Some of the most meaningful careers are not built by following a predetermined path, but by having the curiosity to explore what lies beyond it. Wendy Howell’s journey reflects exactly that spirit, a willingness to embrace unfamiliar opportunities, keep learning, and allow each experience to open the door to something new.

Growing up in Ohio with an early desire to see more of the world, Wendy began her professional journey in retail before making an unexpected transition into technology. What followed was a nonlinear career spanning increasingly senior leadership responsibilities across organizations including Octel, Lucent, VERITAS, Symantec, and Cisco. Along the way, she discovered that adaptability and curiosity could be powerful strengths, and that, regardless of industry or role, business ultimately comes down to people.

Today, that understanding continues to shape Wendy’s work as she supports startup technology companies, coaches and mentors leaders, speaks, contributes to nonprofit and community organizations, and builds meaningful connections across communities. As she begins a new chapter in Valencia, Spain, her focus is increasingly centered on what she describes as “Connections | Community | Impact” and on using her experience, relationships, and time to help create possibilities for others.

In this exclusive conversation with The Euro Magazine, Wendy reflects on the unexpected turns that shaped her career, the relationships she considers among her greatest achievements, her approach to lifelong learning and adaptability, and why she believes growth can sometimes mean becoming a beginner again. Read on to discover a journey that offers a thoughtful perspective on staying curious, embracing reinvention, and lifting others along the way.

A Nonlinear Journey Built on Curiosity

Wendy Howell grew up in the Midwest of the United States, Ohio, to be specific. From a very early age, she knew she wanted to venture beyond what was familiar, experience new places, and travel the world.

Her career has been decidedly nonlinear, and, to be honest, she considers that one of its greatest strengths.

Wendy began her career in retail with Toys“R”Us, and yes, this included riding around the store on tricycles at midnight, wearing a child’s police cap, while preparing for another pre-Christmas shopping day!

That experience eventually led to her becoming a Director and helping the company open and develop new markets. It was an extraordinary early education in business. She learned about customers, operations, growth, and leadership, and, perhaps most importantly, how to build teams and bring people together around a common goal.

From there, Wendy made what might have seemed an unlikely leap into the technology industry. She entered technology with absolutely no background in the field. She wasn’t an engineer or a technologist, and she certainly didn’t arrive as an expert.

What she did bring was curiosity, business experience, a willingness to work hard, and a desire to learn from people who knew far more than she did. She wasn’t afraid to ask questions or say, “I don’t know, teach me.”

Wendy has also always believed in a “say yes and figure out how” mentality.

That leap ultimately led to increasingly senior leadership roles with companies including Octel, Lucent, VERITAS, Symantec, and Cisco. Her responsibilities evolved across customer support, mergers and acquisitions, strategy, Chief of Staff, and business-unit leadership roles.

Looking back, Wendy believes the nonlinear nature of her career became an advantage. Moving between industries, companies, and roles taught her how to adapt quickly, see opportunities from different perspectives, and become comfortable being uncomfortable.

It also taught her something she continues to share with people she mentors today: your starting point does not have to determine your destination.

According to Wendy, people don’t need to have every credential, every skill, or every answer before taking the next opportunity. Sometimes, they simply need the courage to step into a room where they have a great deal to learn, and then be willing to do the work once they get there.

Whether she was selling toys, opening new markets, navigating acquisitions, or leading within global technology companies, one lesson remained remarkably consistent: business is ultimately about people.

That understanding has shaped almost everything Wendy has done since.

Connections, Community, and Impact

Today, Wendy’s work is much broader than a single title or company. She works with startup technology companies, coaches and mentors leaders, participates in speaking engagements, and devotes significant time to nonprofit and community organizations.

The common thread running through all of it is something she describes as:

Connections | Community | Impact

Wendy believes extraordinary things happen when the right people are brought together, an environment is created where they can learn from one another, and those relationships are then turned into meaningful action.

Having spent many years inside large global technology companies, Wendy understands the realities of building businesses, navigating change, managing complex organizations, and leading through uncertainty. But she also believes some of the most powerful leadership skills are very human ones: listening, curiosity, generosity, authenticity, and the ability to connect people who might never otherwise find one another.

At this stage of her career, Wendy is particularly interested in using her experience and relationships to help other people and organizations grow.

She has become less interested in titles and much more interested in impact:

Who can she help? What can she contribute? And what becomes possible when the right people are brought together?

A Legacy Built Through Relationships

Wendy has been fortunate to have many professional opportunities and accomplishments that she is proud of, but if she had to choose one, it would not be a title, a transaction, or a particular corporate milestone.

She is most proud of the communities and relationships she has helped build.

One of the most meaningful examples was co-founding an executive networking organization based on the belief that professional relationships could, and should, be about much more than traditional networking.

The organization focused on genuine connections, community, lifelong learning, and creating impact. Many of the relationships created through that community have lasted for years and remain among the most meaningful and impactful of Wendy’s life.

Throughout her career, she has also had the opportunity to mentor emerging leaders, support women in technology, work with nonprofit organizations, and connect people who could help one another accomplish something meaningful.

Years later, when someone tells Wendy that a person she introduced changed the direction of their career, helped them build a company, joined their board, or simply became an important friend, that means an enormous amount to her.

