I literally live to imagine myself in 2020

Today, I often think I am nobody. I work long hours at a job that I struggle to see the significance of. Being at the entry level is frustrating, and I find that I lack the time and energy to do many of the other things I would enjoy, like volunteering, dancing, or reading. Instead, I go to work, I go home, I watch TV, I think about how if I hadn't been at work until 9 I would have gone to the gym, how I should have gone to the gym, how maybe if I had gone to the gym I wouldn't feel about myself the way I do, and then I go to bed.

But my life in 2020 is so different. I thought I needed to pay my dues at the entry level, but then I realized that without taking risks, I would never advance to the "idea" stage in my career while still this creatively productive point in my life. I took a risk in applying for a new job doing corporate responsibility for a large company, and it paid off. The company saw my desire to partner social responsibility and business priorities, and trusted my ability to balance the two.

I was there for awhile before taking a real plunge a couple of years ago and starting my own consulting firm. Corporations hire my firm to take a look at their practices, both internal and external, and draw conclusions surrounding the company's transparency and commitment to service. I tell companies where they fall compared to their competitors, and I help them to develop corporate responsibility programs that suit my clients' businesses.

For example, I recently joined up with a popular chain of family restaurants. I found that the company stood behind its peers in failing to show transparency with regards to the quality of ingredients and nutrition facts. I worked with a design firm, as well as the company's in-house branding, to develop a new menu full of information about where ingredients come from and what's in each item on the menu. In order to make this new menu really impress, I joined the restaurant's franchise owners with local farmers to ensure that a number of ingredients were arriving fresh from local farms. Finally, I worked with the restaurant chain to establish a program based on the idea "A Family Restaurant for All Families." Through the program, the restaurant supplies food to low income families in the form of a ready-made family meal once a week.

I like this career path because I'm not only changing the way people perceive corporations, but I'm changing the way corporations deserve to be perceived. I often give lectures at major company events, I have testified in Congress about the influence of corporate responsibility, in the context of how legislation could be developed that would force corporations to participate in these kinds of programs, and give back to their communities.

That being said, I'm still not sure where I'll end up. Because I took some risks, I'm pretty far along for being only 32. I'd like to work for a large foundation, so that I can continue to work somewhere where I can do good without worrying about cash flow, the way I would have to at most nonprofits. Still, I've carved out a nice area here, and I look forward to promoting this cause to more and more senior executives as I gain experience and notoriety.