When I was 13, I decided I’d become a Writer for Days of Our Lives. I’d go to college in California and be instantly snapped up by the soap opera’s writing team.
After high school, I began college as a theater major. That lasted about as long as my soap opera writing dream.
In my final year of undergrad, I was a part of week-long seminar designed to introduce college students to the Chicago advertising and marketing community. After a visit to Leo Burnett, I was sold! I just knew that advertising would be my lifelong career.
A quick look at my LinkedIn profile tells you that none of that happened.
Instead of writing soap operas or Super Bowl commercials, I found myself drawn to the real stories behind the people doing the work: the communicators, the marketers, the storytellers themselves. I realized I cared less about crafting the message, and more about who was crafting it, and how the right person in the right role could completely change the trajectory of a brand, a team, even a company.
That curiosity and passion led me to executive search. Today, as most know, I run a boutique search firm focused on placing top marketing, communications, and public relations leaders. People with the vision and voice to make real impact. I couldn’t have known at 13, 18, or 22 how my career would unfold, but I’ve discovered that dreams evolve. Sometimes they get bigger, sometimes they get clearer, and sometimes they trade glitter for grit.
In the end, I think 13-year-old me would be proud. Though I never made it to the writer’s room of Days of our Lives, what began as a dream of writing fictional characters’ lives became a career helping real people shape their own. And that’s a story I’m proud to be part of.
Singh Hecht Executive Search is a national boutique search firm specializing in the areas of marketing, public relations, and communications.