For Wendy, success has never been solely about what a person accomplishes individually.

It is also about what they help make possible for other people.

That is the legacy she values most.

Stepping Toward What Comes Next

Wendy is entering a particularly exciting chapter of her life because she is deliberately creating space for new experiences, new people, and new ways to contribute.

Her move to Valencia, Spain, is very much a part of that. 

Wendy and her family have been fortunate to travel extensively around the world, both for business and pleasure, and she has always believed that travel, and truly experiencing other cultures, helps people become better global citizens.

Moving to another country takes that idea to an entirely different level. It means building a new community, learning a new language, experiencing another culture, and looking at life from a different perspective. Wendy finds all of that incredibly energizing.

Professionally, she wants to continue working with entrepreneurs and emerging leaders, speaking, mentoring, and supporting organizations whose missions she believes in. She is also excited about connecting some of the communities and relationships she has developed in the United States with the people and opportunities she is discovering in Europe.

Wendy doesn’t view this chapter as stepping away from her previous career. Quite the opposite. She sees it as building upon everything she has learned and asking a different question:

How can she use her experience, relationships, and time to create the greatest positive impact?

There is an interesting symmetry to it. Much of Wendy’s professional career was nonlinear because she was willing to follow opportunities she hadn’t necessarily planned for.

This next chapter is nonlinear by choice.

For Wendy, growth doesn’t always mean having a bigger title, managing a larger organization, or building a bigger company. Sometimes, growth means being willing to reinvent yourself, remain curious, and intentionally design what comes next.

She doesn’t think of this as stepping away from something. She thinks of it as stepping toward what’s next.

Staying Relevant Through Curiosity & Adaptability

For Wendy, maintaining an edge has always been less about competition and more about curiosity.

Technology taught her very early that what someone knows today can become outdated very quickly. The leaders who remain relevant are the ones who continue learning, surround themselves with smart people, and are comfortable admitting when they don’t have all the answers.

Wendy makes a conscious effort to spend time with people from different generations, industries, cultures, and backgrounds because they challenge her assumptions and introduce her to ideas she might never encounter otherwise.

She also believes relationships are an enormous competitive advantage, but only when they are authentic.

A person cannot suddenly build a network when they need something. The strongest professional relationships are built over years through generosity, trust, and genuine interest in other people’s success.

Increasingly, Wendy believes adaptability is one of the most important leadership skills. The world changes, industries change, and careers change. The ability to adapt without losing sight of who you are is incredibly important.

Staying relevant requires being willing to learn, change, and occasionally become a beginner again.

Building Relationships, Taking Risks, & Lifting Others

Wendy’s advice to aspiring professionals and entrepreneurs is clear: be curious. Say yes to opportunities that scare you a little, or A LOT. And never underestimate the power of genuine relationships.

Her own career is proof that careers don’t have to follow a straight line. Some of the most important opportunities in Wendy’s life were never part of a carefully constructed career plan.

They happened because she met someone interesting, asked a question, took a risk, or accepted an opportunity before she knew exactly where it would lead.

She encourages people not to eliminate themselves from an opportunity simply because they don’t check every box.

They don’t always have to be the most knowledgeable person in the room. Instead, they should be curious enough to ask questions, confident enough to admit what they don’t know, and committed enough to learn.

Wendy also encourages people to rethink what networking means.

Don’t collect contacts. Build relationships.

Help people when there is nothing immediately in it for you. Introduce people who should know each other. Stay in touch. Celebrate other people’s successes.

Wendy believes a person’s reputation is built over a lifetime through hundreds of small interactions. People remember whether someone showed up, whether they helped, and how they made others feel.

Finally, she encourages people not to become so focused on reaching the next milestone that they miss the experiences and relationships happening along the way. Careers rarely unfold exactly as planned, and that can be a wonderful thing.

Stay open. Keep learning. Take some risks. And always remember: as you rise, lift others with you.

Conclusion

Wendy Howell’s journey is a reminder that professional growth does not always follow a straight or predictable path. From retail and global technology leadership to mentoring, community-building, and supporting entrepreneurs and organizations, each chapter has reinforced her belief that curiosity, adaptability, and meaningful relationships can shape opportunities in unexpected ways.

What stands out in Wendy’s perspective is her evolving definition of success. Rather than measuring achievement solely through titles or corporate milestones, she places greater value on the communities she has helped build, the people she has connected, and the possibilities those relationships have created for others. Her philosophy of “Connections | Community | Impact” reflects a career increasingly focused on contribution and the difference one can make beyond individual accomplishment.

As Wendy embraces her next chapter in Valencia, Spain, she is not stepping away from everything that came before. Instead, she is building upon those experiences while creating space for new people, cultures, opportunities, and ways to contribute. In many ways, it is a fitting continuation of a career shaped by the willingness to enter unfamiliar territory and learn along the way.

Perhaps the most enduring lesson from her story is also one of the simplest: remain open to where the journey may lead. Careers may change, industries may evolve, and ambitions may take new forms, but curiosity and genuine human connection remain powerful constants. As Wendy puts it, “Stay open. Keep learning. Take some risks. And always remember: as you rise, lift others with you.”

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