How Felix Till Manages 2 Careers (Entrepreneur, Military)

by | Dec 2, 2022

Meet Felix Till. He is a multi-careerist based in Germany. He started and runs an organization that helps firms monitor supply chains for human rights violations. He has worn various hats during his career, including serving in the military. Here are highlights from his fascinating journey.

Felix’s careers:

  • Entrepreneur
  • Military Officer
  • Hobby Astronomer

On his motivations for having many careers

Having one career gives you ideas and patterns from just one industry. Multiple professions allow me to learn more and connect points where people with one job don’t see them.

Advice to aspiring multi-careerists

Choose your pain carefully, my friend. Having multiple options is something that (almost) everyone wants to have. People make choices based on the expected advantages from decisions and often ignore the effort and the disadvantages connected with them. Before you start an additional career, ask yourself if you want to put effort into learning something new, and be aware that some people do not value multiple professions. Some people think that automatically means a lack of focus.

On overcoming obstacles

With a diverse CV, passing the HR filter when I applied for jobs was more complicated because my profile did not fit into HR’s (expected) box. I directly connected with HR or managers at exhibitions or via LinkedIn by asking questions about the job. When they got to know me, they realized I might fit the open positions.

On how multiple careers are beneficial

Multiple careers help me in two ways. Firstly, I have different sources for success moments and do not get frustrated when I struggle in one field. Secondly, I get many new ideas and impressions from one area to another. Astronomy, for example, has a vast scientific community that is very good at writing Machine Learning applications for image processing. I can use those libraries in my startup for free because the libraries are open source. In return, I donate money from my breadwinning job for open-source platforms used for astronomy.

On personal time

I constantly rebalance my time for each field by keeping in mind what is urgent and vital. So it might be that I do not interact with the military community because I have an urgent matter in my company. In addition, I consume little media on TV/online and avoid losing time by having hangovers, etc.

On what she wishes he had learned earlier

That you do not need to be perfect in every field.

On the stigma of having many careers

Yes, there were moments when people saw multiple careers as superficial or a threat because they had a classical career. I try to select the people in my professional life that are open to the idea. In addition, I know that my curiosity and the connected effort are unusual for most people. I explain to those people why I have multiple interests and the corresponding disadvantages.

On what to share with others

It depends on who I am talking to. If the person is interested in my other ventures I try to understand what the persons challenges are and if I can help him or her. On the professional where I own someone a performance I communicate very clearly my other passions to avoid that people feel deceived, if they find out by themself.

On sublimating ego

Many small and for itself banal things create big and astonishing things. I remind myself that every exciting endeavor has little outstanding but essential bases.

A Day in the Life

  • 06:30 Wake up and make coffee/ read news and messages from last night
  • 07:15 – 08:30 Workout or calls with Asia
  • 08:30 – 13:00 individual work and first calls with partners in Europe
  • 13:00 – 13:45 Lunch
  • 13:45 – 15:00 calls with Brazil (most of my developers are based in Brazil)
  • 15:00 – 19:00 appointments
  • 20:00 – 22:00 Second session with Brazil ore US/ if possible, time with family
  • 22:00 – 23:00 Inspirational new topics with my wife or Astro observations
  • 24:00 go to bed

Where to find Felix

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Kabir Sehgal is a Multi Grammy & Latin Grammy Award winner, as well as New York Times bestselling author.

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