John Rapp
Patagonia
Ventura, CA USA
"It takes a lot along the way to find a really good fit. And then once you do, it still requires a lot of maintenance-like any relationship-to keep it healthy."
Career Roadmap
John's work combines: Design, Environment & Nature, and Being Creative
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Day In The Life
Skills &
Education
Advice for getting started
Scratch the itch. If something is interesting to you, no matter what it is, pursue it. You never know what random skills and knowledge you learn along the way will come back to help you.
Here's the path I took:
High School
Bachelor's Degree
Business/Commerce, General
Northern Arizona University
Graduate Degree
Industrial and Product Design
Art Center College of Design
Life & Career Milestones
My path in life took a while to figure out
1.
Was always interested in breaking things down, putting them back together, making them better.
2.
Went to school in Arizona, got an undergraduate degree in business marketing.
3.
While teaching skiing on the side, he came up with a new padded ski product.
4.
Friends pointed him towards industrial design, which aligned with his interests; went back to graduate school for design.
5.
After school, worked for New Balance in Boston; growing up in Southern California, he wasn't used to the intense work ethic.
6.
Knew he had to find/create a workspace that wouldn't constantly feel like a race; Patagonia offered a good balance.
7.
Not a believer in "being consumed with work" outside of the building; says you should "milk each day personally as well as professionally."
8.
Uses nature as his "role model"; says nature's good at tweaking things until it finds balance, and that's how you should approach your career.
Defining Moments
How I responded to discouragement
THE NOISE
Messages from Society in general:
You have to work long hours and extra days to succeed.
How I responded:
Coming from the east coast, I felt like people there were very driven almost to an extreme level. We would go play soccer at 5pm and then my coworkers would want to go back to work more. I was getting burned out by this mentality and just started to shut down. I moved to the west coast and actively sought out a career that fit better for me. Finding that right fit isn't easy, but it's so important to seek out that healthy work/life balance.
Experiences and challenges that shaped me
I've had several jobs where my values didn't align with those of my coworkers or the company as a whole. Realizing that I wasn't flourishing in those environments helped me figure out the kind of place I could be happy in.