The catch up.

Yikes! I haven’t written a blog since September? It wasn’t for lack of trying. I have loads to tell you all. I’m just not sure how to organize my thoughts. Which is funny, because my organizational skills supposedly got me the job I’m starting tomorrow. I should start there.

One day a friend of mine casually asks me if I’m open to another job. I’m like “yeah, sure.” In my mind, I’m confident that nothing will come of it. So, then, a week later he’s like, here’s the position, apply today! 

“Ah, what the hell!” I update my resume that night and send it. I’m still in a very dubious space. “This will be fun, but like…I’m still going to be delivering webcasts next month.”

We have a phone interview and a key question comes up: Why would you be willing to leave your current job (at an amazing company) to join a small startup? I think all the practice I’ve recently had delivering presentations makes it easier for the words to come out.

I know what I want. I want to grow and organize things and not be held back by structure. I want to be recognized for what I can do and given room to meet my potential. 

I say these things and know they’re not bulllshit. Despite how content I’ve been at work, I can’t help but want more. My friend tells me that I can expect this at his company and, even better, he’ll go to bat for me whenever necessary. Then, he proves it.

The day of the in-person interview, he makes me a bomb offer. Within 24 hours I decide to change my life. I agree to take a leap…several. I also book a solo vacation, my last of the year. I fly out on Sunday to Miami Beach where the weather’s nice, the beach is within walking distance, and I can choose between rock climbing and movies and drinks. Oh, and the service is 5-star. 

I get high off men opening doors, room service, free lectures on feng shui, saunas, too many fitness classes, and reading China Rich Girlfriend on the beach. Then, I put in my two weeks’ notice.

Before I leave, they work the shit out of me. I have more than a half dozen trainings to deliver, not including the ones I give my teammates to transition projects away. One of them is in New Jersey, and I fly out right in the middle of my two weeks.

That’s a whole adventure and a half. For my grand travel finale, I stay at a Howard Johnson, a mighty far, fucking cry from my Miami wellness resort, but I survive. I also survive the  random jerking of my rental car’s steering wheel. I had to drive an hour from the airport and repeatedly felt my life flicker before my eyes. Yeah, 2018s are nice, but it doesn’t mean they won’t kill you! 

It turns out they actually won’t kill you. They just vibrate when you cross lines without using a turn signal. Silly me.

Despite leaving my laptop’s power cable in Ohio, I deliver a fire training (figuratively), and leave with a commendation. A nice letter to my company. The company I’m leaving in another week. LOL awww.

While I’m busy being bold, I make some more moves. I head to New York relying entirely on public transportation. 

For all you adultier, more metropolitan, more learned adults, this may not be a big deal. It was a huge deal for me. I have the body of a 16-year-old, just recently activated my sense of direction, and have been told I’m just “book smart.” Me riding the rail and the subway from New Jersey to New York was a big “fuck you” to the haters. Everything I’ve done lately has shown me I can do whatever I imagine myself doing – why stop now?

It’s addictive – leaving fearlessly. Taking leaps. But it doesn’t look the same for everyone.  In fact, I bet to half of you, my last month looks like child’s play. I’m still proud as heck.

The past month was about getting clear on what’s important to me. Traveling, growing, being great but not perfect, laughing at myself, and saying “yes” to opportunities.

Now about this past year…we have some more things to talk about. Tune in soon.