The Price is Right, or is it?

What being on a game show can teach you about trusting your gut.

Imagine this, you’re a first-time contestant on The Price is Right, you actually get called to “Come on down!,” and you’re standing in front of the man himself — Drew Carey. The pressure is on and it’s time to start guessing. You have a feeling about the price of one particular prize, but you second-guess yourself. You listen to the crowd and go with a different number than your gut was telling you. The “you” here is me, and that’s exactly what happened. My gut feeling about the price of hair products was correct, and I missed out on winning the prize, which for context was a brand new car. 

As fun as the experience was, it taught me a pretty valuable lesson. For weeks after filming, I couldn’t shake the idea that I should’ve just trusted my gut. I could have been a car richer and, who knows, maybe I would have made it all the way to the Showcase. This got me thinking about what other things I’ve potentially missed out on because I didn’t trust my gut, both in my personal and professional life. 

Being a 23-year-old navigating life and work is challenging, especially if you're the youngest employee at your company. You're just starting out in your career and there's a lot to learn. You're working with so many experienced professionals who have been in the industry for years, and you're expected to bring fresh ideas to the table. So how do you navigate this dynamic while staying true to yourself and trusting your instincts? Well, like I’ve been telling myself a lot recently, you have to trust your gut.

As a young professional in any industry, you might feel like you need to prove yourself and show that you're capable of doing the job (hint, hint, you do.) So it’s really important to always be open to feedback and guidance, but it's also important to trust your instincts and stay true to yourself. Trusting your gut can help you make hard decisions that still align with your personal and professional goals. Listen to your intuition and ask yourself what is your gut telling you? Take risks and try new things, even if they feel outside of your comfort zone, it will more than likely lead you to new and exciting opportunities. 

Before my internship with Estipona Group (EG), I was interning with a different organization and when it ended I was offered a part-time position. Shortly after, I saw a listing for an internship with EG. I thought, well it wouldn’t hurt to apply. To my surprise, I was offered the internship and had to choose between the two. Taking the part-time job would have been the “safe” move versus doing another internship with the opportunity to learn and grow. My gut was telling me not to play it safe and I chose the internship. That internship turned into the full-time job I now have doing work I love with a great team.  

Trusting my gut doesn't mean that I'll always make the right decision, but it does mean that I’m taking ownership of my life and career, and that's a valuable skill that will serve me in the long run. Being on The Price is Right was a once-in-a-lifetime experience and it reminded me of the importance of taking risks, not just on one of the most iconic game shows in television history, but in everyday life.