Contemporary science not only requires, but often celebrates, interdisciplinarity or its derivatives (multi- or trans-disciplinarity). Yet interdisciplinarity is most often envisioned as individuals of different disciplinary expertise working together under various configurations. Very rarely, however, are interdisciplinarity individuals, i.e. those that cross multiple, often disparate, disciplinary lines in research, held in the same regard in modern academia. In part, this stems from strong linkage between degree programs, professional identity, scientific societal reputation, and building singular disciplinary expertise; this is only reinforced during cycles of academic hiring, tenure, and promotion. This modern construct poorly reflects our scientific predecessors and their contributions to, and perhaps, transformations of, society. Unfortunately, interdisciplinarity comes with increased risk of research and career failtures. Furthermore, this viewpoint continues to thwart interdisciplinarians from the academic sector. In this presentation, I’ll contrast modern views of interdisciplinarity to historical scientists and non-scientists and discuss how academia has and could pivot to meet growing societal and cultural needs. I’ll reflect on my own journey as an ecologist through two diverse graduate degree programs, eight years at a National Laboratory, and the past seven years at a university that shaped 20 years of research spanning the disciplines of stream ecology, fisheries, environmental flows, hydrology, geography, environmental science, and civil engineering. I’ll provide examples of how early failures in my dissertation and career failures led to new opportunities, illustrating how necessity is the mother of invention (or just simple luck) and how closed doors lead to open windows with even better, unanticipated outcomes. Hopefully, in reflecting on my own experiences and failures, I can give some perspective and advice to early career interdisciplinary scientists, and those considering careers in corporate research or academia, especially in freshwater science.