At the wonderful KalamazooX conference this year, the amazing Elizabeth Naramore spoke on the nature of your time, how you spend it, and to know when is when. She said something that struck me — “Everything has an expiration date”.

As of June 1st, I will be leaving Neo.

I started this journey in 2011 when we were still known as EdgeCase. The name has changed but many of the faces are the same. Make no mistake that Neo is filled to the brim with really excellent people. I will miss all of them deeply. Working with this team has sharpened every one of my technical and many of my personal skills — but more importantly we have all become friends. Neo is the place to be in Central Ohio.

Come June, I will be working for GiveForward.com in Chicago. I met with them recently on site and I was really impressed by their product and team. I will be their Senior Rails Developer and likely working on iOS development as well. GiveForward is currently a Kickstarter for medical donations, but many interesting developments are on their horizon and I am excited to be a part of them.

I will be working remotely with regular visits to Chicago, so I will not be moving away. I will still run the Columbus Ruby Brigade (as long as you will have me, of course), and teaching at Franklin University. I will also be attending far more Neo Hack Nights and I hope to see all your faces there as much as possible.

As a parting thought — I’ve met many folks who want things that they feel they can’t work towards out of fear or inertia. You have every tool necessary right now to change your position, outlook, and surroundings.

If you are reading this, you are one of the lucky few. Take the leap and trust yourself to be OK. Use your time wisely and do what you truly enjoy. Be your change.

Everything has an expiration date.