EP1: The Last Day in Office at my W-2

Today's my last day at the office. I never thought I would say that, to be honest. So how did I get here? You know, I've, I've grown a lot over the past few years, and I've had an amazing ride working at the company I worked at. Learned so much. You know, I was thankful to have a mentor and a leader that was, you know, is one of the smartest guys I've ever met, one of the best leaders I've ever met. Incredible learning experience, just amazing. But you know, at the end of the day, I realized that I'm just not cut out to be a 9-to-5 employee. This may be a drastic scenario, but to me it feels like the modern-day slavery, you know. It's, I'm And it's not that, um, you know, he's an ex-amazing leader, but it's not, it's not the leader. It's not the person. It's the framework. It's the framework of being forced to, and not even being forced, honestly, like he was way more flexible than any other, you know, leader would be. And I got to do an incredible amount of things and I was blessed with a lot, you know, but it's just the framework in terms of the concept that you got to be there in the office 9 to 5 every day. And. It's just that, that's what I'm just not built for. That I want to go and do what I want to do when I want to do it. And I want to work when I want to work. And honestly, a lot of time, a lot of that times results in me working 80 hours a week, 80, 60, 90, whatever. But I just, I want to do it on my own terms. You know, I want to do it because I love doing it. I want to work on what I want to work on. And obviously, you know, hear me describing that, that's not a W-2 employee. W-2 employee. That's actually a really bad W-2 employee. It's not an employee that I would want as a leader of a company. So that's why I decided to go out on my own. And I, you know, now being in these shoes that other people before me— it's not like I'm telling some grandiose once-in-a-lifetime story. I mean, people quit their job or people are fired like all the time, right? And people have to find a way to come and provide for their family. So I mean, this isn't unique, right? The thing about this story that I'm writing, which will be unique, is that over the past couple years I've been fortunate enough to really get into content, a lot of content creating. And it's positioned me to be prepared for this moment to film and document this entire journey start to finish. You know, you hear people about like Alex Hormozi, really great example of someone that I really admire his content and everything, you know, he shares his struggles in the beginning, but his regret is that he didn't document the journey along the way. And he wished he had those moments in real time. Now, obviously, he can tell a story and recollect on what it, what it what it was like struggling, you know, sleeping on the floor of his gym because he couldn't have money to pay for rent of his own place, like that kind of stuff. You hear that story and it's impactful, but you didn't like live it with that person, right? You couldn't feel the emotions, the ups and downs, and then be a part of that journey the whole way. And that's the privilege that I have to do with this podcast. So I'm gonna be documenting this whole journey throughout the entire journey, raw, unfiltered. I'm not gonna be doing some polished podcast with edits. Like, this is gonna be the real me, real thoughts, real-time action that I'm taking. I'm driving in my car right now. I'm on my way to my office for my last day of work. Um, I won't be doing this again, and it's crazy to think that's, you know, 10 years is a long time. I've been at this company for 10 years, been in there at the ground floor. A lot of people there, you know, is like family. That's really hard to leave that. It's really, really hard. But I feel that it's right. Um, it's definitely the right move for my family, and I think it's going to improve my marriage. It's going to give me more time back at home to help out around the house and improve our marriage and help out with the kids. And, you know, even just thinking about driving, like, okay, so I got a 30-minute drive to work. 30 minutes there, 30 minutes back, that's an hour that I can help my wife around the house every day without materially changing any part of my work schedule. And I'll probably end up working harder now than while in my W-2. But it's the allocation of time. You know, I've already changed my thinking, my mentality, my mindset. I've been preparing for this moment. Not really, you know, I wasn't really prepared for the timing of this moment, but I've been building the skill sets necessary to do this thing. If there's anyone on this planet that is equipped enough to do this, I truly believe it is me. I've spent 13 years building skill sets. I've spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on my education. Hundreds of thousands of dollars. And we're not talking about hundreds of thousands of dollars and I have millions in the bank. I have very little. It's pretty easy for someone to drop, you know, let's say $35,000 on a mastermind when they got a couple hundred grand or million dollars or whatever, right? It's pretty hard for someone to do that when $35,000 means everything to them. That's what I've continued to do my whole life. Anytime I've had any sort of money, I pumped it into the number one asset that's going