“if you doubt yourself from time to time, know that you belong to the right category.”

Emilie Wapnik

At 40 years old I finally figured out what I want to do when I grow up.

All the kids have been asked at least once the famous question “what do you want to be when you grow up?”. Well, when it happened to be my turn to answer it totally caught me off guard and so I gave those random responses like “Uhm…maybe a vet? Oh wait! An archeologist!”.

But growing up, as many of us do, I decided to follow my mother’s steps and during college I enrolled in psychology. I liked the idea but after the first few exams I grasped that this field wasn’t for me and I took my parents’ advice of becoming an engineer. And you know what? I really liked it!

However, my interests didn’t include just numbers and scientific stuff. The real question was… why did I like so many things without being able to choose one of them? Don’t we all have a “true vocation” at some point?

At the time, I had been playing indoor volleyball for more than 15 years and that allowed me to get a scholarship and complete my engineering degree in the US. What I didn’t know is that I was what Emily Wapnik defines as a “multipotentialite”. A person who has a vast spectrum of interests and is capable of pursuing different careers successfully through the years. Sometimes this can be a bit confusing, but it’s a good thing, trust me! Not only I was a multipotentialite, but I was an ‘alternating’ one, since I was both studying and playing volleyball at the same time (a student-athlete).

After college, my interests and my desire for variety shifted from the “Alternating Model” to what Wapnik calls “Group Hug”. In other words, I chose a path in which all my interests come together and I founded Sportlinx360, the perfect combination of entrepreneurship and sport.

Even though I started my own company, as a multipotentialite, I am constantly evolving and after 12 years in this filed I felt I needed to face new challenges. Therefore, I went back to the alternating way but this time in different areas: I combined Sportlinx360 with teaching sports management and then I went back to my first passion, mathematics.

As the time passes, I become more and more aware of the positive aspects of being a multipotentialite, as the seek for variety, the need to face new challenges, and curiosity. So, no matter what, I know I am constantly evolving and my future interests will enrich my current business. I cannot wait to see what the future holds for me!

And you? What do you want to be when you grow up?