CEO Asks How Her Husband Can Be Content With Himself Despite Not Earning A Professional Certification In 2024
People who thought she was publicly shaming him missed the point of her post.
Gyorgy Barna | Shutterstock When someone asks you to tell them about yourself, one of the first few things you may share is your job, which isn't unnatural. If you're working somewhere for at least 40 hours a week, it becomes a major part of who you are, right? But there comes a point at which you need to draw the line as to what degree you let your work define you.
In a LinkedIn post, CEO Stacey Champagne shared that she was curious about how to be content without conventional markers of accomplishment after an exchange with her husband, in which he revealed he had no professional achievements within the last year.
A CEO asked her husband how he could be content with himself without having earned any professional achievements in 2024.
Champagne said that while she had multiple professional accomplishments during 2024, her husband had none. "How are you able to go through a whole year without doing any of these sort of things and be OK?” she asked. To this, he had no response, but Champagne felt herself reflecting on the interaction. She wondered if she could be content without relying on her career and said it was likely that high-performing women struggle with this.
She concluded her post with questions for fellow LinkedIn users to reflect on and respond to, "Could you go a year without a single new certification, interview, award, promotion and be OK with yourself for it? Would you think of a colleague, direct report, manager, friend, or spouse differently for not doing so?" she asked.
The CEO's comments sparked backlash, so her husband weighed in to defend her.
Champagne had to put up a comment the same day she posted, saying, "Read the full post. Check your biases, assumptions, and projections. Go back and read it again."
Her husband Jesse Sciuto weighed in, saying, "The point of Stacey's post is that she approves of my lack of quals/certs and wishes she could reach my level of zen." A key point that many people seemed to miss.
He continued by explaining that for him, one of the best parts of the Navy is that they are clear about exactly what they expect. He has already completed what is necessary for his rank and the next rank. He compared his trajectory to his wife's situation, in which she always had to compete without a surefire way of knowing what to do to come out on top. "That sounds like a nightmare to me," Sciuto said. "I want to see a manual and a checklist."
Of course, the definition of success is different for everyone and can evolve as you grow and change. Lawyer Rhea Verma explained to Qua, “When I was younger, success was all about money, fame, and enjoying the finer things in life. After working for a couple of years, I realized that the template was completely unsustainable in terms of expectations and rewards. It's been far more fulfilling and comforting to have an internal definition of success that's singular to me and the life I have created for myself. Building my skill set, sustaining strong social/familial bonds, and maintaining good mental health are some of my indicators of success."
Others saw the CEO's post for what it truly was: a reflection on how we define ourselves based on professional accomplishments.
"The less privilege we have, the more driven we are to have those things… not because we’re vain, but because security is scarce for us. We’ve been questioned at work even if we’re overqualified, we’ve been passed over for promotions by those who didn’t perform as well as us, the list goes on," one person commented. "When our lived experience says, 'you aren’t good enough,' then we believe it, and accomplishment is our protection, our security, our coping."
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As this person said, many people are focused on amassing career accomplishments in the hopes that it will provide them with more security. While it's good to have your resume stacked so the career you desire is within reach, we also must be careful not to become blinded by the professional world.
Yes, be proud of the work you put in and the accomplishments you have had, but don't let those be the only things that determine your worth or the worth of those around you.
Sahlah Syeda is a writer who covers relationships, culture, and human interest topics.