to generate the largest return. That is me. And if you're listening, that's also you. If you got $10,000, $20,000 laying around, I mean, invest in yourself. That is going to give you the biggest return you'll ever get. And over the past couple years, I've had a lot of training and access to information to see how, you know, world-class people operate. And, you know, Pace Morby, you know, like, that guy is one of the best branding guys I know, and he leads through giving value. And I just love that about him. That's why I also admire him. I am too. And so now that I'm able to kind of show this journey and I have the ability to do content. When I first started, when I was in Sub2u, like 2, 2 and a half years ago, I was so scared to talk to people because I had a fear of looking stupid. I had a fear of not knowing the right answer and looking stupid. And at a fundamental level, I'm not afraid to admit that that is the reason why— one of the— one of two reasons why I've spent my whole career generating skills in a very, very wide, diverse area. So talking about my background, you know, I'm a two-time CFO of the Year, been fortunate— featured in Forbes. So I have a very strong background, obviously, in financials, accounting. I don't know why my mind's coming blank and now it sounds like I don't have any skills. Lean Six Sigma, Lean Six Sigma black belt. I went to get my master's degree in software development, so I have a heavy, very, very heavy focused background in tech. I am all about tech. I'm definitely a huge tech guy. Real estate and now branding, marketing, building a brand. Content creation. There is very, very little things. Like, if you think about all of those diverse skill sets, that usually represents an entire organization, right? I, I've kind of been forming my own little entire organization in my head, uh, with different skills. Because the second reason why I've always built these skills— number one was so that I never felt stupid when someone asked me a question. I wanted to have the answer, and so I diversified myself in a lot of different areas so I could be well-versed and never look stupid. And that goes back to, you know, daddy issues, which we don't have time to get into that today. And the second reason is that I didn't want to be taken advantage of. You know, I— we had an employee one time This was going back 5, 6, 7 years ago, something like that. They were a software developer that I was in charge of managing. And, you know, the guy pulled a, you know, he was pulling the rug out from us. Like, he was totally stealing company time and he always had some like super technical bullshit explanation in terms of what he was doing. Everyone knew he was doing nothing, but no one could prove it because no one could understand it. He would do enough just to get by. But he wasn't doing what he should be doing. And, you know, many, many times caught him playing games and doing stuff that, like, really should not have been doing. And ultimately he was fired. But I vowed from that moment on, I was like, I am not gonna let someone take advantage of me like that. And I, after that, I went and got my master's degree in software development. And I've, you know, became proficient in that area. And, you know, my whole career has been about, like, understanding and knowing how long it takes to do something. Because I've done it. You know, I'm not just talking about the theory. I've done it. You know, I know exactly how long it takes to do certain things in certain areas. Like, I know financial statements better than the back of my hand. Like, there is no bullshitting me whatsoever. I feel sorry for a person who's, who's going to be interviewed, honestly, because they're going to get grilled. And if they don't know, anything about accounting, they're going to get chewed up and spit out real fast. Like, that, that is one area where it's like, there's no bullshitting me. I've done just about everything you can think of in terms of the actual work of bookkeeping, financial statements, and that's all part of the incredible experience I've had. But my point of that is, you know, I'm I'm ready. I'm ready to take this leap and I'm ready to share that journey. And it's not easy, you know, it's really not. It's not going to be easy. It's a very scary thought that, okay, salary gone, revenue zero. How do you replace the income you need to make a living? Right? That's the point that I'm at right now. And what you're gonna see over the next year is a complete transformation of who I am today. And you're gonna see someone that's gonna take an obscene amount of action. People thought that I was already a little crazy for the stuff that I would do. You know, I do a lot of social media to begin with before this. Now that I've grown into this person that I am today, I'm being comfortable talking on camera and providing value as much as I can. And, you know, the impact that I want to make on this world is a big one. Briefly touching on my daddy issues, I come from a, a mindset that it was quite literally beaten into me of I'm nothing, I'm worth nothing, I am nothing. If I wasn't winning at baseball, I equated to nothing. And that's pretty wrong, you know, and it gave me a great baseline. You could easily use that as an excuse as to why you didn't achieve X, Y, and Z in your life. To why you're not a good parent for X, Y, and Z reasons, because