The Beauty of Embracing Non-linear Career Paths
May 13, 2022
Carina Ho
Carina is a musician and dancer based in Oakland, CA who creates work under the moniker ONIKHO. As an artist she believes in promoting inclusion for people with disabilities through her work, and has taught and performed in the United States and South America both as a company member of AXIS Dance Company as well as a Fulbright scholar based in Montevideo, Uruguay. She currently works at Airbnb on accessibility and disability inclusion. Follow Carina on IG @onikhomusic.
Life, for many of us, is a long-winding journey filled with milestones, surprises and detours. Sometimes that includes missed opportunities and shifting goals. But is that a bad thing? We believe that sometimes the right door opens at the exact right time. Another way of looking at it is that a loss is the universe’s redirection. It’s our courage inside that gets us through one phase to the next.
We recently sat down with one of our catalysts to provide advice for the graduating class of college seniors. Carina graduated from Smith College ten years ago but considers herself a lifelong student.. Since then, she has had a myriad of experiences which has shaped her to the career she is actively building today. Her career has evolved from roles in finance << education << technology. The conversation below has been edited.
Q: What did you want to do after college?
A: I grew up in NYC and majored in economics, minored in Spanish. I can’t say that I knew exactly what I wanted to do after college graduation. One thing that I did want, at age 21, was change. So I picked up and moved to San Francisco without knowing much about it. And I have been happily here since.
I started working at education companies in San Francisco, following a passion for education. But in 2014, I was in a car accident and I had to take some time-off to recalibrate my life.
Q: What was your first career detour like?
A: At the time, I needed to leave the corporate world and pursue a new avenue. I had always enjoyed the arts (dancing and music) and was a trained musician. I leaned into what I loved to do to uncover an opportunity to join a professional dance company in Oakland. I was thrilled to have the opportunity to tour, train and even teach! I joined as an apprentice and got hired as a company member.
A part of me still can’t believe that I was hired with my disability, and I was being paid to perform while paralyzed.
Q: That sounds amazing, but you ended up moving on from the performing arts. Tell us about your next stop:
A: After two years of professional dancing, my body needed a break. So instead, I went back to exploring my first passion: education. I applied for a Fulbright Scholarship for arts/education and that opened up the opportunity to teach at a university in Uruguay. By this time, I had taught numerous workshops and classes to a widely diverse range of people including veterans, disabled community members, children with autism, and professional ballet dancers. Creating a safe space for people to explore their bodies and movement was enormous, and I was able to learn more about what being inclusive means with each different group that I worked with.
Q: Tell us about the “happy coincidence” that led you to your current position in technology.
A: After my Fulbright scholarship ended, I headed back to the States. A few months later, I was speaking on a panel on accessible travel - sharing my experiences traveling abroad and navigating my solo-travels with a disability.
After the event, I was approached by someone from AirBnB and he shared that he was hiring for a role for a program manager for AirBnB accessibility services. This turned out to be a great fit for me, and all of my past professional experiences.
Working at AirBnB, I feel fortunate that I am part of an inclusive organization that’s already big on diversity and belonging. DE&I is not a company metric or a catchphrase.
I feel lucky that I can draw upon my personal experiences to serve as the Global Lead for People with Disabilities (an Employee Resource Group) to keep the inclusive conversations and voices going. I work to keep community stakeholders informed and updated about broader accessibility needs.
It matters to me that I have a direct role to set standards for what accessibility means;such as building a new requirement that makes hosts take a photo of an accessible entrance. I love that I can make an impact.
Q: Any advice to pass down to graduating seniors?
A: There was a myth started by the previous generation that you need to have it all figured out by the time you graduate college. After four years of college, do you really know what you want to do with your life? I never bought into that.
A more modern way of thinking about careers has shifted to - what do you want to do for your next step, rather than for the rest of your life. I really believe in this. It’s not about having all the answers, or even all the options. Don’t overthink your next step, follow your passion and find a way to do something that you like to do on a day-to-day basis.