Curveball Ventures Christina Kish

Shout out to my Cal Poly connections! I'll be speaking via Zoom at the Cal Poly Entrepreneurs Club!! Check them out for more details.

I had the distinct pleasure to be interviewed on one of the first podcasts that "Two Teens Talk Tech" produced. These are two amazing high schoolers that are making their way in the podcast world. Thank you Julia Koontz and Evie Gatz. I love the questions they asked and how professional they both were during the process. Go girls!!

NOTE: I just listened to it back and realized that I didn't name our Angel (my bad!)...of course it was Reed Hastings!! Also, a very big thanks (always) to Marc Randolph for always supporting my telling of our story

https://open.spotify.com/episode/6I0kupIqsokvEIFdFATH67?si=Ei1WNZd8RQasmzqUCXym6A.

I am excited to speak with Students at my alma mater, California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo this Thursday via Zoom. My story is the epitome of Cal Poly's motto: Learn by Doing! I can't wait to share with them.

When a swing and a miss is the best lesson....

I remember when I was around 11 years old playing in my first All Star game. I was one of the youngest on the team. I was a pitcher so it was valuable to always have a back up pitcher in the game. They put me in left field for a few innings then rotated to others which was a good thing given my ability to run! It was a close game and on one play the other team had a runner on third, no outs and the batter hit a pop fly to left field. I ran my hardest towards the ball hoping for the catch to show everyone they made a good decision to select me for the team. I wasn't really paying attention to the foul line, just to the ball in the air. I missed the catch. I felt horrible. I thought it was going to be the play of the day. When I came into the dugout at the end of the inning, no one spoke to me and I was feeling like a loser. After the game, the coach gave his team talk. One of "smart" plays he noted in the game was the pop fly I'd missed. I looked up a bit startled. He then explained that the runner would have tagged and scored even though it was a foul ball. We all became better players that day because the coach showed us that what we thought was a missed opportunity was actually a lesson on how to play the game. The sting of the failed attempt to catch the pop up was short lived.

All of the "what ifs" in life and career...what if things don't work out? You don't get a job, there is a typo in a marketing campaign, the product fails, the boss who hired you leaves the company, you are looked over for a promotion.... etc. I've had them all happen to me. Sometimes, you learn the silver lining right away and sometimes, you have to wait. And, wait.

I was reminded of this while talking to my friend about her son. He was turned down for a job opportunity and was disheartened. We both rattled off a bunch of examples of "when one door closes another door opens" in our own careers. It is SO HARD to remember all those times when you are going through it and it is particularly hard to reassure someone who doesn't have the experience of hind sight.

Y'all already know where I'm headed with all of this ... take the swing, fall down, rub some dirt on it and get ready for the next play. Unfortunately, it is that simple.

I love talking about missed opportunities when I talk about Curveballs to large and small audiences!!