American Dreaming - 1990's / Part XVII

In my ongoing quest for new employment, I found out quite by accident that potentially there might be an opportunity with a small entrepreneurial company that was local to the area. The opportunity was for a managerial position within the company that would principally be involved with email / messaging and workflow/collaboration application development.

The real appeal of this opportunity though was that this company was the organization that one of my mentors had moved to. The former manager/ regional VP that was undoubtedly the best reporting relationship I would have in my career. She was the reason I got the shot at the position. I made a pitch for products that we were using at the managed care facility as a consultant but, I was hoping for a shot at a full time employee position within that firm.

I made a very good impression indeed when I made my pitch for the software platform and over the course of a few months that interest did evolve into an opportunity for a position. I was thrilled at the prospect of moving to that company. We negotiated salary and the like and in the middle of 1996, I received confirmation and an offer letter to become a Manager of Groupware Administration and Application Development for this company.

I arranged for the transition with my current employer. I positioned the change to take place at the end of May 1996 with a one-week break between my jobs. I wanted to take a vacation break prior to joining the new organization. With some able assistance from my Administrative Assistant, I arranged for a one-week trip to Key West, FL over the week starting with Memorial Day weekend of that year. I had never been to Key West and thought I really needed that break to refresh myself for the new challenges with the new organization.

The job move itself was really a lateral move in the sense of salary but, a huge difference in level of responsibility and certainly my ability to perhaps cultivate a personal life was a lot more possible with the reduced scope of my responsibility and my “off-hours” responsibility being reduced as well.

Up to that point in my life, I had never taken a vacation alone. My son, who was 12 years old at the time, was very disappointed that I would consider (and eventually do) a vacation without including him. I explained that the place where I was going was decidedly an “adult fun” place and therefore, I wasn’t sure he would have a lot to do. I also committed that 9 years from now, when he was 21, I promised that I would take him to this locale and we would have the combined vacation we couldn’t have in 1996.

This was a promise I never forgot and I did follow through 9 years later with a wonderful four day excursion to Key West with my (then adult) son.