Captains Log:

July 29, 2009 2:33am

There seems to be a sense of multiple epiphanies in the air nowadays, thing are coming together in terms of milestones accomplished and unfinished goals. I am the grand old age of 25 now (seriously, I feel like I’ve already lived for too long). So, what has happened in these last few years? Well graduation #1 from high school was a bit of a big deal as it paved the way into the unforgiving bureaucratic system of York university. Graduation from York however, never happened (should have been a piece of cake, right?). That’s three years of one of Canada’s most competitive programs, Computer Engineering, and the worlds most noble subject, Physics, seemingly gone down the drain.
 
So started my journey in the unforgiving corporate world. I started small, looking for anything that I could find in my home area until I could land something solid. Lo and behold after months of dead-end roads, I land a one-year contract for a small software company with golden promises to have a career started in the notoriously profitable oil-and-gas sector. Does anyone see my stroke of luck here? Guess how that turns out, by Christmas of 2008 CBC is flooded with news of work slowing down in Calgary and for months after came news of a recession creeping through the North American and global marketplace. I got accustomed to telling people, “I found out on the news that I’m not going back to work.” Actually, not getting my contract renewed because of internal conflict with co-workers is nothing new to me, I just happened to be on the other side of the desk this time. Brutal experience.

Being a person who is always on the lookout for new opportunities I decided that I had to shift gears and committed myself to making a 180 degree turn with another company. This was my first time trying my hand in business to consumer sales for higher end clienteles. With the economy converting even the most liberal consumers into conservatives, some interesting decisions taken by the management, and a few other factors combined, they shut the doors to the customers and tried to shift gears quickly. This of course does not work out for many of the sales team involved and we found ourselves suddenly without the luxurious income generated there. Being my first time in sales, I obviously sucked at it, unlike my very hopeful and supportive friends there.

Only weeks if not days before the company closed its head office doors, I was offered to work by another individual who was gauging my sales strengths. We eventually came to the mutual agreement that the business to business was the most profitable and professional in terms of personal achievements so I gave it my all (with a hole in my pocket) for a good four months. By this point, I was sure that my stay with this individual will be limited and I started venturing out for more income sources.

Here came my first meeting and potential partnership with a person in real estate willing to take me on as a soon-to-be-agent-in-training. This has been a very pleasant partnership up until now and we will see how it plays out. In the mean time, this massive hole in my pocket just got a little bigger, and in desperate measure to re-connect with the old sales team members I ventured into an American company that allowed me to have all the elements my other job would not allow: freedom, independence, and the ability to hire people.

I’m a university drop out turned junior executive before my 25th birthday. Now all I need is my bank account to reflect these changes in the next five years. Who the heck has to dole out 6 miserable months to see a measly $1000 cheque from a deal that took less than an hour to close. This is what I like about the American company, they do it based on supply vs. demand. Test the water FIRST, before you dive into it! The engineering part of it is questionable though: if the demand is there, you do not need to worry about product drawbacks as much now do you?

It is good to take the time with some of these companies and learn their deployment strategies. All have a product or service ready to be taken into market, and hopefully some of them will stay afloat long enough for me to analyze their management structure. No false hopes of promotions in these places, it’s all performance based. You create your own paycheque, if you can that is.

I can feel my heart beating with the uncertainties that lie ahead, I do enjoy a more structured life (even if it means that your dreams will get repeatedly crushed many times over and over again). Oh well, we all have our turning points, guess this is mine. Next stop, corporate America. This renegade is ready for your rewards.

Still alive and beating.

3:29am.