How To Quit Your Job (And Blow Up Things)!

I was suffering.

Work was endless. I traveled all the time. Meetings were never ending. Staff needed more direction. Or less direction. A new budget. A new projection. Vendors want to see me. We need to grow! We need to improve profits. The bank wants to talk. Multiple companies like Nordstroms and Eddie Bauer wanted to hire me to lead. Yikes!

After 20 years.  I was tired.

I missed Renee.  I missed my kids. 

Hell, I missed me. (I used to tell Renee that going to work was like stepping into a phone booth and turning into someone I wasn't).  Maybe If I grew a thicker skin maybe I'd be more successful.  But with such a thick skin, I really wouldn't be me!

So, after a lot we effort we sold our company to an investment banking firm.  Then it was sold a again to create a larger division.  And, I gave my word I would work at least for a year after the sale.

It got to one day and one minute past one year. I could no longer pretend.  I quit my job as president.  I blew it up.

I called my partner and told him I was resigning.  He was surprised. He was pissed. We yelled at each other. He wanted me to continue to help the business transition.

I met with my core staff - they were good friends and some of the best people I know. Some were upset.  Others were happy for me.

I told the president of my board.  What he said surprised me!  He said I had a lot of courage - more than most people - to make a dramatic change like this.  He wished me all the best with my art.

About ten minutes after that phone call, one of my vice presidents came to my office.  He asked for my keys.  He asked for my company credit card.  And he said I had 5 minutes to gather my personal items and that he would escort me out of the office. (Did they really think I would steal something?)

I grabbed the photos of my family and a few things that were mine.  

So that was it.  After twenty years of toil.  No fanfare.  No cake or shot of tequila.  No parade.  (I hate parades).

I walked out the door and have never been back.

It reminds me of this poem by T.S. Eliot:

This is the way the world ends

This is the way the world ends

This is the way the world ends

Not with a bang but a whimper.

But not for me.  For my world now starts with a bang.  

My simple advice. Do something you love.  Have lots of ideas and be creative.  Do something with purpose!  Have a blast!

Stick Vega is the American Gunpowder Artist.  He creates and blogs from The Blast Factory in Madison, WI and Bucktown, Chicago, IL.  Follow Stick at Facebook and/or Twitter.