The Formula for Early Career Success

My baby sister, Doonyah Alucozai, is heading off to college. Due to our large age gap, I have been blessed to see her grow up. I wanted to share some insights from her story that any of us can learn from.

Her resume is already longer than some working professionals. After identifying a need for free STEM and coding education in her community, she founded a non-profit when she was 12 years old. Her small organization quickly scaled over 4 years. In tandem, she launched initiatives across the state to help similar groups raise funds, offer hardware and software, and recruit volunteers and students – all in the effort to provide free computer science education to communities.

She did all this while maintaining amazing grades, being active in sports, competing in and winning academic competitions ranging from the STEM fields, Debate, to even poetry. She was accepted into top universities coming in with record-setting awards and scholarships.

What is her secret? “She must be a genius.” I hate this label and it is far from the truth.

In fact, all my siblings are not any more naturally talented than our peers. Our parents raised us with a core set of values and beliefs grounded in our religion that anyone can use. One of the most important lessons is recognizing that the right attitude matters more than any special level of aptitude to overcoming obstacles.

As an 8th grader, my sister did not have any special knowledge of STEM, coding, or business. She was looking to satisfy her own curiosity about STEM and coding. The inherent problems she saw were programs in the community cost money, catered to a particular skill level, and were not run continuously. Rather than wait for someone else to do something, she took the initiative and reached out to tons of non-profit leaders. Not surprisingly, many people discouraged her from trying to set up an organization. In fact, there were many times like this where she felt things were not going to work – but she kept trying anyway.

To overcome her fears, she set realistic goals and rallied like-minded people around her mission. She invested hundreds of hours, sacrificing almost every weekend since 8th grade to scale this. Always the first one in and the last one out. It has been inspiring to watch her journey into the woman she is today. Wishing her well as she continues to find her path, make new friends, and discover her purpose in this world.

She was ok with failure because the status quo was not something she could accept.