For over a decade, my professional identity has felt fractured. On one hand, there was my experience as a President and Managing Director, leading companies through intense challenges like the Great Recession and the Arab Spring in Egypt. I was responsible for everything: P&L management, international supply chain, contract negotiations, and strategic reorganizations. It was a trial-by-fire education in executive leadership.
On the other hand, there was my more recent career as a senior software architect and technical lead. This was a deep dive into the engine of modern business. I was architecting complex eCommerce platforms, optimizing for Core Web Vitals, and leading teams of developers to build high-performance digital experiences.
For years, I struggled to reconcile these two halves. In tech circles, I downplayed my business background. In business discussions, I felt my technical depth was just a footnote. This created a persistent, low grade imposter syndrome. Was I a business leader? A technologist? By trying to be both, was I truly either?
The clarity came when I stopped seeing them as two separate careers and started seeing them as two acts in a single, powerful play.
My time as a President wasn’t just “past experience.” It was where I learned the why of business. I learned what keeps a CEO up at night because I was one. I learned the language of finance, the pressures of operations, and the art of leading a team through profound uncertainty.
My time as a technologist wasn’t a “career change.” It was a deliberate move to master the how of modern business. I didn’t just want to approve a technology budget; I wanted to understand the architecture, the APIs, and the code that would make or break a company’s digital presence.
The realization was this: The market doesn’t need more leaders who can only speak business or only speak tech. It needs leaders who are fluent in both. It needs executives who can devise a corporate strategy and then have a deeply credible conversation with their engineering team about the microservices architecture required to execute it.
My journey, from the boardroom to the codebase and back again, isn’t a weakness. It’s my unified narrative. It’s the unique value I bring to the table. My past as a business executive makes me a more strategic technologist, and my present as a technologist makes me a more effective modern business leader.
For anyone out there with a winding, non-linear career path who feels like they don’t quite fit in any single box, I encourage you to stop trying to. The most valuable professionals today are not those who fit neatly into a pre-defined category, but those who have built a bridge between them. Your unique journey isn’t something to be explained away.
It’s your story. Own it, unify it, and build your future on it.