First connections can impact your career trajectory

"It might be someone early in life who cracks open a door, offers encouragement, or quietly shows what success can look like. What's less obvious is how profoundly that very first connection can shape everything that comes afterward. Consider 23-time Grand Slam tennis champion Serena Williams. Williams has often spoken about the crucial role played by her first coach -her father, Richard Williams."

"Or consider Misty Copeland, the American Ballet Theatre's first Black female principal dancer. When Copeland was 13, a Boys & Girls Club teacher, Cynthia Bradley, recognized her potential and brought her into formal ballet training; within four years Copeland earned a spot in ABT's Studio Company. In 2015, she became ABT's first Black female principal, a milestone built on that early mentorship. Those first advocates opened doors to elite training, scholarships, and professional networks that sustained a long, barrier-breaking career."

"Anecdotes like these are powerful, but they also raise questions. Do early connections cause long-term success, or do they simply come more easily to people already positioned to succeed? After all, a young athlete with supportive and affluent parents might have access to better training and competition regardless of who their first coach is. This chicken-and-egg problem is hard to untangle, unless you look at a setting where chance plays a role. That's where my research comes in."

Early mentors and first coaches often catalyze careers by recognizing potential, providing encouragement, and exposing individuals to advanced training and competition. Examples include Serena Williams, whose father coached and exposed her to competitive tennis early, and Misty Copeland, whose teacher brought her into formal ballet training, leading to elite opportunities. Anecdotes raise causal questions about whether early connections create success or reflect preexisting advantages such as parental support and resources. Untangling causality requires settings where chance determines initial connections. The residential real estate brokerage industry can serve as a natural laboratory because random-like assignment creates variation in early mentorship opportunities.

Read at Fast Company