019 | There *Are* Barriers AND There Are Tunnels with Dante Clemons

Dante Clemons immediately inspired me when we met a few months ago. She’s a senior product manager at startup and is the founder of three businesses. Before product management, she studied architecture and served as a visiting Associate Professor at the Pratt Institute. The common denominator that underscores her wide range of experiences – from product management, design, and architectural planning – is her capacity for creative problem-solving. After not landing several jobs with notable companies due to “insufficient experience,” Dante created a job-hunting strategy that later led her to found a consultancy business: KICKINTHADOOR, a career services platform for job seekers in pursuit of fulfilling careers.

In this episode, Dante and I discuss what it means to trust in yourself and how we can weave joy into our careers by living more intentionally. We explore how we can bring curiosity in to move through adversity and overcome our fears. We describe how personal value comes from being self-reliant and being able to ask for help from other people. We examine the difficulties of being a woman of color in America and reveal what Oprah Winfrey taught Dante about authenticity. We also explain why there are curved roads in the U.S. and discuss how we can use the power of AND to realize what’s possible for us.

“The curve might look like a detour, but it keeps you awake. It keeps you alive. Lean into those curves and see where it goes.” – Dante Clemons

This week on Life in the AND:

  • Helping people unlock the career paths they want and Dante’s passion project
  • Using curiosity to move through roadblocks
  • Playing with possibilities and how journaling empowers Dante
  • The Queen of Pivot and the power of iterations
  • Letting go of control and opening up to the possibilities of the universe
  • Understanding how to live life and cultivating trust in yourself
  • The F.I.T.F.O. philosophy and how messing up means having opportunities to strengthen your resiliency muscles
  • Dante’s vision of being the next Oprah AND not being the next Oprah
  • Being forced into conformity to get a job and how Oprah’s authenticity inspired Dante
  • Approaching the idea of authenticity and how cultural diversity can encourage empathy
  • Encouraging others that anything is possible despite life’s real barriers
  • Trust, faith, and the power of intuition

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