Retirement.

Have I mentioned before that I'm not very happy working for the man? Sure the man has provided me a place to work for the past 10 years, but he's changed and I'm no longer pleased with our relationship. I only stay because for insurance and stable income. If I had the chance to jump ship, I probably would.


I had an interview with a real estate company a little over a month ago. If you don't know, I have history selling real estate. I loved working in real estate. I loved the creativity I could use when marketing myself. I enjoyed the fact I decided if I succeeded or failed. I was upset when I chose to leave after my son was born. Spending almost every waking hour split between real estate and a full time job took a toll on my family. I needed to be home more, my wife and family needed me.

Now when I saw an opening at a local real estate company for a marketing position, I thought "why not?". The position was for the actual corporate office, which meant I would be eligible for medical benefits. I applied and a short time later, I received a call for an interview. I excited and thought, "I got this!!" I got a bunch of my marketing material from when I was in real estate, and even some of my portfolio when I went to school in 2009.

The interview was going great. They understood my reason for leaving and were impressed with my samples.

They asked me what was my reason for wanting to leave. My answer was I was tired of being confined to "a box" when it came to what I was allowed to and not do. Creativity and opinion was not an option anymore. Being married and having five children required me to have forward progress in any position I was in. Any future with my current one did not seem too opportunistic.

At the end of the interview they asked if I had any questions for them.

"Yeah, what will I be doing specifically?"

The different parts of the marketing department could include making flyers, putting together ad inserts for the newspaper, helping with the weekly TV show and other duties assigned.

I would be making flyers and other duties assigned.

Making flyers is cool right? I enjoyed making different styles when I was selling. But no. I would have to use a template which means no creativity. The other duties assigned meant uploading photos into a database. Again no creativity there. When they were finished answering my question (I realized and I'm sure they did too), I was going to be put back in that box.

I left expecting to hear from them (and would take the job if they offered), but would not be upset if I did not get it.

Well they called that afternoon thanking me for my time but their going with someone else. This was expected because they knew I didn't want to be contained. They knew I could eventually be unhappy there as well.

But it's all good.

So I'm sitting in training in a company I've been with for going on ten years, and I make a decision.

I'm going to retire on my 40th birthday.

Right now I'm 36 years and 8 months old. That gives me 3.33 years to get to that point.

When I called KC today during break and told her this, she literally dropped the phone and threw up in her mouth. Though not from my goal, but for the fact I'm going to be 37 in four months.

But what is different now than before?

KC and I have started are own business along with some friends of ours. We're excited about it and we're both tired of my working somewhere I don't want to be.

I know it's a bold thing to declare, but I have faith we can do this. Now it doesn't mean I'm going to stop working all together, just stop working for them man.

I'm not going to go into much detail about the business just yet, but if you're interested I'll be happy to tell you about it via email.


Have a great week my friends.

Comments

  1. The longer I'm a "professional" the more I realize that working for the man just squashes the spirit of most, under the guise of stability. I applaud you for publicly making your intentions known, and hope that someday soon, I will be bold enough to do the same.

    ReplyDelete
  2. From what I heard other people say, having a business in a full-time job and a half, so I hope you manage to find the balance for everything. Good luck!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Here.