Varad Agarwala

Currently in his mid-twenties, Varad Agarwala has already grown an impressive résumé with many significant roles at major corporations. At the moment, he is working as a Business Operations Associate for the trading card division at the world’s largest sports retailer of officially licensed sports merchandise, Fanatics.

But how has he become so successful so young? Well, according to Agarwala, open-mindedness and passion are two of the most important ingredients for success.

Agarwala graduated from high school from Greenhill School in Addison, Texas. As a teenager, his natural talent and strong interest in debate inspired him to continue with the activity throughout high school. 

As a junior in high school myself, I often wonder what kinds of activities will make me stand out to colleges and eventually future employers. Agarwala is understanding of students looking to supplement their profiles; however, he also encourages them to focus on activities that align with their passions.

“If you do think that you have a deep and meaningful connection to something that you're interested in, that reflects a lot more genuinely and authentically to colleges and professionals than any amount of kind of generic résumé building that you can do,” Agarwala said.

He also said he thinks piling on more to a never-ending list of activities is not always the best way to showcase one’s abilities.

“I think I'm a big fan of you know, to use a debate phrase, depth over breadth,” Agarwala said. “So really focusing on a few things deeply, as opposed to kind of spreading yourself thin.”

That being said, Agarwala does advocate for debate as being a helpful activity beyond high school.

“I think some of the skills I gained in terms of being able to tackle a variety of topics and learn them very quickly and put together quick answers have definitely helped me all throughout college,” Agarwala said.

After graduating, Agarwala attended Georgetown University to study government and politics, however he eventually discovered the career path did not suit him and began pursuing business instead.

When he was a junior in college, Agarwala decided to assist his sister with a coffee shop project that she had begun called “Benji’s Café.” Agarwala said that the coffee shop was a learning opportunity about the reality of what business entails.

“I think most importantly, what I discovered is you can have a plan in your head, and that plan, you can execute it to perfection, and the results will look 1000 different ways, 1000 different times,” Agarwala said.

He added that the project helped readjust his perspective and open his eyes to what his future career may look like.

“That was such a beneficial experience because everyone, when they're in college, thinks they know everything,” Agarwala said. “And I quickly discovered that things are not as easy as your brain would like to make them seem sometimes.”

After college, Agarwala’s first job was at a financial management consulting firm called Michael Shannon. He got the role by applying through LinkedIn, and worked on data validation and data collection, as well as other internal support roles.

At this job, Agarwala said he learned many basic lessons about business. He said the first major lesson was understanding that he had to advocate for himself.

“I always was of the opinion that if you do the work, it will speak for itself, but I learned that, especially in larger work environments where you're on teams of 40 to 50 people, you have to make sure that your accomplishments are tracked and known, because otherwise it goes unspoken, and that that does a disservice to the work,” Agarwala said.

Additionally, he said learning to deal with difficult people and being patient with others is crucial to success, not just in the business field, but in any position.

Across the beginning of his career, Agarwala has had multiple significant jobs with well-known companies. I often find myself frozen when it comes to decision making, so I wondered how he knew the right time to switch jobs, and how he knew if the switch would be successful in the long run.

Agarwala has a very straightforward mindset towards future opportunities, and he said it goes beyond the passive belief that when one door closes, another one opens. He believes a person’s actions have more of an effect on the value taken from an experience.

“If you're patient and you try and extract whatever value you can out of whatever position you're in in that moment, if you're open towards future opportunity, it will usually lead you to something better,” Agarwala said.

Agarwala went on to say that this does not mean that someone should enjoy every position they have, however they should use it as a learning experience and take away the most benefit possible to grow in their careers.

He reflected on a particular role he held where he struggled to see the value it provided.

“I wasn't necessarily the biggest subject matter expert, and I often questioned whether I was doing anything productive in that role, or if that role would help me get job opportunities elsewhere,” Agarwala said. “And I would actually say that that experience was one of the biggest drivers for how I got the job I have today, which I love immensely.”

Agarwala said he is very happy with his current job at Fanatics, where he works for the trading card division, and hopes to stay with the company for the foreseeable future. He said the workplace environment and diverse staff align with his values and encourage him to stay on.

“I love how seriously we all take our jobs, and how much we pride ourselves in just doing the best we can, obviously understanding that we're not going to get everything perfect every single time, but we're all putting our best foot forward, Agarwala said. “Having a team like that definitely makes a huge difference.”

Although he loves his job and would like to climb the ranks within Fanatics, Agarwala still says growth is his primary focus.

“Life is life is short, and I think the last thing we as humans should do is let fear dictate our actions,” Agarwala said. “And so, if there's a new opportunity, even if this role might be stable and it might be really comfortable, I don't think that should dissuade me from looking at other opportunities. I think it's looking forward to growing but also being open towards what the future might have had in store.”