In 2008 I dropped out of college. Kind of. I had taken 4 and 1/2 years of classes and was getting close to having enough credits to graduate. The problem was they were spread out over 4 different majors. Looking at the paths to graduation discouraged me. It seemed I would have to waste my time taking prerequisites so I could take more classes I didn’t want to take.

So I went job hunting. I had just left a part-time job selling lacrosse equipment around the country and had sold my Blackberry Pearl to pay for the original iPhone. Right around this time Steve Jobs and Apple announced the creation of the iPhone SDK and the iPhone App Store, creating an entirely new business sector. One I thought would be pretty cool to work in. So I started looking for a job working with iPhones.

I had a pretty decent technologic background growing up. My dad worked with mainframes and had built a DASD storage management program from the ground up. I had spent plenty of time working with computers and had earned some spare money removing spyware from computers during college. Despite my familiarity with computers and technology I wasn’t a “tech-head” or even that well-versed in the art of programing. Looking for a job in iPhone SDK Development wasn’t a super promising prospect.

One day I found a listing on Craigslist of someone looking for a do-it-all manager for their App Development company Clever Coding. The next day I met with Steve Moon, the owner, and a few hours later had the job. I’m not sure what made Steve give me the job over the other 80+ candidates that had applied, but I didn’t really care. I had my “dream job”.

Pretty quickly I started to learn the ropes. In between being the literal doing-it-all guy(moving furniture, making sales call, restocking the chip supply) I fell in love.

I switched to using a Macbook for the first time in my life. I learned to take PSD’s and turn them into usable graphics for iPhone development. I learned the basics of XCode and started wireframing apps for the developers. I learned about App Store marketing, and the science of becoming a “featured app”. I learned how to sell our services to potential clients. I learned how you could use social media to create a buzz around your app. I learned how to find the answer to every question ever.

More importantly, I was set on fire. I couldn’t learn enough. I spent my time at home reading articles about what other developers were doing with apps. I read the rumors surrounding new announcements from Apple so that we could be on top of new features before they were released. I studied “how to learn XCode” books in the bathroom. I also started to read about Steve Jobs.

What I learned about him inspired me. I started to work on training my brain to look at problems differently. I wanted to find answers that no one else could, the way that Jobs was able to do during his life. I started pushing back when I was told something couldn’t be done. Of course it could. Everything can be done. Cliche, but I was thinking differently.

The most important lesson I learned was passion. I had found my passion, and more importantly I had seen what passion mixed with talent could create.

As I read the biography of Steve Jobs by Walter Issacson, there was quote that felt like it explained what I wanted to do.

“I always thought of myself as a humanities person as a kid, but I liked electronics. Then I read something that one of my heroes, Edwin Land of Polaroid, said about the importance of people who could stand at the intersection of humanities and sciences, and I decided that’s what I wanted to do.” — Steve Jobs

I wanted to stand at that same intersection.

Eventually Steve Moon decided to move his family and company away from the area. As much as I loved working with them, a relocation wasn’t in my plans. We parted ways, and I decided to go back to school. (If you are reading this, thank you Steve! I’ll always appreciate the opportunity.)

After 1 semester of being back in school I was asked to come work part-time for a startup called WakeUpNow. I had learned enough about social media marketing during my time with Clever Coding that I could help the company start a grassroots effort in marketing online.

Quickly after joining the company I began working in other areas, and jumped in with both feet. I started focusing on Product Development. I had the chance to help lead a team that worked with developers as we built our first iOS app. As a web based company with a high need for UI/UX I switched to marketing and began working closely with design and video production. All along the way I have done my best to stay true to the Jobsian lessons learned.

If it weren’t for iOS 2.0 and the announcement of the App Store, I don’t know when, or if, I would have found my passion. I look back at the journey of where I came from to becoming the VP of Marketing for WakeUpNow, and I can clearly see the influence of Jobs along the way.

So Happy Birthday, Steve. Thanks for your passions, your innovation, and your intense drive for perfection. I would never want to live the life you led, but thank you for helping me find my passion. It’s also cool we share a birthday. I’ll hold it down for you. RIP.