I originally published this post on my old blog, Rookie CEOs, in November 2011 which was supposed to be the beginning of my chronicles of my startup life. I never really finished this series, but thought it would provide a lens on what startup life was like when MySpace reigned as king. Of course, not much has changed…
It was the summer of 2006, and I just got fired. It was a long time coming: I was there for an entire 2 weeks. When I was told I was being “let go”, I didn’t really care anyway. I took it as a blessing that provided me with an opportunity to move on to bigger and better things. Who would want to spend the rest of their life picking up the phone for a living? I apologize for offending some of the really awesome receptionists out there, but that career path just wasn’t for me. For a kid that dropped out of college 3 months earlier though, there wasn’t much choice left. I had to suck it up, and basically take whatever job I could — even if it meant I resented it for a little bit. What was I supposed to do? My parents already laid down the law and gave me an ultimatum to go back to school, get a job, or move out… and I was too much of a pussy to move out.
In between my part-time job shuffling senior citizens in and out of the Seattle Opera house, I was still waffling back and forth between where I wanted to go in life and how I would get there. I was so overwhelmed from taking college classes when I was in high school (having started college when I was 15 years old) that I was completely burned out when I finally left high school for college. Life was tough… eh, not really. I mean, I still had my parents financially supporting me. I wasn’t raised a Park Avenue Princess, but I sure felt like one. I was spoiled since an early age, which was probably why I was the way I was: spoiled rotten and didn’t give two shits about responsibility and consequences. There were many nights my parents fought with each other because of a conflict in parenting techniques. My mom was always the discipline while my dad would kind of just let me do whatever I wanted… hippy style (don’t get me wrong, I love them so much and appreciate everything they have worked hard for and to provide me with a life that was shielded from whatever BS they were going through). I don’t blame them for any of my choices though, I was an adult (a stupid one), and the choice to leave school was my own. Never in a million years would they advise me to leave school since pursuing higher education was my “duty” as a child… hah I think I just stuck my family into the worst Asian American stereotype possible… but I digress.
The first Monday after I was fired was kind of tough for me. I woke up to the blazing realization that I was on the fastest track to becoming a loser… even though I was already there. No college degree, no job, and if I didn’t move fast, I’d end up with nowhere to live too. In an effort to show my mom I wasn’t being a bum, I skimmed Craigslist for jobs in the “admin/office” section of Seattle, and came across a post titled “Office Assitant with HR duties”. The post was pretty straightforward: general office duties, recruiting and HR responsibilities, a little bit of accounting, and confidentiality is a must. I could do that, I thought. What caught my attention most was the last sentence, “If you are looking for a job that is exciting that gives you a chance to work at a company that is truly awesome, this is for you.” Yeah it seemed a bit sketch coming from Craigslist, but what did I have to lose? Maybe this was what I needed to do in the meantime while I figured out what I really wanted to do with my life, whatever that may be. I just needed to do something.
I sent an eager response citing my brief experience in office administration and human resources to the Craigslist ad, and was surprised to receive a quick response.
“Hey Ranee, Thanks for your email. Can you please send over 2–3 references, people who have worked for in the past 2 years?”
Crap, I thought. I just got fired. What was I going to do now? Luckily for me though, one of the VPs at the firm liked me, and thought I was wrongfully terminated. She offered to be a reference in case I needed one in the future, which I appreciated. I hastily wrote her contact information down as the first in my list of three references, and hoped it wasn’t a wrong decision to include her.
Even though this all happened a while back, I remember clearly I decided to go out that night. It was my little cousin’s birthday, and for the first time in a long time, I felt free. Free to just screw around for a while longer until my parents laid down, yet, another unenforced ultimatum.
A loud ringing was pounding into my skull the next morning. I drank way too much, and felt dizzy with every step I took as I fumbled my way to the bathroom to vomit. Every time I came up for air, I could smell the rancid odor of the last meal I had through my teeth. I looked up into the mirror and stared at my reflection like I was looking at a stranger. God, I thought, I am such a fucking loser. And why the fuck is that ringing so loud? I shook my head a couple times, but the sound kept ringing. Loud and annoying, the noise pierced my ears so deeply I began to cry. I made my way back to my bed, and found my phone buzzing crazily on my pillow. Oh, hah… it’s my phone.
“Hello?” I answered.
“Hi is this Ranee?” mumbled the voice on the other side.
“Uhh, yes, but my name is pronounced Ranee; rhymes with Bonnie.”
“Oh sorry. Ranee, I’m calling you about the job from Craigslist.”
For the next 5 to 10 minutes, he kept on talking about the job, which came through as a series of short ramblings. I simply responded with a short “yes” or “no”, and interjected a “mmhm” every now and then. Seriously? Really? Right now? I’m hungover as Hell, and this guy calls me at the buttcrack of dawn to talk about a job. Eff! Okay, maybe it was around 2 in the afternoon, but that wasn’t the point. I was hungover, had dry-mouth, and was in no way, shape or form able to speak to anyone coherently.
After I got over the fact that I was still technically drunk, his voice cracked, “Hello? Are you there? So can you come over tomorrow morning?”
“Huh?” I replied confused. “Yeah, sure. Wait, I don’t understand. Do I have the job?” I asked.
“Yes, well, I have someone from a payroll processing company coming over and it would be good for you to meet them. Does 1pm work for you?”
