The moment you start apologizing for your background is the moment you hand over your advantage.

The moment you start apologizing for your background is the moment you hand over your advantage.

I've seen this happen so many times....founder walks into a room with a nonlinear career. It might look like five industries, two countries, no straight line. They lead with the caveat. "I know this might seem unrelated to me, but..."
Stop. Right there.

Milly Tamati grew up milking cows in New Zealand. Became a tour guide. Co-founded a wine tour company. Owned a hostel in Thailand. Wrote for Tourism Japan. Helped produce a short film in Canada. Director of Miscellaneous at a tech startup. She used to hide from that list. Now she leads with it. And it's the foundation of everything she's built. Here's what changed:

She stopped seeing breadth as a gap and started seeing it as a lens. Specialists fill a room and solve the same problem faster. A generalist walks in from a completely different angle and asks the question nobody thought to ask.

That's not soft, that's structural!

The story that lives in your head, the one about the weird career path, the pivot, the "I fell into this", that's not a liability. It's the origin story of the thing only you can build.

Try this on for size: Every time you're about to apologize for your background, say it without the apology and see what happens. Just once. The reaction will tell you everything.