Wrapping Up
A dozen years ago I quit my job over a picture.
I was working for a customer in Santa Barbara, California while living in Detroit, Michigan. Zoom and Teams meetings were not widely accepted (or didn’t exist!) and that meant getting into a plane every Sunday and flying from Detroit to LAX, renting a car, then driving over to Santa Barbara. This took many, many, many hours.
From the hotel I would crush email and prepare for the upcoming week, which started at 8am Detroit time – yes, that’s 5am local time. I’d start each weekday with calls to my team and do all this from my cell phone in the lobby of the hotel (the walls of the hotel were thin and I worried I’d wake up the floor).
After calls I’d keep working until my colleague Chris met me and we’d walk to our client to work until 5pm local time – a full 12 hours. We’d get dinner and I’d go back to the hotel and handle all the emergencies of the day and (sigh) still more email.
This would continue until Friday where we’d drive to the airport and fly back, only to do it again the following week.
This all meant that I only had a day each week with my three kids. That’s when my youngest made this picture:
Seeing a picture where I was separate from the family and off in a plane broke my heart.
And that is how Alta Vista Technology was born.
A New Chapter
A dozen years later, I’m looking at that picture again.
After all these years, I’m moving on from Alta Vista Technology and off to chase other things. I have big plans and still so much to learn, and I’m thrilled with all the possibilities.
So here we are: my last full week. The company I built because of a picture is in good hands, and I’m ready for whatever comes next.
Sometimes you need a picture from your kid to remind you what’s important. And sometimes you need to remember that the lesson doesn’t expire just because the company grows up.
Thanks for being part of this journey. Let’s see what the next chapter brings…