The Initial Week

There’s a vibrant and intense flow of energy that reverberates through the office space. This is a start-up company with a team of individuals that are inspiring, damn near intimidating in their blinding intelligence and drive. Rather than the typical office environment with individuals nearing the end of their tenure who have become jaded with the efforts they’ve placed into work – each individual here is driven with fire and energy to succeed at any cost. It helps that their youthful. At 29 I feel like I’m nearing the elder end of the edge of the age bracket. Another oddity.

But what the hell right? I’m burning my candle as hard as I ever have, with 13 hour days including the commute. Drinking information from a fire hose and attempting as best I can to lose the “head trash” that I’ve picked up from years in enterprise sales environments. I’m wearing a fucking hoodie to work which is a strange contrast to the expected button down and slacks. I’m honestly not sure what to make of that experience. I’m coming from a background with meetings in Manhattan, Washington D.C., Philadelphia – the expectation was always that you showed up dressed to the impress. It’s intriguing that I have any focus. I’m almost a little disappointed honestly. I’ve worn street clothes for so long I was looking forward to dressing in something different. C’est la vie.

All things as they are and ignoring the bloody clothes, this is amazing. The people are remarkable. I’ve never encountered such a uniquely talented, smart, driven, just naturally crackling with fervent thoughts and the ability to materialize them into reality. I’m stupified on a second to second basis. I find it nearly difficult to be myself, because I’m awed by those I’m surrounded by – I’ve never been in such a position. Looking at it, assuming that it stands as the normal period of acclimation, then in two weeks it should be smoothed over and everything will be normalized. However, I fully expect to continue my state of respect for these individuals. My boss, the founder, the individual who advocated for me – I find myself truly in a state of humbled idiocy around them which is exactly the opposite of where I need to be. Soon enough I hope to crack back into the individual that they hired – myself. This will be an interesting journey.

From the actual sales side…I can’t wait. There’s an audience out there…I hope they let me off the chain a bit. There’s so much beyond just the direct email campaign. Huge projects with direct interactions at the larger companies…longer timelines…but I can feel that weird itch I always get when I start building strategic connections and putting the dots together…I love every second. This is an amazing opportunity. As the ink says, “Failure is not an option.”