stephen powers post
April 15th, 2014

With Purpose

Priya Tirtha

Ever take a leap of faith?  

Recently moving across the country from San Francisco to Philadelphia was definitely one for me. Not in the sense that I didn’t think that Philly would be an amazing city, but in that I had never been there before... ever. I went into it knowing that when the plane hit the ground, I was going to be there to stay.

Preparing this type of journey has the reputation for being painful. A heart wrenching experience for all of the obvious reasons you might think (and from what all of my friends kindly pointed out when I first broached my plans to them); unfamiliarity, missing friends, family, finances, job, climate, etc etc. But by setting my mind to the right values, and committing wholeheartedly to taking my next steps in life with grace, I was able to find my way into an amazing place; P’unk Ave

I kept whittling down the incredibly serendipitous story of how I came here from its grandiose beginnings - when realized I didn’t need to get too crazy about the details at all. What’s important, was my continuing focus on delivering the best experience I could provide myself in life. A skillset that I bring to the table everyday for the users that I research and design for.

By:

  • Connecting with people
  • Embracing coincidences
  • Showing commitment
  • and Celebrating

I was able to take a happenstance encounter on my journey here, and turn that into an opportunity where my Service Design skills can flourish.

So you might be asking yourself.. where does the leap of faith come in?

It’s about not wanting to be a ‘little fish in a big sea’ when it comes to predominantly macro design environment that is SF, and acting with confidence that my latent ability would blossom in a highly local, and community oriented city such as Philly.

There was something there where I knew that this was the right thing to do, and committing to it openly allowed me to gracefully compose emails, and excitedly immerse myself into an amazing team that shares my vibe of delivering great work, for amazing projects.

It’s more than just going with one’s gut. It’s an educated, passionate way to surmount pinnacles and keep on climbing. When’s the last time you’ve examined some of the values you truly live by, and actively take the moments to practice them in your daily lives?

P.S. Talking about coincidences. During my final drafts of this post, our founder recommended we all read a book - The Starfish & The Spider. A book that keenly focuses on another core value of mine; Being a Catalyst.