The Day The Music Died

Some of you may have noticed a few days have passed since my last post, so I'll go ahead and give you the low down as to what has happened with me to cause the brief hiatus.

I moved back to the Bay Area last year, in October. I found this great job at a cool little tech firm, eMochila. I was in Sales there (if you couldn't tell from the previous posts), and we made great websites for accountants and lawyers. When I went to the interview for this job one thing stuck out in my mind: the Sales floor had music playing, and anyone could go up and change out their iPod. Coming from a very corporate job in Las Vegas it was a totally different vibe. It was just cool.

So during the last six months or so that I've worked there this job was really fun. We had two teams of folks between 3 managers and it was like a little family. We had a company kick ball team, we all went out for drinks after work, we were a pretty tight crew. There were probably about 34 of us in the company, total. I say 'were' because as of Thursday afternoon the company laid off everyone in Sales (9 people total) and some of the tech team, as well.

I won't go into the details of what happened, or what is currently ongoing with the firm, but suffice to say that the managers/owners were forced to make a decision that none of them were happy with. They were nice enough to us that they made a decision that allowed those of us let go to have a little parachute to rely on rather than just bring thrown out on the street. They were genuinely concerned about their employees, and it hurt them to have to make the decision in the first place.

So how do I feel about all this? Needless to say my termination was abrupt and it all came so quickly that it has taken me a few days to digest it all. That, and the fact that this weekend Thor came through with Eric and I had to entertain (more on that in a later post).

I like the fact that we got a severance, I'll start there. The owners could have dragged us out for as long as time allowed and then did what they did (let us go) without having the capital to drop us lightly. That was nice of them, and I respect them all the more for it. It really speaks to the unique culture we had, and the great guys that they are. Much respect to you, gentlemen.

The fact that I am here today in this position is interesting to me in and of itself just because I feel like I'm living a movie or news story. I mean, how many times in America have we heard about the tech company that's flying high one day, then something happens, and the next day it basically folds? To that end I'm not happy it occurred (because many peoples' livelihoods were destroyed) but the writer in my likes being in the midst of an interesting story.

In that same vein, the job was always teaching me something new. It was a new field for me, a new position for me, and I was always presented with something that was a challenge. I have been through a very interesting and also educational experience. I've learned a lot about business, about people and about myself. Hard times make a mind pliable, I suppose.

So what's in store for Wes now? Well, I'm unemployed and looking. If you know someone who needs a job done, get in touch and let's talk. In the mean time, I'll probably watch the final episodes of Rome that I downloaded, and maybe a few films as well.