Michele Serro’s career has been driven by finding and seizing opportunities as they are presented to her. As a kid, this meant that a natural singing talent turned into a pursuit of an Opera career and training at both Julliard and Indiana University. However, when subjectivity and politics trumped her passion, she shifted her artistic abilities and soft skills to the world of design, where she was able to gain experience in product and innovation at IDEO, amongst other places. It was when she was confronted with the practical and emotional challenges of first time homebuying that entrepreneurship struck and she was inspired to “revolutionize, not disrupt” the real estate world with her company Doorsteps. Over negronis with campari provided by ABC Wine Company, she explains how, while unconventional, the path of her career and consistently being a “beginner” ultimately lead to her success as an entrepreneur, why that success should not only be defined by the acquisition of her company, and the challenges of figuring out what comes next.

What You’ll Learn:

• The value of knowing your strengths as a founder and knowing which part of the process they should impact
• How empathy and prototyping should drive design
• Why founders should “date” ideas before building them