Stick With It

I consider myself a pretty humble person, and the intent for this blog is to really look for the people around me and see how they are making it happen.  However, on the anniversary of 10 years with my company, I thought I would tell a little of my story.  In this day and age, some might frown on the fact that I have been with the same company for 10 years.  Maybe so...but I hope that for many it is a sign that if you believe in something, and stick with it, you can make it happen.

It was the winter of 1999 and my old employer had just signed a big deal with a major outsourcer and plans were in the works that within a few months all us IT people were going to be merged in with this company.  At the same time, I had a brother-in-law who had just joined a cool new startup in Seattle.  One late December day I got talked into coming up to Seattle for a "usability study"..which back in the dotcom days meant a meet and greet.  Although I did actually do a usability study for them, I also had a chance to meet the CEO and others on the team.  After chatting for bit, the topic of possibly moving to a new opportunity came up and given my current situation, I figured what the heck.  A few weeks later, I got the official offer and oddly without much hesitation I jumped on the chance to make the move to something new.  At this point I could easily say, "and the rest is history!"  and it really is.  I cant/wont go into every detail of the last ten years...that will make for a good book someday.  As it relates to "sticking with it" all I can really say is that it wasnt easy.  There were a lot of good times, some not so good times, and some difficult challenges.  But heck, isn't that work?  Who said it was going to be easy...if it's easy, it probably isnt work.  Through those ups and downs, I have always had a can do attitude..I believed in myself, our team and our customers.  I knew what we had, and that it was awesome.

Along the way, I have been fortunate to be surrounded by great people.  People that also cared a lot about what we did, and how we could be successful.  I also was given opportunities... opportunities to learn and opportunities to lead.  Experiences that have truly shaped me into who I am today.  So, my advice to anyone that thinks they might have it tough, things aren't going well and might want to give up (believe me, it came to mind a few times) - stick with it.  Sure, there can come the time where enough is enough, and you need to make that call to move on. In my situation, I felt an obligation to see things through, to stick it out, and try to do whatever I could to make things happen.  The great thing is that when you have this attitude, you can always find new ways to be better, to learn more, and to do more.  I am thrilled to be part of such an awesome team that is doing great things!


Stick with it and Make it happen!