“Reach out to people who are where you’d like to be professionally but make sure to reach out to as many people as possible, maybe even hundreds, so that you guarantee a response. Learn what the standards are to make it in your chosen discipline and then don’t rest until you’re getting the kind of feedback that is in line with where you’d like to be. It’s hard work but remember that the more painful and challenging something is, the less competition you have because the pain and challenge scares off a lot of people!”