2016 Was So Weird

This time last year, my partner and I just finished work on our first food festival. About a thousand, maybe double, people showed up. The venue was way too small, for sure.

A lot has happened since then.

Early that month, I resigned from a company I hated working for. A bit of a shame because it wasn’t something I expected. I really thought I could make a difference. Be part of something bigger. And I always wanted to work in digital media. Nick Denton, and Gawker, was my hero.

Well, shit happens. Gawker no longer exists and Denton owes Hulk Hogan a fuckload of money. Grow up, bro. I’ll write about that phase someday. Won’t be any time soon, for sure.

The resignation was a mutual thing of sorts. I had grown disillusioned, wasn’t getting paid on time, felt compromised, and didn’t think I was creating any value in the grand scheme of this life thing.

As for the company, they were simply tired of my shit. Which is fair, I wouldn’t have wanted to work with me at that time.

It’s not something I’ve ever really disclosed, I’ve probably only shared it with an ex girlfriend, but a lot of my self esteem is tied to my work. Normal people place their self worth in looks and love, but not me. My own must be different.

When I decided (or was it decided for me?) to leave my old job, it was a bit a of a gamble because I wanted to completely switch industries. I wanted to get a finance job. A real job, the type Nigerian parents brag about.

Small problem with that plan: I had ZERO finance experience.

I had a couple of interviews in the next two months and my whole deal was, “I really don’t know shit about finance, but I can learn because I’m a little smart”. Didn’t really work because they all said no.

While all this was happening, this little food blog I run was taking off. One week in particular, I was on TV twice, made a newspaper front page, and met the US Secretary of Commerce. The thing I did for fun was doing so much better than my real life. Like, I’m getting interview requests from journalists and can’t get private equity firms to call me back. I’d tell my girlfriend that I wasn’t happy and she’d look at me like some mad man.

I think my main problem was reconciling what I did on the side with what I did for real. That part was real hard. As successful as it was, it just didn’t feel like a legitimate thing to take pride in. I’ve never actually told my family about it. The ones that know, “found” out themselves. My dad, for instance, saw me on CNN one day and went to go find the blog.

It sounds dumb as shit now, but a big part of me accepting it was putting it on my LinkedIn. I still have trouble dealing with its legitimacy, but whenever my dad texts me about how proud he is, it helps.

Anyway, while all this internal whatever is going on, I finally got that finance gig. Actually didn’t take that long tbh, I was just being mad dramatic in the paragraphs before this.

It was one of those rotation things where the company wants to you to see every facet to truly understand how they work. Because I’m so lucky, I rotated through everywhere but the one place I truly wanted to work. HR said be open minded and shit, but how is the department I want going to retain me if they don’t actually see me work?

A couple weeks ago, I got called in to interview for some new department the company was creating. The role is the perfect fit. It’s pretty much everything I wanted to do with my life before real life happened. Like, it’s the original plan your boy made as a child. In this entire shitshow of a year, the one thing I’ve longed for my entire life just casually called my work phone and asked me to come for a chat.

I’ll find out if I actually got the role in a week or so. I hope I get it, but if I don’t…nvm, I can’t imagine what I’ll do if I don’t get it. They better give me that job.

As for the side thing, we organized our 3rd food festival a couple days ago. While the official count says 8k people showed up, the number is a lot closer to 10k. Bae (aka DJ Cuppy) showed up too. My father also gives me business advice on it and doesn’t even ask about my real job again.

There’s no real moral of the story here. Maybe “hashtag blessed”, but nothing to take home. I promised myself that I’d write something about this year if it didn’t kill me.

And here it is. Maybe I’ll go to church this night.