Why I Quit a Job I loved

I am a lucky girl: at 24 I had a job I loved. I was one in the 60% of young italian people, since the 40% is unfortunately unemployed. And I was part of the thrilling startup ecosystem, where everybody knows each other and you can easily grow professionally thanks to startuppers and mentors.

So, what’s wrong with me?

Nothing. When I started working in the startup environment, I was planning to go on a gap year after university and 7 years of part-time jobs while studying, because I really needed to discover the world. But actually startups really attracted me, they looked like the only thing that could make a better Italy. I gave up my gap year (actually, just took one gap month in Malta), and I came back to Italy to be the journalist who told normal people the amazing stories of startuppers and innovators, these strange people who really believed they can change the world.

I spent a year as an Assistant Editor of StartupItalia! writing articles about the wonderful world of startups and I decided I didn’t just want to write about it, but I also wanted to be involved and change something.

So, I jumped on board of my favourite italian startup: Talent Garden, the biggest network of coworking spaces focused on the digital sector in Europe. It was a year of love that never stopped for a second, while we grew from 7 to 14 branches, from 1 to 4 countries in less than 9 months, we organised 350 events and meetups and we launched several projects with different partners like IBM, Microsoft, Epson, Red Bull and Cisco. I’m telling you: we never stopped.

I also met thousands of professionals, freelancers, startuppers and entrepreneurs. And I met also some digital nomads, and then something hit me: I remembered I have wanted to travel the world doing remote gigs and helping social enterprise to grow since forever. I had envy for those people that were travelling around doing what they loved. They only needed a laptop and nothing else.

Realising I had been missing out on that, I quit the job I have been loving so much. Here is the vacancy to apply for the position of Communication Specialist I left at Talent Garden.

If you or your friends have been working or have founded a social enterprise and you need to grow, write a comment or leave a note to let me know the name of the organisation(s).

If you (or your friends) are looking for a part-time remote worker, check out my LinkedIn profile and send me an email to a.anniballo@gmail.com, I will answer you between a flight and another.

If you also quit your job to travel the world, tweet me the favourite place you’ve been to and let’s meet for a coffee.