Jennah Blau, having always had a “very energetic and outgoing personality,” is perfectly suited as the Audience Development Manager for TMZ, a popular tabloid news website. Using her strengths, Blau has crafted herself into the “proactive and productive” manager she is now, meriting her prestigious position.
Blau graduated from the University of Southern California with a Communications major that has been crucial to her career’s development; her position on the Varsity Women’s Rowing Team there ultimately shaped her character and resolve as well. As one of ten practicing coxswains on the team, all competing for only three racing spots, Blau was thrown into a “very competitive and very high pressure environment” as a freshman. She performed so well in her first practices that she earned a racing spot—until race day came and her inexperience led to another girl being given her spot. Through hours and hours of hard work and dedication, all the while putting on a good face, Blau was able to earn back her spot after an entire season of only practicing, stating,“I walked away with a Pac 12 championship, 4th place standing at NCAAs, and the confidence to know that a positive attitude and hard work can get you through anything.”
When asked which famous person she would step into the shoes of, if she was given a chance to, Blau thoughtfully replied, “Queen Elizabeth [II] […] out of both admiration and curiosity! She is someone who has been born into an extreme amount of wealth and power, but has also sacrificed so much for a role she didn’t even get to [choose].” Queen Elizabeth [II] also has inspired Blau by her length of rule, which totals over 66 years, and the dedication and willpower she still possesses at 92 years old, which is definitely enough to inspire anyone.
One novel Blau feels she really connects to is Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers. In Outliers, Gladwell outlines the secrets to success and debunks the myth that success is made with the assertion that it is, in fact, a combination of opportunistic factors that can be totally out of a person’s control, such as when he/she was born. “My father gave me this book after I graduated college and was struggling to decide on a career path,” says Blau. “[It’s] a great read regardless of your passions, ambitions, or current stage in life.”
Blau’s personal connection to Outliers extends to her philosophy about success in general and, through that, to the advice she gives to future achievers: “Everyone has the ability to take the traits that make them unique and use them in a way that helps them succeed.”