How to answer “so what do you do” as a generalist

Zach Reizes is a consultant, operations specialist, and event strategist who helps organisations launch ideas and solve complex problems. Previously, he worked in operations at a lobbying and advocacy firm and served at several nonprofits over nearly a decade. His work has ranged from starting multiple nonprofit organisations to growing co-working spaces to providing strategic consulting. Zach is also the co-creator of The Slowdown Summit, an intentionally designed conference for introverted, neurodiverse, and quiet professionals.

The "I'm at my best when" positioning framework helps generalists explain their value without listing chronological job titles. Zach frames his expertise as: "I'm at my best when someone has an idea or problem they don't know how to start or fix, and I work with them for 6-8 months to get it launched—then I step away." This template communicates both your strengths and natural work cadence, helping clients understand when your engagement should end.

Finding your zone of genius requires distinguishing between competence, excellence, and flow state. Your zone of competence is what you can do, your zone of excellence is what others tell you you're good at, and your zone of genius is what comes so naturally it doesn't feel like work. The trap for generalists is dismissing their zone of genius because it feels too easy to be valuable.

Self-awareness about your strengths often requires external input because you're blind to skills that feel effortless. Zach recommends asking friends, partners, and bosses: "What do you see me doing that comes naturally to me?" After years of unconsciously building on natural strengths, you've developed expert-level capabilities you might still undervalue.

Event planning should prioritise depth of experience over breadth of attendance by designing for specific community needs. The Slowdown Summit targets 75-100 attendees rather than 500+ to create intentional, meaningful connections. This approach sacrifices scale for impact, focusing on deeper conversations and genuine relationship building for the community.

LinkedIn succeeds as a professional platform because it offers authentic connection without performative pressure. Unlike Instagram or Twitter where there's pressure to be clever or viral, LinkedIn allows you to share professional wins and struggles without manufacturing personality. The platform's professional context creates guardrails that make vulnerability safer and connection more accessible.

AI should be repositioned as a tool for reducing work hours, not increasing productivity within the same hours. Rather than using artificial intelligence to make employees produce more in their 40-hour work week, companies should allow employees to work 20 hours at the same pay and spend the rest being human - making music, spending time with family, engaging in community.

Passion is the most attractive quality in professional contexts, making it the secret weapon for generalist networking. Successful networking isn't about business card exchanges - it's about discovering what someone is passionate about and creating space for them to share it. This approach works because passion is universally attractive and memorable.

Communication excellence creates more opportunities than technical skills through three core practices. Adopt a "yes, and" mentality to eliminate "but" from your vocabulary; praise publicly but criticise privately; and use the compliment sandwich when delivering difficult feedback. Good communicators get recommended, hired, and brought back because they make collaboration easy.

Self-employment as a generalist requires accepting trade-offs while building success on passion and communication. The path comes with challenges like loneliness and inconsistent income, but success comes from leaning into what makes generalists valuable—the ability to get excited about diverse projects and communicate effectively across domains rather than narrowing your focus.

🙏 Special thanks to our podcast producer James McKinven! (get in touch for all your podcast needs, he’s really great!)