Taking a risk

Back in 1999, I was working as a manager in a retail computer store selling and building PC hardware and software. On the side, my hobby was playing with the web—a nascent technology that had only been around for a few years and becoming increasingly popular. It took me awhile to clue in that there were people making careers with this thing that I was doing for fun. A light bulb went off and I realized that this was something that I, too, wanted to do.

Switching from something that was a hobby into a career meant I needed to figure out how to get my foot in the door. I applied at a bunch of companies but was not getting asked for interviews. I considered going to college to get a degree but it’d cost thousands of dollars I didn’t have.

Then I applied for a one week contract at a web agency. I got the call the week prior. That’s not a lot of notice. I took a chance and told the owners of the store I wouldn’t be in the following week.

I did my contract and got some experience under my belt.

But, as you might imagine, my rather short-term notice didn’t go over well at the computer store and I was demoted. Understandable and I didn’t argue it.

But but, my performance during that one week contract was enough for them to reach out and offer me a full time job.

Sometimes we need to take risks and that risk paid off for me, getting into a career doing something that I enjoyed. The rest, as they say, is history.