Ep 475: From Engineer to Entrepreneur: Unveiling the Path to Business Success with Alicia Butler Pierre

Sean: Yeah. And now I'm wondering, did someone tell you, hey, Alicia, why not chemical engineering? Because honestly, like, who? Who does that? Chemical engineering. Right. I studied I.T. I almost got kicked out because I failed 28 units.

But chemical engineering, my goodness. I mean, that's on a different plane, a different level. Like, how were you told by friends and family who loved you? Hey, take this course. It's probably good for you.

Alicia: It was one of my teachers, Sean, my first love when I was in school was actually in journalism. I loved writing. I loved to read. That's what I thought I was going to do. But I was also. It wasn't until I took a chemistry class that I realized, I'm good at this and I like it. I like this.

And when I was applying for university, Sean that I'll never forget my teacher in high school, Mrs. Callis, who's actually from Ukraine. You know, it's crazy all the things going on in Ukraine right now. But she's Ukrainian. She took a particular interest in what degree I wanted to pursue and I told her about chemistry and she said, Well, you know, here's the thing about chemistry.

You'll have to go all the way up to the Ph.D. level before you start to make any real money. Yeah, why don't you try chemical engineering? Yeah. And that was how it came about. I didn't question it. I thought, well, she's my elder. I respect her. I respect and value her opinion. So that's what I'm going to do. Yeah. And it was one of the most difficult things I've ever done in my life.

Sean: My goodness. But would you say that? So you finished and graduated in Chemical engineering, hands down. Kudos to you. Love it. Love that you finished it. That's a huge accomplishment. And you wanted to even go through and apply for Coca-Cola, which means that your love for it pierced into wanting to build a career around that.

Would you say that when I followed that advice, it did put me on a pretty good path, but it's just that I met some roadblocks along the way and it was an accident that I started Equilibria? But if I didn't meet these roadblocks, I'd probably be in Coca-Cola right now.

Alicia: That is so true. And you know what's funny, Sean, is I've done a lot of work for Coca-Cola, but as a consultant.

So to those who are listening to us right now or watching us, just know that sometimes we establish these goals, we have these ideas and these visions of what we want to accomplish in life, and just understand that sometimes the opportunity may not always present itself in the way that you thought it would happen, but it will happen in some way, shape, form or fashion. It just may not look the way that you thought it would look.

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Alicia Butler Pierre

Website: https://www.eqbsystems.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliciabutlerpierre

Twitter: https://twitter.com/alicia_b_pierre

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