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It is your passion, not education, that drives your future: Meghan Bridges of Rainmaking Innovation

Meghan Bridges is the Marketing and Operations Director at Rainmaking Innovation. Based in Osaka, Japan, Bridges specialises in driving innovation, marketing, and operations. She currently works across multiple projects in the APAC region, providing help and support to startups looking to scale and enter new markets.

She is a regular contributor of articles for e27 (you can read his thought leadership articles here).

In this candid interview, she talks about her personal and professional life.

How would you explain what you do to a five-year-old?

I work in marketing for a venture-building company, which makes new companies and helps other firms grow. I work on sharing the stories of who we are and what we do, and why we are so passionate about it.

What has been the biggest highlight/challenge of your career so far?

Highlight: Having such a fantastic team passionate about what they do, fiercely kind, and going out of their way to support one another. You read about this sort of company culture sometimes, but being in a team that is the full embodiment of it is sometimes like an amazing dream – but real!

Challenge: Cutting through the noise. There are so many remarkable technologies, stories and things out there to explore and for me to also share. The world is vast, and not everyone looks in the same places, so you have to be on top to ensure that the messages we want to share and the people we reach are seeing those messages. This is something anyone in marketing has to deal with.

How do you envision the next five years of your career?

Upwards and onwards! I am passionate about the growth and development of ventures and startups. Working in a creative position to support and talk about the fantastic opportunities has been excellent.

Over the next five years, I see myself broadening my understanding and scope of the content I create and guiding someone else down their ideal path, as my co-workers and mentors have done for me in Rainmaking so far.

What are some of your favourite work tools?

Hands down, Notion. I have a weird passion for building a database for everything, be it research, articles to read, what to pack when travelling etc. Notion has been my go-to for that. I am also a very active user of Glasp, which allows me to highlight and take notes on the massive amount of content I go through in a week and synthesise it.

What’s something about you or your job that would surprise us?

I am freakishly good at breaking things unintentionally. I’m like a magnet for running head-first into bugs or finding weird issues in things.

Also Read: Consistency is key in life: Baradhwaj R of MoEngage

My work needs me to be adaptable and flexible, but I am constantly wondering how long it will take until I break the next thing I use (sorry, devs who have had to deal with me on customer support).

Do you prefer WFH or WFO, or hybrid?

Very much hybrid, with a leaning towards work from home.

I discovered during the pandemic that my focus and output improved when working from home; however, you cannot replace the value and relationship you build with your team at the office. I am currently working on a hybrid model to balance these two, which has worked well for me.

What would you tell your younger self?

You got this! School and your education are incredibly valuable, but they do not drive your future. It is you as a person and your passion. Don’t be afraid of taking leaps into new opportunities, even if you think you are not a match for them. The leaps I have taken in life have led me on fantastic journeys and growth.

Can you describe yourself in three words?

Curious, shy, and passionate.

What are you most likely to be doing if not working?

This changes so regularly that I like to keep my mind engaged, so I’m exploring different worlds in video games – mostly indie titles – or deep in a fantasy book series.

On the odd occasion, I will work on a personal project, which could be anything from coding classes to compiling previous fiction writings of mine to brush up on or rewrite.

What are you currently reading/listening to/ watching?

I just finished The War of Two Queens by Jennifer Armentrout and am waiting for the next book in the Green Riderseries from Kristen Britain. I currently have The Bitter Truth from Evanescence on loop on Spotify and just finished the docuseries called Ancient Apocalypse on Netflix.

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