The riskiest personal or professional decision I ever made was...

The riskiest personal or professional decision I ever made was… spending a year in Japan. When my manager told me I was being recommended for a stretch assignment in our Japan office I was shocked. I didn’t speak Japanese, I had never left New York tri-state area, and I barely ever worked with our colleagues in Asia. The most risky part of the assignment was that my job in the New Jersey office of Kart Mobile was not going to remain open, and there were no guarantees I could return to the US office. The fairly small Japan office needed a business analyst to work with the team as they considered investing in a new product line. The consumer demand for customized mobile phones was unique in Japan, and our New Jersey team thought I could bring innovative ideas back to our product development team from the year abroad. In the end, I decided to take the chance, though the transition back to the United States was unclear. My year in Japan was one of the most challenging and exciting times of my professional career. I learned to communicate through language barriers, I tasted new food, made new friends, and was inspired by the demands and creativity of Japanese consumers. When I decided to move back to New Jersey it did take three months to find the right position, but I was able to move into product development with a promotion. I promptly delivered on my promise to bring innovation to the US by pitching the idea of a media-centric mobile phone for kids.