A year ago, I met Jeanette and Minn.
Anita and I had just introduced The Grand Quest. Jeanette and Minn were among the early applicants, and the very first two people I would be having a conversation with about our product.
This is one of my favorite moments on the product journey, an inflection point where a product goes from being a model to being a real thing experienced by real people. It's illuminating for me because it always leads to a deeper understanding of what our core value proposition actually is.
Prior to this moment, I assumed our audience for The Grand Quest would be people who knew they wanted change careers, and the value we'd provide would be to help them take action towards finding a new job.
In my first conversation with Jeanette, her story aligned with my initial hypothesis. Jeanette recently left her role as Director of Marketing at a tech company and was seeking a clear path to transition. She had mapped out her goals, and wanted to join The Grand Quest to reconfirm her values and find greater alignment between her values and desired career.
In my second conversation with Minn, I realized our core value proposition was something different. Minn is an investor at an early-stage venture firm. She felt privileged to enable founders to bring their ideas to fruition via capital and to be able to invest with amazing teammates. What she was looking to gain from The Grand Quest was greater courage and clarity of purpose.
Minn was a former competitive violinist and she shared:
One of my previous orchestra conductors used to talk about the importance of the "space between the notes." That space, sometimes an almost imperceptible breath or unbearably long, anticipates what's next. It signals to our brains that something is on its way, and therefore makes landing on the next note all the more fulfilling. I'm hoping the Grand Quest will help me navigate that space, I don't want to rush...I hope to land with grace and certitude.
The Grand Quest at its core is a space. It is a space outside of work and home to gain clarity on purpose. In our busy lives full of responsibilities and obligations, it provides a dedicated pause — a time, space, and structure for you to reflect and navigate your landing. What makes music beautiful is the distance between one note and another, and what makes our journeys meaningful is the pause we take between acts.
One year later, Jeanette and Minn have completed their Quests. Jeanette is now Chief Marketing & Communications Officer at Kapor Center and a Lead Facilitator with The Grand. Minn was recently promoted to Principal at Bloomberg Beta. Both have gained greater courage and clarity, and landed with grace and certitude.
Give yourself space, and join us for the next Grand Quest. Applications are open until Tuesday, January 19th. I can't wait to read yours.
💌
Rei
P.S. I'd love to hear, what discoveries have you made when you’ve taken space to pause?