Curveball, explained

Short version: I put in 3 weeks notice to my boss on Tuesday and I'll be moving back to Washington state to start working at my parents' small business on April 11th.

Long version: I was chatting on the phone with my mom while driving home from wakeboarding Sunday afternoon. She sounded really stressed out and told me that the shit had hit the fan at work. They have had 3 people either quit or get fired in the last two weeks. When your ship is run by only 15 or so people, losing 3 can be crippling, especially when the loss is heaviest on the client services side of things. This is their livelihood, retirement, what have you, and things are not looking good. It didn’t take long before I offered to quit my job, put my crap in storage, and head north to help out. This is the one time in my life, with school on the horizon, that I can drop everything and help out without making much of a sacrifice career-wise. It was a no-brainer.

Mom was reluctant at first, fearing I was giving up too much, that it might put my MBA plans in jeopardy, that I won't have enough money saved before school considering they’ll only be able to pay me about half of what I’m making now. But as we talked through my current situation and the trade-offs, what I actually would and would not be giving up, she got pretty excited about my offer and said she’d talk to my father about it.

Fast forward to Monday morning. Long conversation with dad. Dad is very excited about the offer, asks me to sleep on it and really evaluate the financial implications before making a decision. At that point I was pretty much decided. I may be making more money right now, but I also spend a helluva lot more in San Diego than I will in small town Western Washington living at home. Plus, I’ve only worked for one company since undergrad, I don’t have any major projects in the pipeline for the next 5 months and I’m not getting promoted, certainly nothing to add to my resume. Either way, I’m treading water for the next 5 months until school starts. I can do it for a big corporation that really doesn’t care about me, or I can really make a difference for my parents’ business, drum up some new clients and implement some process improvements, have a bunch of new and different stuff to add to my resume and a completely different set of experiences to draw from when I’m in school. My efforts would have a purpose close to my heart, something I haven’t had from work in a long time.

While I’m sad to be leaving San Diego sooner than expected (who wouldn’t be?), I’m really excited by the opportunity to go home and contribute to the family business for a few months before school starts.