Alexa and I met in San Francisco years ago when we met at work. We did a photo session on the streets of the mission and discussed how the city’s evolution was taking its toll on us. This shared perspective on a place we had eagerly both chosen to call home instantly connected us. In the end, we both left the bay to find a better fit for ourselves. I returned to Seattle and she traveled across the globe.  Her journey led her to embark on a new entrepreneurial endeavor and eventually brought her back to the West Coast for a business trip where I got to reconnect with her all these years later and do some updated portraits. I asked Alexa a bit about the experience of traveling and starting up her own business and being a young creative entrepreneur.

What’s your company and why did you start it?

#ENTRYLEVELBOSS is a career coaching company for panicking job seekers. Even after doing everything “right” myself all through school–you know, good grades, good extra-curricular stuff, a couple internships–I still struggled to climb that giant mountain that is Starting Your Career. I became a career coach at age 25 because I realized that the internet broke the job search market, and nobody seemed to have noticed. #ENTRYLEVELBOSS runs virtual guided job search programs–led by yours truly–that take you from overwhelmed and underemployed to happy and hired. I’m also writing a book on the subject right now, due out in 2019. You might get well-intentioned advice from your parents’ generation, but the rules of the game have changed. Even people who graduated before the recession don’t ‘get’ how hard it is these days. It’s my honor and responsibility to churn out career advice people as quickly as I learn it myself. I’m delighted to do it.

What’s your favorite thing about living abroad?

The first time I spent any significant time in Europe (a whole summer in Barcelona during college), I instinctively knew it was home. I’m now very happily splitting time between London and Berlin–and answering this interview question from a café in Paris today, actually. What I love most: more eye contact, good conversation, and the warm milk served with your coffee.

Where can people find you?

I am never not on Instagram (@alexashoen). I’ve also documented my own career growth and career learnings for the last three years in everybody’s favorite weekly newsletter (alexashoen.com/join-now/). Come hang out with me!