this is how you were raised and that was your role model. Or you could use it as an example of what not to do and to love your kids differently and to be different. And that's what I've done my whole life. Well, at least, you know, after the past 10 years. Honestly, going to therapy really, really helped me. I'm almost at the office, so I'm gonna have to cut this short here in a second, but going to therapy really helped me. I got divorced, um, honestly, I don't even know how long ago I divorced, like 8 years ago or something like that. I left my corporate job and I went to— actually started a CrossFit gym, and that's how I met the owner the company that I work for, and we developed a relationship, hit it off, and I left my corporate job because I was still working my corporate job while at the gym that I started, and I went to go all in and work full-time and helping him build the company, and that was about 10 years ago. But well, shoot, I guess then I must have gotten divorced probably about 9 years ago then, by math, 9, 10 years ago. You know, the wife I had at the time, she, she was kind of more of a, more of an alpha. Like two alphas going together, it's not a good fit. You know, she wanted to be the breadwinner. I wanted to be the breadwinner. She had goals and aspirations. I had goals and aspirations, and we just clashed, right? Like we never really had any huge argument or blowup. She just woke up one day and was like, I want a divorce. And so I, this goes back to having this polished, right? Because, you know, I mentioned I'm not going to have this polished. I don't have the time to make this podcast polished, so I apologize. But going back a few steps, I actually transferred my identity from baseball my whole life I either won and I was something or I lost and I was nothing. And that is how the value of me worked, you know. And that's how I was raised. And then I struggled with an identity crisis once I left, you know, I played Division I baseball and I got hurt and, you know, ultimately wasn't good enough to make it to the next level. And I struggled, you know, it's like, what am I going to do, race people on the keyboard when I'm playing, you know, in the corporate world? And so I started CrossFit and then I became, I was in the top 4% in the world at one point in CrossFit, but I was, I was obsessed. You know, I would work out 5, 6 hours a day while doing a W-2, while, teaching classes in the CrossFit gym. I mean, I was coming home at— I was waking up and leaving at 5 o'clock in the morning, coming home at 11 PM. I mean, you do the math. How long is that going to work for your marriage? I was young, you know, and it's just— I, you know, I've just gotten consumed. I've gotten consumed my whole life, past 10 years. Now, you know, I, I will still be consumed by, you know, moving the stick forward and making an impact on this world, but I definitely will make my family more of a priority. And it always has been, but I have always said that and I've tried to reflect that with my actions, but they, they don't, you know, if I'm being honest, they don't reflect it enough. And I really want to make that a priority with this change. I really want my wife to be fully on board. And I know I'm all over the place in my explanation, but let me go back to my ex-wife for a second. So I left and worked for this company that I've now been at for 10 years, and my wife left me because of it. My wife at the time, she said that I'm— the only reason why we're here in Indiana is because of this job. And now you don't have this job. Why are we here? I have dreams. I have roles and opportunities to go work in New York and all these other things that I'm turning down because we're here at your job. And now you're not here. And I think that, that coupled with me just not being there and me being young and stupid, and we don't need to get into all that, but you know, So that's what led to the divorce. So I started going to— wow, I am telling the crappiest story ever. I apologize. I promise you episode 2 is going to be a lot more polished. I'm honestly just all over the place with my emotions. So I'm just trying to recollect and pull myself together because today's— it's not an easy day. You know, this is not something I'm really excited about doing. I'm excited about the outcome long-term, but this is, this is hard. This has been really hard. But anyways, let me recap this story, okay? Because this is— I am so far all over the place. I was in my corporate America job. I opened up a CrossFit gym. I met the owner of the company. During that transition of when I was working and opening up the CrossFit gym and being an elite CrossFit athlete, or trying to be at least, I hurt my back and my whole identity got transferred from baseball to CrossFit. That was, that was the thing I was missing. It was like I've found it. I can transfer my identity to CrossFit now. Obviously, you know, my priorities are misaligned, right? Um, so I focused on being a world-class athlete and my worth was, was in my ability to, um, suffer in pain through working out in CrossFit. You probably have to have a screw loose to do CrossFit anyways. And you know, if you haven't caught on, I got a couple screw loosens, probably more so than most. And I injured my back and I started seeing a sports psychologist to help me through this identity because it was very clear. I