Kim Unger

What is the biggest challenge you had to overcome to get to where you are now professionally? How did you overcome it?

I have always been an externally confident person, but internally I was constantly second-guessing myself and my capabilities. I would constantly compare myself to my colleagues and peers and wonder if I am as good at my job as they are at theirs and if they are more successful than I am even though we are at the same stages in our lives. When the comparisons stopped, that is really when I began to flourish. There was a realization that no one is on the same path in their lives. What started off as me thinking I had to work for a Fortune 500 company in one of the largest cities in the world to be successful, turned into me realizing that true success does not come in monetary value. Everyone has different values that are important to them. Yes, some hold financial success to a higher regard than others, but as soon as I realized that the values that I hold in high regard are what is truly important to me that's when I became successful. I became more confident in my abilities, I switched careers to a field and company that allows me to focus on what values I hold in high regard. In short, my biggest challenge was comparing myself to others. The realization that we are not all on the same paths took some time but once I got here, I couldn't be happier with all my past decisions.