Olivia Castellini, PhD

Senior Exhibit Developer, Museum of Science and Industry

Before Dr. Olivia Castellini, senior exhibit developer at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry, had earned a PhD in physics, she worked packaging produce at a large warehouse.

When shipments of vegetables arrived at the warehouse, Castellini was responsible for helping pick out rotten produce or repackaging large shipments into smaller orders.

"The job wasn't exactly glamorous," says Castellini. "Still, I was proud to feel like I had earned my paycheck at the end of the day."

Castellini says that one of the most important skills she learned at her first job was a strong work ethic and the importance of doing a job efficiently and up to standards.

"I was the boss's daughter," says Castellini, "so there was extra scrutiny on whether or not I was slacking off or pulling my weight."

While Castellini says that "there was something satisfying about the manual labor and being able to point to a completed set of tasks I had done each day," her first job convinced her that she wanted an intellectually engaging career. She feels like she has found exactly this at the Museum of Science and Industry, where she can continue to learn and grow, just as she did in her first job.

"I work with a wonderful group of people who all have very different backgrounds," says Castellini. "I learn something new every day."