herniated my disc between my L4 and L5 and 10 years later my back still hurts. It's not bad enough to get surgery but it's bad enough to cause not everyday discomfort but it's clear I'll never be that person again. From a weightlifting perspective without serious intervention and serious rehab. Like, I, I've done it all. I've spent a lot of money. We don't need to go into that. But I started seeing this sports psychologist and she was helping me through a really tough time. And then a few months later, my wife wants to leave me, and then it turned into sports psychology into therapy of helping me transition with that. And, you know, it's hard going from, you know, being married and then to an empty house. And that brought a lot of— I spent a lot of my childhood in isolation in my room, and that brought up a lot of bad memories. A lot of bad memories. A lot of times I spent, I wasn't allowed to come out of my room. I was told when I could have food and water. Um, and so, you know, you fast forward to today, here I am, dumbass, making the same decision, leaving my career with a lot of amazing upside opportunity. Leaving at the absolute worst time because the past couple years have been pretty rough and this year is going to be explosive. Like, the company is going to do so good. I mean, it's, it's crazy. It's really exciting to see. And I hope they kill it. I really do. But it's, uh, it's time for me to exit. And, um, my wife's currently, you know, 35 weeks pregnant or something like that. 38. I should probably know that. And, you know, she's been supportive all the way through this, which means a lot because, you know, that was the catalyst of how the last marriage ended. And that really means a lot. And I really want to do this right, this transition, spend more time with my family, make that a priority. I want this to be the best thing that ever happened for my marriage. And for our family. But it's, it's hard, you know. I don't, I don't know what the future looks like. I have to build it, and it's incredibly scary if I didn't have the skill sets that I have. But I'm still scared, you know. I have all these skill sets that I've been collecting over the past 13 years, and I'm still scared. I can't imagine someone who lost their job and they don't have the skill sets or have never been involved in a business, have never ran a business, doesn't know where to start. I know the roadmap every single step of the way. Now, I don't know everything, obviously, you know, um, but I have a very strong idea what it needs to look like to get there. And I guess to some extent, you know, the people that go into business, you know, they look back and they're like, I never knew how hard it was going to be. I know exactly how hard it's going to be. And I know that the sacrifices I'm going to have to make over the next 6 months or so is probably going to have to sacrifice more than I've ever done in my life to get to that other side. To where I can build that life that I want and have the freedom that I want. So I may have to take a few steps backwards in this transition in order to go 5 or 6 steps forward. So that's what this podcast is about, sharing my raw, unfiltered journeys. Again, if you're, if you're looking for a high-production show, like, you're not gonna get it here. You may have some shitty audio quality. That's the only way you're gonna hear this journey. Because I just don't have the time to sit there and professionally edit in front of my microphone, which I do have, but the time it takes to do all that, it's just too much. So here it is. This is episode 1. Of my last day at the office, and there will be a new journey ahead of me. And if you enjoyed this, would love for you to subscribe and kind of keep along. I don't even know, I don't even really do audio podcasts. You call it subscribe? I think you call it subscribe. And follow along. And with this style of me just having conversational, like raw, unfiltered. I'm going to be very consistent and I'm going to share this journey the whole way. So if you are looking for inspiration, if you've lost your job, maybe you've lost your job currently, maybe you know a friend that's lost their job and they're trying to figure out their next steps on what to do, send this podcast to them because I can assure you I am going to turn into an absolute animal and document the whole thing, and you're going to see exactly what it takes to build the life that you want. And it— and spoiler alert, it's going to be 100 times harder than you think. Whatever you think it is in your head, multiply it times 100. It will take massive action, but if you just keep going and don't quit You will not be stopped. You cannot fail if you never give up. And it's hard for me to not feel like a failure in these kind of moments, but I know you're only a failure if you stop and quit. And although I may be quote unquote quitting one job, it's to start a whole new chapter. And so that chapter is going to be a fun one. I really, really hope one day that this podcast ages very well and doesn't end in a big giant ball of fire. But I can laugh about that because I know, I know the dedication I'm going to bring to this. I know the effort I will put in. It will not happen. And honestly, if I can just inspire one person to take action and someone's going through a similar hardship, it'll all be worth it. See you guys next time.