“Oh cool… yes, well… okay cool, see you tomorrow,” and I hung up before he could even muster out a goodbye.
I rolled over and lay on my bed to contemplate what just went down in the last 10 minutes. Did I just get hired? Holy shit, I just got hired! Ugh, my head still hurt, and I was still too dehydrated to think clearly. I think somewhere in there he said that the company didn’t have an office yet, and that I’d have to come to his apartment downtown for now. Arf? Weird. At the time, the Craigslist Killer hadn’t happened yet, otherwise I would’ve definitely told him to forget it. I mean, what kind of company didn’t have an office? I wasn’t so keen on working for a “home business”, but I figured it was worth checking out.
I remembered before I hung up the phone, I said a lot of mumbo jumbo that didn’t really make sense. I was drunk, what would you expect from a drunk-ass person? It took me a while to muster up some words in an email to apologize for the brash behavior. I also wanted to reassure him that I wasn’t entirely crazy or as retarded as I sounded on the phone. The email went something like this:
Hello,
I have to apologize for the awkward moment over the telephone. I was actually going to ask you if the references I had provided you worked out alright? If not, I can provide you with additional references. I also apologize for being somewhat frazzled, I’m really not usually like that. If you would like, you may call me anytime for the remainder of the night. It’s my cell number so I’ll be the only one answering. I am excited and very appreciative that you responded. Talk to you soon.
His reply was forgiving, which made me feel a little better. At least he was nice, and easy-going enough to not care about it too much. Hey, if he wasn’t going to knock it, then I wasn’t going to push it. In less than a day, I’d be officially hired and on my way to not getting kicked out of the house. That was key. Being homeless would suck, and sucking wasn’t something I needed on top of the mental bullshit I was going through.
I arrived at his loft the next afternoon not really sure what to expect. Did my breath stink? Was I overdressed? He said it was pretty casual, but how casual? I forgot to ask. And so within the 15 seconds I stood in front of his loft door, I thought to myself that this was going to be it. This would be the game changer in my life. Hah. Who was I kidding? I’m still an Office Assistant. Well, whatever. I was never the type to come to quick conclusions. If I didn’t like it I could politely decline and go home. But I was already there, which meant that I was willing to try something new. That was a first.
I heard heavy footsteps from the other side of the door, and the sound of paws scampering against the hardwood floors in the background. The door opened and there stood a tall youngish-looking man, who I’ll refer to as Boss Man. His brown hair was disheveled, and the big thick-rimmed glasses slid down his face as he looked down and extended his hand to shake mine. I noticed he was wearing an MIT t-shirt and shorts, which triggered the notion that what he meant by “casual dress”, was basically, wear anything short of pajamas.
The loft itself was amazing: large and spacious, perfect for one person or even small family. The exposed-brick wall made you feel a bit warm and cozy, and it helped that the picnic-style dining table had a communal feel. The ceilings were high, giving the entire space openness. The kitchen, although small, was outfitted with modern appliances. There was furniture, but I could tell he liked to keep it at a minimum. The most amazing feature was, perhaps, the gigantic floor to ceiling windows that looked out to Pioneer Square and lower Downtown Seattle. It was a really beautiful space.
Near one corner of the loft against the windows, sat a group of four guys, busily working with their heads down into their laptops. Wow, I thought. “Hi” to you all too. One of them with a backwards baseball cap on looked up, and nodded his head in recognition of my existence. And boy, was he cute! Haha, maybe I’ll stick around a while longer to see what this is all about.
“So what exactly is it that you guys do?” I asked when I sat down at the dining table.
“We’re tech guys. We build stuff for the Internet”, one of them replied from across the room.
“Oh, okay. Interesting. Anything fun?” I continued to ask.
Another guy with cool-looking long dreads looked up and interjected, “Yeah, we were the team that built WAP on your cell phone.”
I responded, “What’s a WAP?”
They all looked up at me, and started laughing. Then he continued, “Well, you know how you can use the Internet on your phone? That’s what we did.”
“Wow, that’s so awesome!” I exclaimed, “I still don’t know what you’re talking about!” I chuckled. It’s okay. Maybe I didn’t need to know everything right away. I’ll take it a day at a time, and figured I could learn new things about the company step-by-step.
Sitting across from me on the far end of the table was a woman. She was fairly young, dressed in a grey business suit, her pretty blonde hair was tucked into a neat bun and a stiff smile on her face. She looked incredibly polished and professional. Was she a lawyer? I wondered. Boss Man walked over, and introduced her to me, “Hey Ranee, this is Alicia. She’s from the payroll processing company that I told you about.”
I smiled at her, and said, “Hi Alicia, it’s very nice to meet you.”
While Boss Man was fixing everyone with a glass of water in the kitchen, Alicia and I chatted back and forth a little bit. She had a very friendly demeanor, and was not at all the stereotypical human resources manager that I’ve ever met. In my experience, people who worked in HR were usually more dull and dry. We talked about a lot of things regarding my experience in human resources, and what my background was. “So what did you do before this?” Alicia asked.
I told her I was fired from my old job the week before, and that’s when Boss Man’s glass slipped from his fingers and shattered into the sink below. He turned around, and I saw his jaw drop a good 5 inches. His facial expression was priceless, completely frozen with horror. And that’s when shit just got real…
…to be continued.
Originally published at justranee.tumblr.com.
