8 Years in the Making: How I Became Managing Partner at 26
The jobs that shaped me most? I didn't find them on a job board.
The jobs that shaped me most? I didn’t find them on a job board.
I scored a 9% on my first college exam.
Not 90%. Nine.
I sat in my dorm room staring at the paper, convinced I had chosen the wrong major, the wrong school—maybe even the wrong life. It was an econ exam—Principles of Macroeconomics 101. I had studied. I had shown up. And I had failed spectacularly.
But here’s the thing about that 9%.
My professor noticed something strange. In class, I participated constantly. My homework was strong. So he took the time to look closer. He stopped looking at the Scantron and turned to my chicken-scratch notes and handwritten work on the exam itself. When he recalculated my score from that…
it was 95%.
That professor didn’t have to do that. He could have entered the grade and moved on. Instead, he invested in me. And I am beyond grateful—not just for my GPA, but for my future and my career. That moment changed everything.
Three months later, I was diagnosed with severe dyslexia and dyscalculia. It turned out I had been working around it my whole life without knowing it had a name.
I could have walked away from finance right then. Plenty of people would have.
“You can’t read numbers properly… and you want to work in finance and data analytics?”
It sounds like the setup for a bad joke.
But I stayed.
I was competing as a Division I triathlete on the 2019 inaugural women’s triathlon team at the University of San Francisco—a sport built entirely on putting your head down and moving through the pain. I already knew how to do hard things. And I had learned that the things that terrify you are usually pointing you somewhere worth digging into and grinding your way through.
An Age-Old Question and an Uncomfortably Honest Answer
I didn’t have a grand career plan when I started college at the University of San Francisco. I had a question—the same one every young person is asked:
“What do you want to do?”
Except the version I asked myself was a little more… direct:
“What the hell do I want to do with my career?”
Followed immediately by the realization: I had no idea what “jobs,” “careers,” or “professional work” actually meant in practice.
You hold a title—Manager, Engineer, Director, Chief of XYZ. Which is great. It sounds good. And it clearly means… something.
But at 18 years old, with no professional work experience, I wondered:
What does that actually mean?
What do you actually do every day?
Are you happy?
How did you find this position?
Was your path clear and straight—or winding and warped?
So I started asking people.
Not for jobs. Not for referrals. Just to understand their stories.
“Tell me about yourself. What’s your path been like? What taught you the most?”
I learned that careers, when viewed in 2D, can look smooth and linear. But turn them into 3D, and you realize some people were climbing Everest in the distance of a 5K.
Others had paths that reminded me of deer trails.
If you’ve ever hiked in the wilderness and seen those thin, seemingly random offshoots that disappear into the trees and reconnect in ways that make no logical sense—that’s what a lot of careers actually look like.
I decided to embrace the deer trail.
Designer Clothes? Nope… More Like Designed My Job
Here’s something most people don’t know about me: many of the most meaningful roles I’ve held, I created myself. Not applied for—designed.
It started my junior year of college. Like every other student, I was on the internship treadmill—scouring LinkedIn, Indeed, Handshake, and Glassdoor. I started gaining traction with some companies and moving through interview processes.
But something was missing.
My passion.
The roles aligned with my major, my GPA, my location… but my heart wasn’t in them.
So I stepped off the treadmill and asked myself four questions:
- What am I passionate about?
- What do I want to learn?
- What company do I want to work at?
- What difference do I want to make?
The answers led me back to Callisto, a nonprofit I had reached out to as a senior in high school after watching founder Jess Ladd’s TED Talk, The Reporting System Sexual Assault Survivors Want.
Back then, they weren’t hiring interns.
Three years later, I saw a job posting for Director of Development at Callisto. Everything matched—except one thing:
“10+ years of experience required.”
I was a college junior.
So instead of moving on, I did something different.
I emailed them a pitch for a role that didn’t exist: Development Intern.
A few hours later, they responded. “We’re not hiring interns right now, only senior executives. But we’d love to hear more.”
Weeks passed. I joined a product focus group. Stayed in touch. Built the relationship.
Then one day, standing in a TSA line at the Duluth, Minnesota airport, my phone rang.
“Hannah, I just have one question for you. Would you like to be the Development Intern at Callisto this summer?”
They had gone to the CEO. Found the funding. Created the role.
That was the first time I designed my own job.
It wouldn’t be the last.
A “Cringey” Cold Message That Changed Everything
In January 2020, I sent a cold LinkedIn message to a lot of strangers. A few responded. One changed everything.
His name was Tony Saxton.
I wrote:
“Hi Mr. Saxton, thank you for connecting with me. I’m a recent Berkshire graduate (Class of 2018) and currently a finance major at the University of San Francisco. I’m exploring different career paths and would love to ask you a few questions about your experience.”
No ask. No pitch. Just curiosity.
He said yes.
That call turned into a marketing internship. But more importantly, it became a relationship.
And that made all the difference.
The Pattern
After that, something clicked.
At RBC Wealth Management, I reached out to over 100 people and had real conversations with 52 of them.
Not networking calls—just genuine conversations.
That curiosity turned into opportunities.
At Moxion Power, I joined as employee #44 and watched it grow to over 500. I built KPI systems, worked across departments, and learned how to operate in chaos.
I didn’t apply for most of those roles.
They emerged because I showed up, stayed curious, and created value before anyone asked me to.
The Messy Middle
In June 2024, I was laid off along with 35% of Moxion’s workforce. Weeks later, the company shut down entirely.
I called it an “opportunity” publicly.
Privately? I wasn’t okay.
I sat in a coffee shop, journal open, coffee going cold, wondering if any of this was actually building toward something.
Then I made another decision.
I left San Francisco—my home for eight years—and moved to Washington State for love.
And then the job I thought I had lined up disappeared.
No contract. No backup.
Gone.
I was devastated.
But I kept going—not because I felt strong, but because quitting wasn’t an option.
The Deer Trail Continues
In Omak, Washington—a remote town far from my professional network—I hit the job boards again.
Nothing.
So I did what I always do when the front door is locked.
I looked for side doors.
I cold-called the general manager of Gamble Sands Golf Resort and pitched a role that didn’t exist.
He said yes.
Another job I designed.
And then, unexpectedly, the deer trail reconnected.
Tony and I had stayed in touch. Conversations turned into something more. Eventually, they turned into an opportunity.
The Role That Was Years in the Making
Tony offered me a Managing Partner role.
But it wasn’t sudden.
It was built on years of conversations, trust, and proof.
The interview wasn’t one conversation.
It was five years long.
And still—impostor syndrome showed up.
It always does.
The question isn’t whether it appears.
The question is whether you let it stop you.
What I’ve Learned
I’m 26 years old. Managing Partner at a global impact group. Still figuring it out every day.
Here’s what I know:
- Curiosity compounds. Every conversation matters.
- Your weaknesses can become strengths. Dyslexia taught me to think differently.
- The messy middle matters. None of it is wasted.
- Play the long game. Relationships over transactions.
One Last Thing
If you’ve read this far, here’s my invitation:
Tell me your story.
Wherever you are. Whatever deer trail you’re on.
Because that’s how this all started for me.
A simple question.
A little curiosity.
And a willingness to see where it leads.
Author: Hannah Weymuller is Managing Partner, Business Development & Investor Relations at Terra Axis, and Founder of Meraki Ascent LLC. She believes in relationships over transactions, curiosity over credentials, and the long game over quick wins.
#LongGame #CareerJourney #Entrepreneurship #ManagingPartner #BuildingInPublic
