It’s 1999. Super Bowl ads are a big thing and Monster (a job website) comes out with a doozy.
It’s a 30-second spot filmed in dramatic black-and-white about getting a better job.
It features a bunch of kids reciting the epitaphs of their respective dreams with the lines:
“I want to have a brown nose.”
“I want to be a ‘yes man.’”
“I want to climb my way up to middle management.”
That last one’s my favorite. Not because I worked in middle management (I did), but because this kid stole my 1970 something bowl cut (thanks, mom).
I hunted for a better job, over and over.
I did it for 20 plus years, all the while really wanting to start my own business.
In 2019, I stepped out and started my own thing.
People ask me how I knew it was the right thing to do.
I didn’t.
My entire business plan was, “I’m going to make this work.”
It wasn’t just the words. It was the felt commitment those words conveyed.
That’s how I knew it was time.
