Career Mapping: Knowing Your Worth
Key Takeaways
Jean Chandler’s story highlights courage, adaptability, and persistence as key drivers of a fulfilling and successful career.
Taking risks is essential for growth: Achieving goals often requires stepping outside your comfort zone, whether that’s moving to a new city or pursuing a nontraditional path.
Risk looks different for everyone: What feels like a big leap (e.g., relocating or changing careers) varies by person, but action is what matters.
Follow your passion despite discouragement: Jean pursued art even when advised against it, showing the importance of trusting your interests and instincts.
Career success doesn’t eliminate the desire for more: Even with growth and responsibility, she recognized something was missing and pursued her dream of working in New York.
Networking and persistence are critical: Building relationships and staying committed helped her secure leadership roles and advance her career.
Know your value: Over time, she developed the confidence to understand her worth and negotiate accordingly.
Sometimes, to achieve your goals, you have to take risks. And risk-taking means different things to different people. Are you an adventure seeker? Bring on the skydiving and bungee-jumping! Or do you prefer to travel and welcome the opportunity to move to a new city?
While some people are too scared to move, or they talk about it forever, but never do it, others take the plunge. The decision to move to a new city as part of your career journey is a special kind of adventure—a leap of faith that takes confidence and commitment. Jean Chandler belongs to the move-to-a-new-city adventure club. In fact, we think she is a superstar because she tackled reinvention in New York.
Following Her Passion
Long before contemplating a big move, Jean was willing to follow her passion. As a teenager, she was advised not to pursue a career in art, but she did anyway. She was committed to obtaining a broad arts education, including skills such as welding. She feels this varied background makes her a more diversified designer. This broad skill set served her well as a designer at a smaller firm in the Milwaukee area, where she had more than a design role. She was part of a team creating branded environments for financial institutions and was involved with business development. She was an integral part of this collaborative team and gained significant responsibility just five years into her career.
A Desire For More
Jean was tackling interesting design challenges and being rewarded with career growth opportunities, but something was missing. Designing in New York was a personal dream, so she moved. While some people need to secure a job first, before making a big geographical move, Jean was much more courageous. She took a leap of faith and relocated, making ends meet with freelance and consulting work as well as bartending.
Building Her Reputation. Knowing Her Worth
Jean understands the power of connections, so she focused on building a network in New York. In time, she secured a position as a senior interior designer with Ted Moudis Associates. Her hard work, dedication, talent, management skills, and commitment to networking supported career moves and leadership roles at Perkins Eastman Architects, Callison, Studios Architecture, and Vocon. In addition to gaining years of experience as part of these career moves, she gained an understanding of the value she brings to a team and the ability to negotiate for her true worth. As Senior Director of Design for Industrious, she is recognized as a thought leader influencing the future of workplace design.
Willing To Embrace Change
Jean embraces change personally and professionally, and the next phase of her journey includes another relocation and an exciting chapter. She now resides in Austin, Texas, and is enjoying her new role as a mom as she continues to impact the design world on a global scale.
Are you achieving success but not pursuing your true goal?
Do you know your true worth?
Are you afraid to take a leap of faith or ready to take a chance?
What to learn more?
Read A Conversation with Jean Chandler to learn about the people, moments, and conversations that helped give her get to this point in her career.