Last week, I resigned from the position that I had wanted for years in a company that I have worked for over the past 9 years. I have nothing currently lined up. I figuratively jumped off a cliff with no chute and no net, and I am absolutely terrified.
I will leave the name of the company out, but those who know me know who it is. We shall call the business, The Corp. I joined The Corp in 2012 when they were assumed to be out of business in a couple years. I was a home delivery person, appliance sales person, another spot that was a little of everything, an appliance repair person and the job I left is the one I wanted more than anything with the company. I was a delivery pad manager. I was making around $64k a year and I was comfy. I bought my first brand new car, not some used junker. I was able to go on an amazing vacation with my daughter that I had dreamed about my entire life. I had a great team, I was proud of my accomplishments.
Early on though, I started getting changes thrown at me. I can assure you that I am not afraid of change. I embrace it because if I didn’t I would not be where I am. Plus, working in the retail space my entire life equals embracing change. The two big ones that I started my new coveted job with: COVID and changing the entire business model I was hired to manage. Those were both immense challenges to overcome. I made it 18 months. The biggest struggle for me over this entire time was that the company that had taken care of me seemed to be not as interested in taking care of the people.
I am a people leader. I want more than anything to take care of the people who work for me or around me. I managed about 30 of my own employees and managed a manager and team from a third party company who had nearly 80 people. While those teams did not report to me directly, my decisions and actions directly impacted their lives. That’s where the problem started. The directives I was being given by my leaders was starting to conflict what I wanted to do to get the results that everyone wanted. Since my bosses were focused on the results and not the people, we never got the results. That’s why I walked out.
What are the next steps?
I’ve been a photographer for nearly 25 years. Man am I starting to sound old…. I’ve also wanted for years to take the leap and become a travel blogger/YouTuber, but it’s really hard to do any of that when you’re working 50+ hours a week. Well, now I have the time so I am going to do whatever I can with it.
I was also an appliance repair tech, and with the popularity of using Youtube to learn how to solve and fix things, this is a great opportunity to start doing just that. So many people today are starting to switch back to fixing what they have instead of buying new. Honestly, it’s better for the environment and will save money. Plus, why replace something when the part is $50 and will only take a little while to fix?
I also have some other ideas, like selling tie dye shirts. They are fun to make and, well, match my personality. Plus, people have already commented on my shirts and asked where to get them. They have all been impressed when I said I made them!
I will also most likely be doing the whole “gig lifestyle” with places like Door Dash and Instacart. I am impressed with how much potential there is to make money. It won’t replace my $65k/yr salary, but it will pay bills and keep my car payment current so I can actually travel and make images!
I didn’t mean for this to be a long post, but there was a lot that I wanted to say. I have no idea how many people will read this, but let me give you some advice….
Don’t quit your job without a plan first!
The whole message of quit the job you hate and do what you love is all great in theory, but there are a lot of things to consider. Here’s a link to a video that can explain it WAY better than me. This guy is fun to listen to and has lots of great content.
https://youtu.be/Tz1kVa8brLg
Thank you for reading, and have a great day!
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