450 Student Series: Stop Waiting for Permission. You Can Just Do Things. with Jay Yang

What if you don't need permission to start building the life you want?

In the final episode of the Disrupt Education Podcast 2026 Student Series, Peter Hostrawser and Alli Dahl welcome Jay Yang, author of You Can Just Do Things, for a conversation about action, opportunity, failure, confidence, education, and taking ownership of your future.

Jay started experimenting with entrepreneurship at 15. After what he calls a "portfolio of failures," he realized that instead of trying to master everything himself, he could learn directly from people already doing what he wanted to do. At 16, he began cold emailing entrepreneurs with pitch decks showing how he could create value, turning those messages into internships and opportunities.

Jay challenges the idea that we need to feel ready before beginning. His philosophy is simple: action produces information. Start something. Learn. Adjust. Develop competence. Build confidence. Then keep moving.

The conversation also explores whether traditional education unintentionally teaches students to wait, why failure can accelerate learning, how to build your own accountability network, and why knowing what you actually want matters more than blindly following a predetermined path.

Jay also shares the four-part framework he used when deciding to leave college and move across the country for an extraordinary professional opportunity: learning, earning, network, and story.

This is the perfect conversation to close the Student Series because every student we've met has demonstrated some version of the same lesson:

Stop waiting. Start doing.

This Student Series is proudly sponsored by pega6.

The workplace is changing, and students need more than classroom knowledge to succeed. They need real world skills and experiences, just like Landon demonstrated in today's episode.That's why pega6 is building the nation's first white collar trade school, helping students launch meaningful careers through hands on, career focused learning. Graduates enter the workforce job ready, gain valuable experience sooner, and can get a head start both professionally and financially.Whether you're a student looking for a different path or an employer searching for exceptional emerging talent, visit ⁠⁠⁠pega6.com⁠⁠⁠ and discover what's possible when education is built around experience.

The Disrupt Education Podcast is powered by YouScience Brightpath.

YouScience Brightpath, the next generation platform helping students make personalized decisions as they move from education to career. If you are serious about connecting students to real opportunities, head to ⁠⁠⁠youscience.com/disrupteducation-podcast⁠⁠⁠. Request a demo and let them know you heard about YouScience right here.