n 2013, Gustavo left Microsoft for what he planned as a six-month break to help his wife’s real estate team. He never went back. He became a top-performing agent, kept the career change secret for two years in case he needed a way back, then moved his family to Mexico and built a service business for U.S. real estate agents. It nearly failed in 2019, until a brother-in-law with a pencil and a P&L showed him what he couldn’t see.

Gustavo was G’s first manager at Microsoft, Redmond. In this conversation, they talk about leaving the security of a corporate job, why it took ten years to get where he expected to be in three, the two days a month he still misses Microsoft, and why the exploration phase is seductive, but giving up too soon is the real mistake.

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After five months away, I went back to work with a written plan. The boundaries held. The freedom didn't. A solo episode on what returning really costs, and why slow doesn't mean not growing.

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Eighteen years at Microsoft, all in engineering. Natasha made it to M2 — and then went back to M1, because that's the work that fills her up.

A conversation about building a network before you need it, the mistakes worth making, and what she calls balance. On taking your shot, learning what fulfillment actually feels like for you, and slow ambition.

Find Natasha @ inkedin.com/in/natasha-gaitonde-7035512

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