Last week I realized that its been a year since my life changed so dramatically. A year ago this time I was managing a creative department for a company that I believed was destined for greatness. A year ago Kari and I owned a home in a wooded area of an affluent suburb. A year ago my worst financial concerns involved whether I had enough spare cash for a bacon breakfast sandwich or a sausage muffin from Starbucks as I commuted to work. Then it all changed and I couldn't be happier that it did. It's not worth rehashing the details of what happened. I'll never fully understand the decision. I'm sure there were many discussions leading up to it. For me it was sudden and asinine. It's also not worth talking about the next handful of months. They were a bit of a blur and a scramble. I can, however, comfortably pick up my story as I started to reconnect with the design industry in Chicago and those who love me. I had great discussions with people whom I hadn't talked to for years and every discussion cracked open my skull just a bit. I stopped relentlessly driving forward on career auto-pilot. I spent time with my daughters. I slept in. At some point I reconnected with my designer self and started 9INE. And at some point in the past year I came to realize that many of my past decisions were based on inertia. Based on an ideal that I truly didn't agree with. Based on others' equation of success. Thank you to my love @karimamasaywhat who was a loving rock throughout the past year. Thank you to my family who never questioned where I was headed. Thank you to everyone in the creative industry who gave me words of support. And thank you to my friends who said hell ya! Your support & words & love were rocket fuel. And to the people that let me go, fuck you, but also thank you. Your idiotic actions propelled me away from your mediocrity and upwards into bolder and more authentic heights.
9INE