How Marissa Mayer Accidentally Opened the Door to Google—and History

Marissa Mayer, renowned for her time as Yahoo's CEO, began her trailblazing journey in tech with an accidental click. In 1999, while sifting through recruiter emails as a Stanford computer science graduate, Mayer meant to delete a message from Google but mistakenly opened it. That fluke led her to meet Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, ultimately securing her place as Google’s 20th employee and first female engineer.

Mayer thrived in the unknown—a lesson she carried from choosing Stanford to pivoting from medicine to tech. Despite 14 job offers, Google’s scrappy startup energy and its founders' brilliance convinced her to take the leap. “When you do something you're not ready to do, that's when you grow,” Mayer said. Her decade at Google solidified her as a tech pioneer before taking the helm at Yahoo, where she tripled the company’s stock price and oversaw its sale to Verizon.

Today, Mayer channels her passion for innovation into Sunshine, her AI startup that simplifies digital connections. She also serves on the boards of Walmart, AT&T, and Next door Holdings, continuing her legacy of challenging the status quo and rising to new heights. This story was originally featured on Fortune.com