Michaels CEO urges young workers to act early and accept career risk

Michaels CEO David Boone is telling young workers to start acting on career opportunities instead of waiting until their plans feel certain. In a job market marked by layoffs and hiring freezes, Fortune reported, Boone said early-career employees may still benefit from taking calculated risks.

In a recent interview with The Wall Street Journal, Boone said, “Just get moving. The universe rewards doing things in action versus analyzing and thinking about things.” He added: “Get moving, take some action, take some risk.”

Boone tied that advice to his own path after graduating from McMaster University in Canada in 1992, according to Fortune. He entered the workforce during a weak hiring period after a recession, when consumer spending and employment conditions were difficult.

His first work after college began as a summer job, Fortune reported. That role became a contract position and later a full-time job, even though Boone said it was not in an area that strongly interested him.

Boone spent more than 15 years at Loblaw Companies, the Canadian retailer, according to Fortune. He later faced a major decision when TD Bank offered him a leadership role in the United States as executive vice president of marketing.

The move meant leaving the Toronto area for Portland, Maine, Fortune reported. Boone said his family supported the decision, and he took the job at TD Bank, which Fortune described as a $196 billion bank.

Boone said that decision helped shape the rest of his career, including his eventual rise to the top job at Michaels last year. “I would not be sitting here today had we not taken that risk,” Boone told The Wall Street Journal, according to Fortune.

He also cautioned that risks do not all succeed. Boone said setbacks are part of the process and that workers have to continue after disappointments.

Other CEOs offer similar career advice

Fortune reported that Boone’s message fits with advice from several other corporate leaders who have addressed young workers’ concerns about career choices. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has said early-career employees do not need to know their final career destination in their 20s.

Speaking last year on the podcast How Leaders Lead, Jassy said he has seen pressure among his own children, ages 21 and 24, and their peers to know what they want to do with their lives. “And I really don’t believe that’s true,” Jassy said, according to Fortune.

Jassy said he tried several paths before becoming Amazon’s chief executive, including sportscasting, product management and entrepreneurship, Fortune reported. He said early jobs can help people learn what they do not want to do as well as what they do want.

McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski has also urged younger workers to take charge of their careers, Fortune reported. In a 2025 Instagram video, Kempczinski said, “Remember, nobody cares about your career as much as you do.” He added that workers have to make opportunities happen for themselves.

AMD CEO Lisa Su has framed risk in terms of pursuing difficult problems, according to Fortune. In remarks to graduates at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute last year, Su told students to “run towards the hardest problems,” saying that is where people find opportunity, learn and grow.

This story draws on original reporting from Fortune.