I was going to make movies for Pixar. That was the plan. I wanted to be a computer animator — the person who helps bring the films from Disney, Pixar and DreamWorks to life. I built my whole direction around it. And then I got far enough in to feel something I didn't expect: it didn't play to my strengths. The dream was real. The fit wasn't. What nobody prepares you for is the hole that opens up when the thing you organized your future around quietly stops being the answer. I didn't have a backup identity. I just had a blank space where a direction used to be and a vague concept of doing something "innovative". Here's the part that still bothers me — I couldn't have known sooner. Not because the adults around me didn't care. They cared a lot. They just had no way to show me what the work actually felt like from the inside until I was already deep in it. Millions of kids are standing at that same edge right now, except the ground is moving faster than it ever moved under us. That's why I've invested in building Orchard — and Orchie, an AI career buddy — so a teenager can explore real careers, hear from real people doing the work, and find the fit before they lose years to the guess. I found my direction eventually. I'd just love for the next kid to find theirs a little sooner.
Appreciate the purpose of Orchard to help teens explore career paths.
That hole can feel insurmountable. Orchard sounds really helpful for helping teens find their way with real career information. I'm intrigued to find out more!
Corey Kossack I actually started my career as a computer animator and focused on a similar dream of working on a major animated film. Now I did get to work on some pretty amazing projects but my dreams and focus shifted pretty fast. Never truly understood what I was signing up for and what my future would look like. I made my way to sales and felt lost. Looking around I saw many of my peers feeling the same in sales. I knew going back to school wasn’t the answer but a couple things were clear in that moment. One I couple make sales my profession and become a true professional. Second was that if so many were lost when first hitting the sales floor, there is a lot of people I can ultimately help. The realization of these things lead me to not only professionalize my sales career but also focused me on leadership and helping others do the same.