Jamie Kern Lima

play it safe, to check the box, to fit the mold, to succumb to the pressure of getting the right job, the pressure to pay off loans, the pressure to make your family proud, the pressure to exceed the curve, the pressure to win on paper even if it means losing yourself, the pressure of climbing the ladder even if your gut tells you it might be leaning against the wrong wall.

play it safe, to check the box, to fit the mold, to succumb to the pressure of getting the right job, the pressure to pay off loans, the pressure to make your family proud, the pressure to exceed the curve, the pressure to win on paper even if it means losing yourself, the pressure of climbing the ladder even if your gut tells you it might be leaning against the wrong wall.

My challenge today is to dare to trust the knowing and the power that's inside of only you. The one that guides you, not to what you can do, but to what you were created for. Because pressure never stops. But the real pain doesn't come from pressure.

My challenge today is to dare to trust the knowing and the power that's inside of only you. The one that guides you, not to what you can do, but to what you were created for. Because pressure never stops. But the real pain doesn't come from pressure.

It comes from regret, from ignoring your gut, from silencing the whisper inside, from doubting the power that's inside of you, from not answering the call that has only your name on it. Stories are one of the most powerful ways to unite us together. And I want to share a story that I hope you can lean on when you face challenges ahead that are inevitable of anyone going after big dreams.

It comes from regret, from ignoring your gut, from silencing the whisper inside, from doubting the power that's inside of you, from not answering the call that has only your name on it. Stories are one of the most powerful ways to unite us together. And I want to share a story that I hope you can lean on when you face challenges ahead that are inevitable of anyone going after big dreams.

When I got into Columbia Business School, my mom cried. Neither of my parents attended college and they knew without saying it, I'd be the first to change the course of history for my family. When B-School started, I quickly discovered I was learning as much from the alumni I would meet and as much from my fellow students as I did also inside the classroom.

When I got into Columbia Business School, my mom cried. Neither of my parents attended college and they knew without saying it, I'd be the first to change the course of history for my family. When B-School started, I quickly discovered I was learning as much from the alumni I would meet and as much from my fellow students as I did also inside the classroom.

And so to try to amplify that, I began interviewing them for the school paper, bottom line, I loved it so much and I started to get this whisper or this knowing that said I'm supposed to go into journalism as my first career out of B school. And I made the decision to trust it.

And so to try to amplify that, I began interviewing them for the school paper, bottom line, I loved it so much and I started to get this whisper or this knowing that said I'm supposed to go into journalism as my first career out of B school. And I made the decision to trust it.

In 2004, when the average starting salary of a Columbia MBA was six figures, I took a job for $23,500 working in a small town in Washington State anchoring the news. I'm pretty sure I destroyed the curve and said yes to one of the lowest starting salaries in the history of Columbia Business School.

In 2004, when the average starting salary of a Columbia MBA was six figures, I took a job for $23,500 working in a small town in Washington State anchoring the news. I'm pretty sure I destroyed the curve and said yes to one of the lowest starting salaries in the history of Columbia Business School.

A few years in, I was moving up in markets and loving it, but didn't realize my dreams were about to take a tumble and a massive detour. See, while anchoring the news live one day, I hear in my earpiece from the producer, there's something on your face. There's something on your face. You need to wipe it off. You need to wipe it off. I knew what it was.

A few years in, I was moving up in markets and loving it, but didn't realize my dreams were about to take a tumble and a massive detour. See, while anchoring the news live one day, I hear in my earpiece from the producer, there's something on your face. There's something on your face. You need to wipe it off. You need to wipe it off. I knew what it was.

I have a skin condition that's called rosacea. There's no cure for it. It gets really red and bumpy. And until that moment, I'd always been able to just cover it up with makeup, like, no big deal.

I have a skin condition that's called rosacea. There's no cure for it. It gets really red and bumpy. And until that moment, I'd always been able to just cover it up with makeup, like, no big deal.

When I glanced down live on TV in that moment, it was during a commercial break, and I saw, like, if you imagine desert clay cracking and red coming through, that was what was happening under the hot HD lights. My rosacea was coming through on live television. I tried to cover it up, and for the first time ever, the makeup didn't work.

When I glanced down live on TV in that moment, it was during a commercial break, and I saw, like, if you imagine desert clay cracking and red coming through, that was what was happening under the hot HD lights. My rosacea was coming through on live television. I tried to cover it up, and for the first time ever, the makeup didn't work.

And this turned into a really long season of self-doubt where I'd be live on television every time thinking like, am I going to get fired? And every time I'd go on and hear in my earpiece, Jamie, it's still there, it's still there. I spent most of my paycheck just trying to find something that would work. Every product out there and nothing would. And then one day I felt this whisper.

And this turned into a really long season of self-doubt where I'd be live on television every time thinking like, am I going to get fired? And every time I'd go on and hear in my earpiece, Jamie, it's still there, it's still there. I spent most of my paycheck just trying to find something that would work. Every product out there and nothing would. And then one day I felt this whisper.