A Year of Firsts
This week has been excellent and for no particular reason. Its as though I'm on mood stabilizers while getting a constant stream on nitrous oxide. I'm smiling a lot, have a lot of energy and am slightly giddy. So when I woke up this morning fully refreshed at 9 am, I decided today I'd write my year in review blog. This has been a momentous year for AristocraCity. 2004 is and was "My Year of Firsts."
-Quit my first job.
-Got layed off/downsized/fired for the first time from my second job.
-Co-Founded my first company.
-Weigh solidly in triple digits.
-Truly fell hard for a girl only to not have it work out romatically.
-First year Crohn's was not factor in how I lived my life.
-First college friend got married.
-The first time writing in a non academic or work environment, writing for myself.
-First time partaking in a certain illegal extracurricular activity with my brother.
Last year ended much the same way this one will, me on a cruise getting a tan and spending money. During the New Year's party on the boat, if someone would have told me all those things I would have thought they were crazy. I was too worried making sure my 16 year old brother who was soo drunk wasn't going to fall off the boat. Good thing he became a publicity whore and chased the camera crew around so he was a constant fixture on the big screen. But in all seriousness, as I prepare to leave for another cruise in 10 days its hard not to think about where my life is going and how it got there.
I was supposed to be a consultant at Arthur Andersen with a cushy salary and nice perks, but ended up in the law field. It was there that I had an idea about what I wished I was doing with my life. One, 4 day vacation to Florida before starting my second job and that figment of an idea was taking shape. On the second day of that vacation I shared my idea with my cousin whose first reaction wasn't your crazy (which is typical) or that's a bad idea (also typical), but the words sign me up. We spent hours coming up with ideas, names and just brainstorming incessantly. We left Florida with an abstract idea in early March. Things languished, we slowly got around to doing things. We had hired my best friend from sleepaway camp's web design firm, 9mmedia, LLC. Had it not been for a chance encounter with another camp friend at my cousin's bar-mitzvah I likely would have continued to passively try to reconnect with him after 8 years.
While reading The Da Vinci Code, a name popped into my head. A name that embodied the essence of what Jen and I wanted the company to be. Our goal was to make a website that helped men achieve a level of perfection in an array areas. VitruvianMen, LLC and its online subsidiary VitruvianMen.com was born. Cosmically, the day a place holder went up on the internet at www.vitruvianmen.com was the day I got layed off. Not one to believe in anything, but myself I now had an opportunity (with the help of Jen of course) to devote myself to building a company that may forever, change myself and family.
Yesterday I was the first person to test subscribe and hopefully I will be the first of millions. I've had an opportunity to meet a lot of great people and learn about hundreds more in my search to find writers for this venture. Yesterday we also officially hired a Managing Editor and two Staff Writers. I aslo found one more writer, the one within. I was a money guy, a finance guy and now I'm not that guy. I don't have a title anymore (except the one soon to be found on my business cards). I find the time you spend with yourself is when you really learn what your made of. When your alone and the faccades you try so hard to maitain in the company of others come down and your left with yourself. I first experienced this living alone in D.C. the summer between my junior and senior year (shout out to Columbia Plaza). These past six month while unemployed I had the opportunity to hang out with myslef a lot. Its the conversations you have when your the only one listening that build character.
The beginning of next year will be challenging, stressful, and exciting. There will be no paycheck to fall back on, no faceless corporation of a company ensuring I get a paycheck. I have an excellent partner and cousin, a solid core of writers and friends and family who were with me this year and will be with me next year. My last first of the year, is this is the first time I wake up every morning loving what I do! Now if I only made money doing it because this Amex bill doesn't pay itself.
-Quit my first job.
-Got layed off/downsized/fired for the first time from my second job.
-Co-Founded my first company.
-Weigh solidly in triple digits.
-Truly fell hard for a girl only to not have it work out romatically.
-First year Crohn's was not factor in how I lived my life.
-First college friend got married.
-The first time writing in a non academic or work environment, writing for myself.
-First time partaking in a certain illegal extracurricular activity with my brother.
Last year ended much the same way this one will, me on a cruise getting a tan and spending money. During the New Year's party on the boat, if someone would have told me all those things I would have thought they were crazy. I was too worried making sure my 16 year old brother who was soo drunk wasn't going to fall off the boat. Good thing he became a publicity whore and chased the camera crew around so he was a constant fixture on the big screen. But in all seriousness, as I prepare to leave for another cruise in 10 days its hard not to think about where my life is going and how it got there.
I was supposed to be a consultant at Arthur Andersen with a cushy salary and nice perks, but ended up in the law field. It was there that I had an idea about what I wished I was doing with my life. One, 4 day vacation to Florida before starting my second job and that figment of an idea was taking shape. On the second day of that vacation I shared my idea with my cousin whose first reaction wasn't your crazy (which is typical) or that's a bad idea (also typical), but the words sign me up. We spent hours coming up with ideas, names and just brainstorming incessantly. We left Florida with an abstract idea in early March. Things languished, we slowly got around to doing things. We had hired my best friend from sleepaway camp's web design firm, 9mmedia, LLC. Had it not been for a chance encounter with another camp friend at my cousin's bar-mitzvah I likely would have continued to passively try to reconnect with him after 8 years.
While reading The Da Vinci Code, a name popped into my head. A name that embodied the essence of what Jen and I wanted the company to be. Our goal was to make a website that helped men achieve a level of perfection in an array areas. VitruvianMen, LLC and its online subsidiary VitruvianMen.com was born. Cosmically, the day a place holder went up on the internet at www.vitruvianmen.com was the day I got layed off. Not one to believe in anything, but myself I now had an opportunity (with the help of Jen of course) to devote myself to building a company that may forever, change myself and family.
Yesterday I was the first person to test subscribe and hopefully I will be the first of millions. I've had an opportunity to meet a lot of great people and learn about hundreds more in my search to find writers for this venture. Yesterday we also officially hired a Managing Editor and two Staff Writers. I aslo found one more writer, the one within. I was a money guy, a finance guy and now I'm not that guy. I don't have a title anymore (except the one soon to be found on my business cards). I find the time you spend with yourself is when you really learn what your made of. When your alone and the faccades you try so hard to maitain in the company of others come down and your left with yourself. I first experienced this living alone in D.C. the summer between my junior and senior year (shout out to Columbia Plaza). These past six month while unemployed I had the opportunity to hang out with myslef a lot. Its the conversations you have when your the only one listening that build character.
The beginning of next year will be challenging, stressful, and exciting. There will be no paycheck to fall back on, no faceless corporation of a company ensuring I get a paycheck. I have an excellent partner and cousin, a solid core of writers and friends and family who were with me this year and will be with me next year. My last first of the year, is this is the first time I wake up every morning loving what I do! Now if I only made money doing it because this Amex bill doesn't pay itself.
posted by AristocraCity at 10:42 AM
1 Comments:
Will get back you on this in a few hours...I suspect I will be able to form a better and more witty comment after I stop crying...
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