I joined the CIA in my 20s, Google in my 30s, and became an entrepreneur in my 40s. My mantra? 'Sure, I'll try it.'

Candice Bryant says her career has been shaped by a willingness to say, "Sure, I'll try it."Candice BryantCandice Bryant spent nearly 16 years at the CIA before joining Google.She left Google last year to explore AI-related business ventures.

Bryant said saying yes to opportunities shaped her career.This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Candice Bryant, who worked as an internal communications manager at Google until last October, when she left to focus on independent consulting and building AI-related products. Before Google, Bryant spent about 16 years at the Central Intelligence Agency, where her last role was in communications.

She's in her early 40s and lives in the Washington, DC, area.My whole career has really been a series of "Sure, I'll try it" moments, and it all started with an opportunity I almost passed up.More than two decades ago, while I was pursuing a political science degree at Towson University in Maryland, there was a career fair I almost didn't attend because I didn't have any professional clothes to wear.

I grew up in Baltimore, and while I didn't feel poor, I've since realized I was probably underprivileged.My roommates convinced me to go to the career fair anyway. They told me to put on a coat and a nice pair of pants.

It was winter, they reasoned, and nobody would know the difference.At the event, I stopped by a table for the Central Intelligence Agency. I was looking for an internship, but the recruiter suggested I apply for a job.

I applied for a full-time job as a political analyst and, after graduating in December 2004, started at the CIA the following month at age 21.That chance encounter launched a career that would eventually take me from the CIA to Google and, later, entrepreneurship. Throughout my career, one of the biggest things I've learned is to always try to say yes when opportunities arise.

I spent about 16 years at the CIAOne of the biggest lessons I learned during my time at the CIA was how fragile the world ca