The perception of life changes with time. The most prevalent myth about a career is that it must be restricted to one direction. But as everything faces diversification, career paths are changing too. Career diversification is a way to expand opportunities and explore different skills instead of maintaining a single career.
Diversification is a term used extensively in investment and is a method to minimize risks across a portfolio. Similarly, the younger generation is experimenting with success by changing what a career means. To them, having several options can mitigate any negative effects of one career path.
In the investment world, the benefit of diversification is that it protects the investor’s assets. One losing investment does not significantly affect the financial returns to the investor. Similarly, one’s career can be viewed as an investment, where a lack of diversification can limit success.
The economic environment and regulations change over time. This can indirectly affect your business or the company that you work in. Having multiple income streams or career paths can be a lifesaver in such situations.
A former Apple engineer, Douglas Weber, switched his career to developing coffee tools and machines. Born on February 26, 1979, he always had a passion for becoming an inventor. He attended Stanford University, and aware of his passion for design and engineering, he completed a degree in mechanical engineering.
Before starting a coffee tools development company, he worked as a product design engineer, and a former product design lead at Apple. Weber joined Apple in 2002, where he became an integral part of the iPod’s development. As a result of his luck and efforts, he became one of the original members of the iPod product design team, where he collaborated with Apple founder Steve Jobs as a veteran mechanical engineer.
Very few people know that during the development of the first iPhone, Weber integrated the glass display screen into the product. Apple still uses its patent portfolio, strategic vendor relationships, and several core technologies.
Later, he left Apple and started his own coffee tools and machine development company, Weber Workshops, in Nevada, while Weber, being the CEO of the company resided in Itoshima City, Japan. Given his constant drive and hard work, his accomplishments didn’t just stop there and contined to grow from that point onwards.
In an interview, when asked about this switch in career, he expressed his love for coffee and the reason why he decided to become an entrepreneur. Weber stated that even in high school, he loved doing his homework in cafes, but the real love started right when he joined Apple. He added that before going to work, he would stop at different cafes in the vicinity and explore his taste buds. It became his morning routine, and that was when he developed a habit of buying commercial and prosumer machines. He generally took them home to modify and discover why they were still manufactured like it was the 1950s.
Caught up in this curiosity, he vowed to eventually start making his own coffee equipment and gave himself a 5-year time limit at Apple. This 5-year plan turned into almost 13 years in the end, but by that point, Apple had grown to feel like a big company, and he had put his passion on hold long enough.
In 2014, he finally decided to end that chapter of his life and to explore his capabilities and goal of owning a business. It was how Weber made a difference and proved that career diversification could actually be made a reality.
