Roberto Rotondi grew up in Italy knowing he wanted to design, studied industrial design in Milan, and then spent the next two decades letting life take him somewhere he never expected. A redundancy became a move to the UK. A quiet nudge from his wife became the confidence to try. A manager in Taipei, who on his first day told Roberto that even native English speakers make mistakes and the only goal is to be understood, gave him permission to stop being afraid of his own voice. He is now Head of Product Design at Trinity College London, speaking a foreign language in front of you, something he says he could not have imagined fifteen years ago.

This is a conversation about what happens when you stop trying to climb and start trying to grow. We talk about what it felt like to step back from a management role he wasn’t ready for, about what redundancy actually does to you the first time it lands, and about the particular kind of wisdom that only comes from having lived and worked in places that see the world completely differently. Roberto also draws with his daughter, quotes Ratatouille with full conviction, and has a very clean desk.

If you’re feeling stuck, or just want to think out loud about where you’re headed, you don’t have to figure it out on your own. I offer free 15-minute conversations for anyone who wants to talk through what’s in front of them. Whether that leads to working together or not doesn’t matter. What matters is that you’ve got someone in your corner, even for 15 minutes.

Head to http://www.growwithadamjennings.com and book a call.

I’d genuinely love to hear from you.

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