PART 1B: THE L’ENTREE / HORS D’OEUVRE

Have you ever driven in a foreign city? A place where they drive on the opposite side of the road, the steering wheel is on the wrong side, the traffic signs are differently engineered, and the navigation systems don’t make sense? Bienvenue a L’entree/Hors D’Oeuvre, the course before the main dish i.e. the starter. In French cuisine, the starter much like the amuse-bouche is usually small and light. But unlike the amuse-bouche, the l’entree has more weight, more body, and more depth. It’s a truer indicator of what to anticipate over the next courses. L’entree is a signal that the real work has begun.

Unless you’re hired for a specific technical skill e.g. coding, accounting, craftsmanship etc, you arguably don’t venture too much out of your core tasks. For most operators in the startup space, the opposite is true. More often than not, you end up doing more of what isn’t core (things you weren’t hired). Throughout my startup journey, I’ve found myself in broadly defined and catch-all generalist roles. Up-to-date when someone asks me what my profession is, or asks me to group myself in a conventional bucket, I struggle to answer simply. There isn’t a collected term or a phrase that clearly describes what I do. It doesn’t fit into a “neat” box like a CEO, COO or Growth Lead, nor does it fit into the parameters of Operations alone. While not the best position in the long term (especially if you want to have depth vs. breath), doing a variety and a handful of things at the start is favourable.

I spent those early years doing whatever was needed to get the businesses I worked for off their feet. From administration to selling, customer service to product development, pitching to M&E…anything and everything under the Sahara. I was happy to do it all and went over and beyond what was expected. Saying yes exposed me to so much. I learned new things quickly and collaborated more frequently with others. Most importantly, I was able to demonstrate my capacity to do whatever was thrown at me and do it well. Without knowing it, I was broadening my toolkit whilst laying down the foundation for my identity in the workspace. Here I was, young, hungry and making a case for being dependable, diligent and a great team player.

At first, doing anything and everything is exciting! Especially in a young startup where bureaucracy and hierarchy are still far from being formed. It allows you to bypass traditional step-by-step processes and learn through trial and error without shame. But for anyone who appreciates and/or thrives in order, working without a clear roadmap can also be very destabilizing. Targets and priorities constantly shift, systems aren’t in place, and still you have to move. Saying yes to "everything" also came at a personal cost. I often felt like I was taking 1 step forward and 5 steps back. Doing loads, but achieving little relatively.

At my core, I’m quite reserved, introspective and democratic. I enjoy taking a step back, assessing all parts, and then choosing whether or not to engage. The nature of my work demands something different. It often requires me to be more vocal, more involved, more “out-there”. And even though I’ve never felt the need to fill up space with noise (especially my voice) for the sake of it, I learned quickly in the early days that my opinion and position mattered. Despite my lack of experience, my ideas had merit. Bouncing off each other was highly encouraged, and pushback was also welcomed. I could shift the needle without being in a “decision-making role”. 

Even though it was great to feel valued and contribute in these small but significant ways, I struggled to find the balance between what my work demanded and who I was. It was a tug-of-war. On top of feeling emotionally exhausted from the performative nature of my work that required me to be extroverted 90% of the time, I often felt overwhelmed by the extra hours and overtime I needed to put in for being a “say yes” and “go-to girl”. And because I hadn’t yet found better ways to prioritize my time, and didn’t trust or know how to effectively delegate, I found myself feeling burned out so early into my career. It took a lot of physical, mental and emotional stamina for me to be constantly “plugged in”. I had to take a step back to assess what energized and drained me and find more sustainable ways to preserve my bandwidth. For me this meant;

• trying to finish all my work in the office and not carry work home…I failed badly and often at this but got better with time

• working for a few hours in complete “isolation” when more headspace or deeper thinking work was necessary e.g. noise cancelling headphones, working in the garden, or finding an alternate quiet, empty or closed-off room

• defining a clear separation between relationships inside and outside of the office…for me this meant investing in very few connections

• having a morning routine e.g. running, meditation, yoga

• feeding my body well (home-packed meal(s), snacks and plenty of hydration on standby) 

I recently read a post on LinkedIn from a Career Coach talking about the difference between “busy work” and productivity. Simply put, busy = working hard vs. productive = working smart. Both require effort, but the latter requires focus on fewer things. Looking back at my first 1-3 years, I can confidently summarize them as busy work. I did what was needed, but did not necessarily prioritize the big picture. Remember though, these are the early stages. And as I’ve articulated prior, doing a handful of things is a benefit…at least in the short term. Being a jack of all trades helps you get into a rhythm, keeps you on your toes, and allows you to gain deeper understanding of the ins and outs of things e.g. how the business operates. 

It can be quite overwhelming to do things without structure, and even more daunting when there is no allowance or support to create that structure. Forming your own rules of engagement is so important when working with ambiguity. It’s a way of reclaiming power, taking back control, and finding new energy to do what needs to be done.

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My first 1-2 years were confounding but taught me valuable lessons regarding what to and what not to expect, building self-belief, being open, and starting over if needed (read more from my previous post here). And while years 2-3 felt similarly disorienting, they were truly the l’entree to my startup experience. These foundational years allowed me to get more comfortable with coming out of my shell, lean into partnership and collaboration, and showed me the value of sharing ideas. It was through doing everything that I got involved in a lot of interesting projects, built deeper trust with my colleagues and manager(s), became more accustomed to receiving and asking for feedback, and most importantly demonstrated that the outputs of my work were of quality and at par.

You don’t know what you are capable or good at until you try. The early stages allowed me to push myself. If you choose to partake, be open to trying anything and everything, have an opinion and be able to question and defend it, work closely with and learn from others, and above all, let your work speak for itself.

The course has just begun, I hope you’ve worked up an appetite.