Welcome to Edition #125 of Gorick's newsletter, where Harvard career advisor and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Gorick Ng shares what they don't teach you in school about how to succeed in your career.
Sign up now to receive Gorick’s weekly career strategies!
→ Read time: 6 min
Hello, friends! Gorick here. Each week, I share untold stories of how people built their careers—and the unspoken rule you can apply to your own career and life.
- In edition #125, to celebrate Taylor Swift’s new album, we’re reviving one of my favorite stories from my newsletter archive—on what Taylor Swift can teach us about the importance of being at the “center of gravity” of your field.
A STORY FROM THE PAST
It’s 2002 and 11-year-old Taylor Swift convinced her parents to drive 776 miles (1248 km) from West Reading, Pennsylvania to “Music City,” Nashville, Tennessee.
Her goal?
Hand-deliver her demo CD and do what her idol, country singer Faith Hill, did: Get noticed and sign with a record label.
Two years later, Swift’s dream came true: After securing a studio contract, she moved to Nashville from Pennsylvania. But producers wanted Swift to sing songs by other artists instead of her own, so Swift left the label. A year later, while performing at Nashville’s Bluebird Cafe, Swift was spotted by a music executive who offered her a new deal, one where she could write and record her own work.
Fast forward, and Swift’s first album became a worldwide sensation, ranking at #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 where it stayed for a record-breaking 157 weeks.
So, the next time that you find yourself wondering, Should I relocate for my career? Remember Swift—who made the move, transformed her career, and redefined music and fame as we know it.
Update: As of 2025, Swift's success reached new heights with the release of her 12th studio album, The Life of a Showgirl. The album broke streaming records by becoming the most pre-saved album in Spotify history with over 5 million pre-saves. This comes after her Eras Tour, which officially grossed over $2 billion in ticket sales — making it the highest-grossing tour of all time. Swift’s latest achievement cements her status as the first and only female artist to surpass 100 million RIAA Certified Album Units in the U.S.
A STUDY OF THE PRESENT
Beyond knowing how to sing, Taylor Swift also knew something else: the importance of being at what I call the “center of gravity”—the place where stuff happens.
Think Los Angeles for entertainment, Washington, D.C. for government, and New York City for finance (if you’re in the US). As a country music fan, I was embarrassed to learn that I had no idea until recently that there is such a thing as the “Country Music Capital of the World”—and that it is, in fact, Nashville.
Being at the center of gravity is helpful if you know which “orbit” you want to be in. And if you don’t know? Then go where there are people, progress, and possibilities.
Where, you ask?
We last featured a Bankrate study where, in 2023, the top cities were as follows: Austin, TX, Seattle, WA, and Salt Lake City, UT.
Today, according to a new WalletHub study on the Best & Worst Places to Start a Career in 2025, these are the top 10 cities to start your career:
- Atlanta, GA
- Orlando, FL
- Tampa, FL
- Austin, TX
- Miami, FL
- Charleston, SC
- Richmond, VA
- Salt Lake City, UT
- Columbia, SC
- Pittsburgh, PA
Meanwhile, here’s how the usual suspects ranked:
- Boston: #20 (formerly #12 in 2023)
- Washington, DC: #23 (formerly #19 in 2023)
- San Francisco: #51 (formerly #17 in 2023)
- New York City: #179 (formerly #43 in 2023)
So what? We often put a lot of pressure on ourselves to pick the right job or the right company. But picking the right geography matters, too, and could mean the difference between being exposed to the right opportunities and not.
A STRATEGY FOR YOUR FUTURE
2 years ago, in 2023, 84% of my newsletter subscribers said that they had made a move to be closer to family. I made a similar move myself, so you’re not alone! But what if you want to make a future move for your career? Consider this:
(1) If you’re early in your career… Consider WalletHub’s top 10 cities. Use LinkedIn to search for people you already know (or people you can get introduced to) who live there and ask what it’s like.
(2) If you’re feeling restless… Consider what commercial real estate company JLL calls "innovation geographies,” or, cities that "benefit the most from the rise of the knowledge economy", from San Diego, CA, U.S. to Stockholm, Sweden.
Not every move will lead to a breakthrough. But moving does promise new experiences and new people that could change your life for the better.
I know it because I’ve experienced it: Had I not prioritized a job with lots of travel back in the day, I would have never had an appreciation for how big the world is—and where I’d want to live long-term. As the saying goes, I had to “see it to believe it.”
Make the move!
See you on Thursday for the AMA,
—Gorick
What’s an “unspoken rule”? They’re the things that separate those who get ahead from those who stumble—and don’t know why. You can learn more about these rules in the workplace in my Wall Street Journal bestselling book called—you guessed it—The Unspoken Rules.
Every newsletter is free and a fraction of my work.
Here are 4 of my paid offerings that may interest you:
1. Keynote speaking: My 2025 calendar is filling up! If your organization is looking for speakers for graduation season, manager training, new hire / early career orientation, AAPI Heritage Month, ERG summits, or something else, let’s chat!
2. How to Say It: Flashcards that teach you to know what to say in every high-stakes professional setting via hundreds of fill-in-the-blank scripts (just like the examples above). Free shipping on all orders over $40.
3. Fast Lane to Leadership: My online course that takes you from day 1 in a new role through to a promotion with 28 modules and 28 cheatsheets (3.5 hours of content). Use code ‘ireadgoricksnewsletter20’ for 20% off.
4. The Unspoken Rules: My Wall Street Journal Bestseller that Arianna Huffington calls “a blueprint for anyone starting their career, entering a new role, or wanting to get unstuck.” Used by top companies and MBA programs.
Sources:
- 12-year-old Taylor Swift
- Get noticed and sign with a record label
- Nashville’s Bluebird Cafe
- Swift’s first album
- record-breaking 157 weeks
- broke streaming records
- Grossed over $2 billion in ticket sales
- 100 million RIAA Certified Album Units
- Taylor Swift in 2006 (16 years old)
- 2023 (33 years old)
- A 2004 article featuring Swift
- Bankrate study
- WalletHub study
- "innovation geographies”
