“Knowledge without action is useless, just as action without knowledge is reckless.”
I started a new job this Monday as an account manager at Izo Brands. It’s a startup advertising specialty ecommerce store that specializes in apparel. To put it simply, I sell custom T-shirts… It’s hilarious how life works out.
All throughout college I told myself that I didn’t want to work in sales. I would tell the same anecdote to everyone I met; the Western world is addicted to demand-side economics and what we really need is to focus on production, innovation, and solving real problems that matter. The aspiration for creating my own business lead me to technology, web development, and the Starter League where I learned Ruby on Rails. For the past few months I was searching though cookie cutter IT and developer positions that I wasn’t really qualified for while deleting every insurance agency email that came my way, when out of the blue, my current boss contacted me about an internship.
That was about two weeks ago. Now I’m working a full time position as an account manager in a small office startup that has the vertical behind it to create effective products with efficient services and seize a real opportunity in the industry. The hours are long, it’s a lot of cold calling, and the commute is an hour an ten minutes; but overall, I’m loving it so far.
I’m realizing that the famous Steve Jobs quote, about life and the dots aligning was pretty accurate. When you look back on your life you can clearly see how all major events and opportunities lined up to the present moment, but it’s not so easy connecting the dots looking forward. I’ve spent a lot of my life contemplating the pros and cons of which of direction I should take. That phase is over. It’s time to take risk, fail, learn, and succeed. It’s time to learn how to hustle and focus on execution.