Doing It Scared

Some big changes are happening in my life. I am moving away from my job of 11 years. It was with a large tech company. It was comfortable being there and it felt very safe. However, all good things do come to an end at some point.

So a question I get asked a lot: what now?

I'll be job searching but more selectively than I normally would be. I want to focus on roles that are a strong fit. After more than a decade at a large tech company, I want to see how a small company operates. I think there's a lot to learn there – especially if I want to start my own company someday. But until the right role comes my way, I will be working for myself doing an assorted variety of projects and activities. More on that in the coming weeks.

In the meantime, I'm using this window to build things.

I've always spent a lot of time building during nights and weekends but I never felt like I could really bite into a large project even if I had large ideas. I'd scope things small just to feel the win of finishing something. But some ideas needed more room. Without that, they stalled out.

So what am I building right now?

I'm starting with the building blocks. Stripe integration. Authentication. Dashboards. Onboarding portals. AI integrations. It feels like a random mix of things but that's the point. I'm not trying to build a startup right now. I'm building things startups would rely on. Hopefully my own startup someday.

I don't know where this will go. The options I've given myself are: freelance, building a product, landing a full time job, or... something else.

The truth is I have a family to support. My family will always be the driving force behind my decisions. Right now, I'm just taking some time at this crossroad to explore the possibilities.

I'm going to build for awhile. Take on some freelance work. Interview for roles. We will see what sticks.

If I'm lucky, I'll find a way to follow more than one path.