fact accomplish his teenage goal of becoming a corporate lawyer in New York. But he also left things open enough that he could jump into an opportunity like We Roam when it came along. Our conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
 
When you were 17, what did you want to be?
 
An attorney. My parents and people in my life and friends had always said, “Oh, you’re definitely going to be an attorney.” I guess I thought critically - as much as a 17-year-old can think critically. A lot of people get told that because they like to argue, but I guess I knew that’s what I wanted.

​Patricia Robinson is a psychotherapist specializing in clients with learning differences and special needs, particularly Asperger’s, autism, and ADHD. She’s also my mom, and in many ways the inspiration for this series. Before becoming a licensed marriage and family therapist, Patricia spent 13 years working as a materials engineer in Silicon Valley. Her remarkable career shift in midlife has been a positive reminder for me that it’s okay not to know what you want to do for the rest of your life at 17. There’s time to figure it out. Our conversation has been edited for length and clarity. 
 


When you were 17, what did you want to be?
 
I really loved art and I was trying to come up with a practical thing I could do with art. I knew being an artist was too risky financially, so I was trying to think of a way, like fashion design even though I don’t especially like fashion, but I liked to draw. And architecture, I do like architecture but at the time I was really turned off by the idea that it would be a five-year program and that seemed like an overwhelming amount of schooling at 16.