I’m making it outstanding on day three of Autodesk University 2024. San Diego is the epicentre of Design and Make this week and is, without a doubt, my favourite convention city. I remain energised about what lies ahead for the world. The AU 2024 experience makes one believe we can MAKE a better future.
One of my favourite things is honest conversations with technologists and/or sales professionals. I love sharing stories about careers and work-life patterns.
- What is going well?
- What feels stuck and out-of-sorts?
- Where does the road lead in the future?
- How do you get there?
- What lifestyle will you create while making your business goals come true?
I am also fascinated by how those questions resonate with those at my stage of life, 65 years old and older. I’ve started calling this the “The Third Act.” I stole that from a Jane Fonda interview on Julia Louis-Dreyfus’s Wiser than Me podcast.
Fonda, going strong at 86 years of age, says,
There’s nothing more important than the third act!
Check it out! Julia might be my favourite podcast interviewer of all time. She’s funny as hell and brilliant in setting up her guests.
AU 2024 was the perfect place to develop my book further: RELEVANCE: From Beginning to End.
- With line-of-sight on eight generations of working professionals, I’m studying what it takes to maintain relevance and find your voice throughout your career and life. Put another way, what does purposeful work look like in your twenties, thirties, forties, fifties, and so forth, allowing unique individuals to do amazing work well into their 9th and even 10th decade of life?
- All of our careers ebb and flow. There are times when things just seem right. You are motivated, challenged, inspired, energized. There are other times when you are not on your game. Something is just not right. You are uncomfortable, bored, tired, or angry. What’s the difference? Is it possible to keep the good times going for years on end? Is it possible to avoid the down times? I think it is!
Here are a few examples of conversations I enjoyed at AU:
- Shirine Boukli, Paris Olympian and Judo Athlete. Shirine is in her early twenties and exploring what is next after competitive judo. She wants a career in design, potentially focusing on the fashion industry. Her energy and passion for design is contagious. I promised to introduce Shirine to my daughter Emily Singletary Cazzetta, who studied fashion and apparal design at SCAD while playing four years of collegiate golf. Emily is now is a Senior Program Manager for Apparel and Hats at YETI. Those two are meant to meet.
- Ryan Hetico, a rising star at IMI Precision Engineering. Ryan is in his early 30s (if that) and has a Mechanical Engineering degree from Wright State University and a Masters in Mechanical Engineering from North Carolina State University. We connected on many fronts, including a passion for college sports (Go Heels!) We discussed how he established himself as a leader at a young age. Ryan was brutally honest in sharing some of his mistakes and some bold chances he took that helped catapult him forward. Ryan’s father was a successful engineering leader at GE Aviation, and there is no doubt the apple does not fall far from the tree.
- Jayanth Iyengar, Autodesk’s best Customer Success Manager? We have many outstanding CSMs, so I’m not giving that award lightly. Jayanth is approaching 40, the second act and the prime of his business career. With a Harvard Business School degree and the last man standing in college jeopardy (2005), what is next for Jayanth might be the most intriguing question I asked all week!
- Joanna Fogt, another mid-career individual, was one of my favourite clients when I handled Google. Joanna is a knowledgeable, hard-working and profoundly caring executive. Our conversation about careers, health, and family could not have been more enjoyable.
- Lastly, heading into that third act, my friend, Maurizio Giubilato, a talented Process Simulation Engineer with Autodesk partner Flexcon. Maurizio and I talked about Unilever Ice Cream and a successful simulation project he led in Caivano, Italy. I also enjoyed learning about Maurizio’s love of cycling and the remarkable iconic climbs he has completed in Italy and France.
I could keep going, but it’s time to head home. Boarding British Air Flight 264 and off to London Town!
