24 | MARCH 21 • 2024
J
N
M
ichal Oshman borrowed the name of her
book What Would You Do If You Weren’t
Afraid? from a sign she saw at Facebook
when she arrived for her job interview. This
question, as well as company culture at Facebook,
not only caught her attention, it also shifted her
paradigm from risk aversion to embracing and
leaning into the unknown.
Being in an environment where failure is not
only normalized, but actually encouraged cemented
the nonnegotiable necessity of risk and failure to
attain growth and innovation.
Hundreds of guests gathered at Oakland
University to meet and learn from Oshman. The
event was sponsored by Oakland University, the Cis
Maisel Center for Judaic Studies and Community
Engagement, Chabad Jewish Center of Troy and
Chabad Lubavitch of Michigan.
Oakland University President Dr. Ora Hirsch
Pescovitz welcomed guests and posed the question:
“What does it mean to have a meaningful life?”
Rabbi Menachem Caytak, leader of Chabad
What Would You Do if You Weren’t Afraid?
Michal Oshman
at Oakland University
YEVGENIYA GAZMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
PHOTOGRAPHY BY ERIN MCCONNELL
OUR COMMUNITY
ABOVE: Michal Oshman engages with guests and signs books.
TOP: Michal Oshman on the panel.