Eleanor Beardsley, reporting from Paris

Before she landed at NPR as an international correspondent, Eleanor Beardsley, a 1986 Furman University alumna, threw herself into myriad experiences to make a living and home in on her eventual career. Each occupation proved to be formative – from waiting tables in Washington, D.C., to her sales role at Euro Disney, to posts at the French Embassy and World Bank, and even an ill-fated position with a French consulting firm, which launched her foray into journalism.

Leigh Savage of Greenville Business Magazine spoke with Beardsley about her odyssey. “I tried a lot of things,” said the French and European history major. “Don’t wait for someone to give it to you. Try some things. Yes, you will fail at some. Really, failure can point you in a better direction.”