I created my own job as an urban planner: Here are 5 lessons I learned along the way.
Earlier this year, I made the decision to quit my daytime job in the public sector and dedicate full-time hours to Urban Minds, a non-profit organization I co-founded in 2016 to bridge the gap between youth and decision-makers in city building. Before this, we were a volunteer-run organization, but as the organization grew, we realized that a full-time leadership role was needed to manage this growth sustainably. After much deliberation, I decided to take the leap of faith to become our first full-time staff member as Co-Executive Director.
By the time you read this, I would’ve been only three months into this new role — a big change personally and professionally — and am still very much in the thick of it. Obviously, it’s still way too early for anyone to say whether this transition is a success or not. But what I can say is that I feel more fulfilled than ever before in the work that I do today.
If you are thinking about what to study or what’s next in your career, perhaps even contemplating starting your own initiative or organization, I’d like to share with you some lessons I learned up until this point and hope you will find them useful on your journey.
1. Don’t be afraid to change course
I had to learn this the hard way. I told this story to many people before: growing up, I’ve always wanted to become an architect. However, as I began my first semester in architecture school, I quickly realized that it wasn’t for me. It took a lot of painful soul-searching at the time, but I eventually decided that I was going to instead pursue urban planning through a Master’s degree.
When I first started planning school, I was very interested in urban design and placemaking. I was fascinated by beautifully drawn plans and images of great public spaces. Yet as I continued my studies, I became more interested in community engagement, in how the public could get involved in the decision-making process of our cities, which led me on a path to focusing on youth engagement.
If you asked me in high school, I never would have imagined that I was going to lead a non-profit organization like Urban Minds. But when I realized the changes in my own interests and came across opportunities to pursue those interests, I learned to be decisive and take those opportunities to chart a new path for myself.
A decision you make when you’re 17 or 18 should not determine your entire future. No matter how old you are now, be flexible and kind to yourself to know that you have the time and space to change your trajectory.
2. Reflect on the experiences that shaped who you are
Looking back at all the formative experiences I had in my teenage and young adult years, it’s not difficult to see how they have informed and shaped my career so far. I spent many summers being a camp counselor and youth program leader, and genuinely enjoyed mentoring young people and witnessing their growth. I also spent way too much time playing SimCity and drawing cities and buildings in my doodles as a kid. For the longest time, I never made the connection between these two, but when I look back now, it’s no wonder that these two worlds are colliding in the work that my team and I do.
So, ask yourself: what did you enjoy doing growing up? What did you spend the most time doing?
Even if your interests and experiences don’t seem to relate with one another at first, I challenge you to dig a little deeper and try to connect the dots. You’ll be amazed by how much these past experiences shape the way you think about your work, or may I dare suggest, your calling.
3. Break the mould and try new things
Call me spoiled but I could not find myself working in traditional urban planning positions after my first job out of school at 8 80 Cities. One of the reasons why I had such a great experience working there was because the organization’s ethos was all about experimenting with unconventional ways to engage people with public space and transportation projects. My time there opened my eyes to what was possible and inspired me to also try new ways of talking about city building. I was very lucky to be able to launch my career there.
Another way to put yourself out there and try new things is to participate in competitions. Angela (my fellow Co-Executive Director) and I have entered many urban design competitions ever since our university days. We won some and lost some, but it was a fantastic way to push ourselves creatively and get better at problem-solving. No matter what field you are in or plan to enter, look for opportunities like hackathons, design competitions, and pitch events to flex your competitive muscle.
Whether it’s through your work, a side project, or a volunteer role, if at all possible, I encourage you to try new ways to tackle old problems. If you’ve gotten this far into my blog post, I suspect you already have some ideas on where to start.
4. Surround yourself with the right people
Speaking of Angela, the best thing about our partnership is that we complement each other with our individual strengths. I am a big-picture thinker who enjoys visioning and strategizing, while Angela is a detail-oriented doer who is great at breaking down big projects into manageable tasks.
Alongside myself and Angela, are a growing group of people who have dedicated countless hours as volunteers and board members to support our work. If your cause is worthy, you will soon find like-minded people gravitating toward you and offering their time and energy to help. Take up their offer with gratitude and build yourself a community and a support network.
If you are thinking about starting your own business or initiative, remember: it is so much more difficult to do everything on your own. Consider whether you are a visionary or an integrator, and who you might want to partner with to get the big and small things done.
5. Commit
This at first may sound contradictory to the initial point — how are you committed to something if you are allowing yourself to change course? Pivoting doesn’t mean giving up. It means persistently tackling the same overarching goal but just with a different approach.
For me, my overarching goal is to bring people together to create better cities, improving people’s quality of life. The jobs I had in the past all aligned with this goal in one way or another, but Urban Minds has been by far the best way for me to realize this goal. Once I decided that this was the case, I committed myself to the work. It meant working late nights and weekends while I still had a full-time job. It meant prioritizing certain things and sacrificing others in my life. While I am not glorifying hustle culture, it does take grit and determination to start and grow an initiative. The drive to keep going, though, truly comes down to whether you have the alignment and commitment.
You don’t give up on solving a puzzle just because the piece you’re holding doesn’t fit a certain spot. You pick up another piece and keep going. Once you find alignment between your overarching goal and your work, then commit yourself and work hard for it.
Final reminders (that are mostly for myself):
- I’m still figuring things out, and I know that will always be the case whenever I am trying something new.
- If I ever feel uncomfortable along the way, I know that is because I am growing.
- Remember this growth is only possible because I’ve mustered up the courage to embark on this journey in the first place.
I hope these lessons and reminders are helpful, especially if you are still on the fence about starting something new. Frankly, this transition has been as terrifying as it is rewarding as I am also learning more about myself every day.
If you want to learn more about this topic, check out our TikTok video where I share three more lessons I learned.
Do you have an unconventional career in planning or architecture? I’d love to hear your story!
Ryan Lo is the Co-Executive Director of Urban Minds.
