2020 Reflections and 2021 Focus Areas

Happy holidays, everyone! This year’s been atypical of course, but hopefully you’re all able to take time to relax and recharge with loved ones (in person or virtually!) over the next couple of weeks. As the end of 2020 draws near, I wanted to take time and reflect on a few lessons I’ve personally learned through working on Helium, as well as focus areas for Helium in 2021. 

2020 Reflections: 

• Value of utility players: Previously I spent three years in consulting, and earlier this year, I left consulting to work in the tech industry. Going through the job search, I was a little surprised to see how specific a lot of roles in industry are. A lot of consultants will pivot into generalist roles in industry such as strategy, biz ops, or Chief of Staff, but I also know other consultants who have switched directly into functions like product management, growth, analytics, etc. Personally, I didn't feel like I had deep expertise in any one function. Consulting taught me how to learn quickly and work hard (among other things), so I could probably figure most non-technical roles out, but I was definitely not an expert. I felt a little insecure about the best way to pitch myself during the job search. But working on Helium has shifted my mentality and made me realize the value of being a generalist or a utility player. As a founder of an early-stage company, I work on every aspect of the business including sales, marketing, product, finance, HR, etc. Consulting has given me the ability to ramp up quickly and feel comfortable diving into the uncertainty of new tasks. Helium has helped me appreciate my generalist background and leverage it as a strength rather than a weakness.

 

• Create your own opportunities: I’ve been interested in startups for years, especially after interning at an edtech startup while in undergrad. However, I always thought I had to work with what’s already out there and apply to startups that already existed. I've previously written about the impetus for starting Helium. Working on Helium has made me realize that a lot of times, opportunities and new experiences aren’t going to be handed to you. Sometimes if an opportunity that you were excited about doesn’t work out, think about how you can be proactive in finding another way to create that opportunity for yourself. 

 

• Take time for yourself: As a founder, it’s easy (and common) for your personal and professional lives to blur together and become inextricable. I work a full-time job in tech, so a lot of my personal time is spent working on Helium. Usually, I enjoy this as I find it fulfilling to be productive, and I’m passionate about making information about consulting recruitment more accessible to a diverse group of people. But with general covid gloom, subpar air quality in California, and feeling trapped inside my apartment earlier this year, there were definitely days where I had trouble finding motivation to work on Helium. But I've realized that I shouldn’t expect myself to be “on” 24/7, even when working on something that I'm passionate about. It’s important to take time for ourselves and relax, even if it doesn’t feel “productive.” None of us are productive all the time, and taking time to recharge allows me to think more clearly and be more focused when I am working. It also helps me be more present in relationships and things that I do outside of work. 

2021 Focus Areas
In 2021, Helium intends to focus more on growth and developing partnerships. Here are three ways we'd like to do so: 

• Partner with student groups at colleges: We’d love to provide more of our services at scale by working with different student groups. We want to host free case workshops and speaker events about our professional experiences, and see this as a great way to engage with larger populations of students and scale up the number of people who we can help. If you’re part of a college student group and are interested in having us speak, please reach out at coaches@heliumcoaches.com

 

• Provide more free resources: Currently we offer three paid services: mock case interviews, mock behavioral interviews, and resume reviews. We know there’s a lot of variety in coaching services, so it’s hard purchasing services sometimes without knowing exactly what your coach is like. In the new year, we’d love to provide more free resources (e.g., newsletters, frameworks) that help people learn more about us and give a better idea of our approach and personalities. 

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• Partner with similar companies: There are a lot of other great companies providing coaching and mentor services. In the fall, we did a webinar with Wonsulting about our experiences breaking into consulting. We’d love to partner with more companies to share our experiences with and hopefully help a broader audience. 

Thank you to everyone who’s supported us in some way this year - whether it’s working with our coaches, watching our webinar, or checking out our website, we really appreciate it! We love feedback and hearing from you about how we can improve. Our inboxes are always open, so feel free to reach out if you ever have questions, comments, or suggestions. See y’all in 2021! 

Written by Rebecca Liu