Career Path of a Director of Marketing and Protocol Relations in Digital Finance
Houston's career path began unexpectedly with high school cryptocurrency mining, "mining crypto in my dorm room," which funded their education. A winding journey through side hustles, a record label internship, and even a cancelled Amazon job offer, ultimately led to a fulfilling role at ShapeShift, prioritizing passion over immediate financial gain.
Career Exploration, Overcoming Challenges, Cryptocurrency and Technology, Networking, Entrepreneurial Spirit
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Houston Morgan
Director of Marketing and Protocol Relations
Leading Digital Finance Organization
Arizona State University (ASU) - W. P. Carey
N/A
Business & Related, Communications
Finance (Banking, Fintech, Investing), Technology
Communication and Marketing
Scholarship Recipient, Transfer Student, Student Athlete
Video Highlights
1. Houston's career path highlights a willingness to take risks and pursue passions, even if it means foregoing higher-paying jobs initially. This is exemplified by leaving a high-paying Amazon job to pursue a less lucrative but more fulfilling role at Shapeshift.
2. Houston's early experiences with cryptocurrency demonstrate initiative and entrepreneurial thinking. Mining cryptocurrency in college to pay for tuition showcases resourcefulness and a knack for identifying and capitalizing on opportunities.
3. The path illustrates the value of diverse experiences. Houston transitioned from various roles (lime scooter charging, record label marketing assistant, Home Depot employee) gaining skills and understanding of different industries before finding their ideal career path.
Transcript
Could you walk me through your career path, starting with your experiences in college and any jobs or internships that you had before your current role?
It's actually super interesting. This started pre-college, in high school. My friends and I thought cryptocurrency was cool and wanted to be rebellious. We were the nerds who no one wanted to talk to, but we were interested in hacking.
We ended up mining crypto using school computers after hacking into them. It was really fun. We were also big Reddit memers, spending time on subreddits doing shitposting. This was our exposure to crypto.
As we were mining crypto and seeing its value increase, we thought it was awesome. Then, I went to college at Arizona State University, which is a 100% solar-powered campus. I moved my mining rigs into my dorm room.
My dorm room had one wall entirely filled with server racks and GPUs. I cranked the thermostat down as low as it could go and blasted the AC. The room stayed at a nice 70 degrees, with the computers getting hot but the AC keeping it cool. ASU also had great energy billing.
I was mining crypto, doing studies, and crypto was going up and down. I realized it was a lot of money and actually paid for a significant portion of my college education. I did a bunch of side hustles in college too, as I wanted to get a "real job."
I charged lime scooters and did other things like that. ASU was always the first to get new tech because it was easy to get permits. Before they had walk-only zones, I was the guy stacking eight lime scooters on top of each other to drive across campus.
By my junior year, I decided I needed to get serious. I couldn't make a career out of crypto or charging lime scooters; crypto wasn't yet a viable career path, just a way to make money and do weird things.
I got an internship at a record label as a marketing assistant, working with A&R. I thought I wanted to work in the music industry and even got a minor in music. This was super fun.
I graduated college in the middle of COVID and was still working. I soon realized the record label wasn't as great as I imagined. The company was bad, the people were weird, and some were unethical. It wasn't my cup of tea, so I left.
I was applying for jobs during the peak of COVID when no one was hiring. I ended up taking a part-time job at Home Depot while I looked for other opportunities. Then, Amazon hired me as a distribution manager for their warehouse in San Bernardino, offering $150,000.
Two weeks before I was supposed to move, I was still working at Home Depot and messing around with crypto. I was trying to find my place in the world, like many graduates. I was 22 at the time, having just graduated and not finding a job as I was told I would.
I finally got the Amazon job. I took two weeks off from Home Depot to do things I wanted to do, like working on my car and crypto. While messing around on forums, I saw ShapeShift and thought it was cool. I asked them what they had been up to, and they said they were hiring.
The role hadn't even been posted yet; they were posting it the next day. I sent my resume to the head of marketing, who said I had no experience and was useless, but could be a part-time writer. I accepted.
I then told Amazon to shove it, canceling my contract just two weeks before I was supposed to start. I moved to ShapeShift as a part-time writer in the marketing department. This led to my current path because I had a duality: a career that made a lot of money but I didn't care about, and a fulfilling career that was risky and passionate about. While it didn't pay the bills initially, it never felt like work. That's the journey.