As with any company trucking through the economic slum, my agency has its fair share of turbulence. In January, Black Friday, I saw 5 of my co-workers, from a the Creative department of 15 people, shrink down to 10. Since then, I’ve seen great mentors and colleagues up and leave to new adventures in their lives. A few have even traveled to Southeast Asia and miraculously found themselves coming back to the team to help put out fires in the Studio. It’s been a crazy year and I’ve been part of an extraordinarily talented team of designers, writers and managers.
But through all the turbulence, through all the bullshit, the politics and from all the lessons learned, new experiences survived and through the vast accomplishments, I find myself at the pinnacle only to decide on which direction I am headed towards next. This past Thursday, I put in my two weeks.
The rocky ride took me down and I knew I had to get out while I can still keep a smile on my face. I always kept a positive vibe, despite how crazy things got in the Studio or in the company. And never would I want to burn bridges with people I’ve become close to, both professionally and personally. It’s time to move on.
The weird thing about this all is I planned on leaving the company a month ago. I planned on sticking through the rest of the year, working as hard as I normally do, fully dedicating myself to the company and my accounts. The past few weeks have been hell and it sucked me dry. A person can only take so much. I couldn’t last another full month and the handful of change before the holiday break. It’s tearing my soul apart. Cheesy, but true.
Here I am with the decision to carry on with the rest of the year, or to depart some time early next month. I worked 19 straight days with a majority of them feeling like I ran a marathon at a full sprint. And that was only to top off the fast pace I’ve kept up in the past two years. I’m tired, out of breath but I am well seasoned and trained to take on the next challenge. I just need a moment to catch my breath to continue another race.
Who knows what’s next. Freelance and contract work is looking real good right now. I can take on personal projects and work on projects with the bigger picture in mind. My company has prepared me well for that. I hit the ground running real hard and it’s natural that it is my time to fly the coop.