Interview of the month: Sarah Marsh
MEXICO CITY, MEXICO. KidZania Journal. September 26, 2012. (English). -Sarah Elizabeth Marsh was born in California on a sunny July 17. Sarah is a US national with Kiwi and Chinese descent. Sarah joined KidZania over a year ago as Minister of Citizenship. With the support of Cammie Dunaway and Marcela Viñals, Sarah successfully led the launch of the B•KidZanian Loyalty Program in KidZania Santa Fe, KidZania Monterrey and KidZania Cuicuilco. B•KidZanian will soon be launching in other KidZania cities around the world. We took a few minutes to talk with her and here’s what she told the KidZania Journal:
What was the best job you ever had and why was it the best?
When I was 9 or 10 years old, my violin teacher obliged my brother and I to play our violins for tips on a street corner in Berkeley, California. So I suppose my first and best job was a busker. Any sense of self-consciousness disappeared as soon as we had an audience –and thus a few dollars in our violin cases– and it proved to be the best remedy for stage fright.
What are the qualities that you admire in your friends?
I admire many qualities, but to pick a few: an appetite for adventure, a good sense of humor, spontaneity, caring, and generosity in time and spirit.
Outside of your career, what goals have you set for yourself?
I aspire to read more, write more, and travel often, and to listen, share, and understand. I think the English writer Neil Gaiman said it best, “And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself.”
What is one of the hardest decisions you have ever had to make?
From a very early age, I grew up thinking that I would be a pianist on the international stage. I love music and trained for hours everyday. I haven’t given up the dream, but I ultimately chose to study the liberal arts instead (chemistry and economics –could you imagine?). Since then I’ve learned that life is governed by a whole host of big and small decisions, and that there is no predetermined path. Deciding to embrace that uncertainty and opportunity has led me down different paths, including where I find myself today at KidZania, and the journey has been worthwhile in so many ways.
Who’s had the greatest influence on your life and why?
We all have people who influence us in various ways. My Uncle Max was a true renaissance man –an entrepreneur, inventor, composer, musician, and someone who lived in fast forward and yet was generous with his time. He had many “Max-isms,” but among my favorites are:
The Parnham Test: “You can’t say you understand a situation fully until you can put it all down on one piece of paper.”
And the Parnham Corollary: “It doesn’t matter how big the piece of paper is.”
