Getting ready for what’s next.
Zoo Station 2017.
Hello. I have news to share, and rather than repeat this conversation a few hundred times, I decided to try to offer it here.
The Summary.
- As of today, I’m no longer serving full-time with CURE International.
- Rather than hop right into another job, I’m going to take the Summer to figure out when and where to hitch my proverbial wagon to another team.
- While I’m in transition, I’m staying plenty busy with consulting, some personal learning and development, a passion project, and making more time for my family.
If you’re interested in the details, read on.
About moving on from CURE.
As you may know, CURE has been in a year of leadership transition — one that required me to, in addition to leading the marketing and technology departments, step up in a number of unexpected ways as the lead of the interim executive team. Recently, CURE’s Board of Directors, a group of men and women who I respect and remain proud to know and have served under, have made some directional decisions for the organization which allow me to move on, amicably and supportively.
With my departure, I’m pleased to say that there are a lot of wonderful, talented people at CURE (several of whom I’ve had the privilege of hiring) who are being asked to step into leadership so that efforts like CURE’s marketing, technology, and CUREkids program continue to be directed and protected. I’m still their friend and a friend of the mission, and I’m cheering for everyone’s success. Their success means children with disabilities in the developing world (and their families) are transformed.
That mission is why we all serve, and that’s what really matters.
What’s next for me?
I’m going to take some time to figure that out.
I never expected to work for a charity; but it was the privilege of my life to invest nearly 8 years of my 30’s in the lives of marginalized children in the developing world, building technology products, a brand, and a donor base for CURE — pushing and pulling the organization into the 21st century. The work was incredibly rewarding and equally exhausting; so it’s fair to say that I’m as sad to move on as I am excited about the future.
Now, I need to decide if finding my way back into a product-focused technology company is where I am to go or if there’s another path. I’m at something of a crossroads (I’ll be 40 soon), and I intend to take stock of how best to steward my time and abilities to make the next decade count for everyone and everything in my life, including and especially my family.
Ideally, I’ll have the next step sorted out by the Fall. Of course, if you have / know of an opportunity that you think I should consider, let’s talk.
For right now, I’m looking forward to hitting the reset button this Summer.
What am I doing this Summer?
I’m not one to be under-committed. So it should come as no surprise that, as I’m seeking direction and renewal, I’m intending to stay appropriately busy. Here’s the short list.
I’m taking The Marketing Seminar with Seth Godin.
The day of my final CURE Board meeting, I was awake unreasonably early when I got my daily email from Mr. Godin. Seth blogged about a 100-day online seminar he was teaching, beginning May 11. Being who I am, I considered it Divine timing and an opportunity to grow and engage my mind in a new way through an impending transition, so I signed up.
If you see me in real life or on the Interwebs, I’ll let you know how it’s going.
I’m doing some freelance consulting.
I initiated life as a full-time freelancer in my mid-twenties, and even though I intentionally returned to a corporate setting over the last dozen years to grow myself as a manager and leader, I’ve always maintained an infrequent but purposeful side-gig as a consultant. So this Summer, I’m planning to work part-time, consulting with:
- Non-profits: building actionable plans for how they can transition and thrive by transforming their unique mission into a digital organization.
- Tech companies: helping companies in the technology industries make meaningful contributions to social causes as well as derive real value from their non-profit programs.
- Small-to-medium size software companies: providing strategic support as they modernize their business models and improve their product strategies (i.e. rent-a-CTO).
A portion of that work is going to be contracting with an agency called Masterworks. I’ll be supporting their Experience Design and Management Consulting practices as a lead technologist. There are some great people at Masterworks serving some equally great causes, and I’m looking forward to interacting professionally with people that I’ve admired from afar.
I’m finally going to decide whether or not to finish my writing project.
As a handful of my friends know, about a year ago I started a serious writing project that was born out of the focus of my graduate studies. Then, this last year happened. This Summer, I’m either going to commit to finishing and publishing that book, or I’m going to close that chapter (pun intended).
Either way, it’s coming off my personal Sensing List.
I’m taking my kids to Hershey Park.
Our family — our entire family — loves roller coasters (my 4 and 5-year-old girls would ride the adult coasters if I could sneak them on), and we happened to buy season passes to Hershey Park this Summer. Not knowing how the year would shake out, I was originally hoping to just get my money’s worth with 3–4 visits this Summer. Now, I’m pretty confident that we’re going to make that investment count. :)
What about HospitalRun?
I am absolutely still committed to the open source project as it moves fully outside of CURE, and both JK and I intend to make supporting the project part of whatever our respective futures look like.
The project continues to make good progress, and — if you’re interested in checking it out — it’s actually ready for use. You can demo, install, or download it directly to your desktop, thanks to the magic of projects like Electron and Docker.
One of the other things I’m hoping to do in 2017 is sort out what structure or entity is best equipped to stand with HospitalRun in this next season. If you have thoughts or assistance to offer, please say so. If you’re leading an organization that would be interested in being a part of that solution, again, please say so.
Overall, it’s a fantastic project with a steadily-growing community; we believe it has tremendous potential… and we always need more help. If you’re interested, join our Slack or check out the project.
And if you read this far, here’s some final words of appreciation.
I would be remiss to not offer a sincere thank you to the many people with whom I’ve had the privilege of working at CURE. The CURE team spans the planet, crosses cultures, and draws from all professions; we share a bond that overcomes distance and time. Thank you for letting me be a part of the team. Know that I’ll be praying and cheering for you. If there’s ever a way I can help you personally, you know where to find me.
And seriously, thanks for your attention. I know it’s a gift.
See you on the Interwebs.
