Is it even possible to fit in the last 7 8  years of my life in a blog post? As you can already see by the title, I’ve taken some time to get this one post off the ground, so here we go.

I moved to northern California in the summer of 2011. I didn’t really understand the risks associated with moving 3,000 miles away from everyone and everything that I hold near and dear, but I knew that I wasn’t the first person to do something like this, nor would I be the last. California has a way of calling out to people, just like New York, London, Paris, Toyko, etc. Having visited California a few times (San Diego in 2005, NorCal in 2006, 2008), I was initially enamored with the laid back people, climate, and the technology industry. In my case, having moved back in with my parents in 2010 pushed me to answer the call and head west.

I’ve told the story about how I turned a rejection into a job offer to many people over the years. It’s one of the things I’m most proud of in my life, and in retrospect, one of the ballsiest things I’ve ever done. I earned a role on a Business Analyst team in Sunnyvale at a medium sized company called Efficient Frontier in May 2011. I outlined my role and accomplishments in the Experiences page so check that out if you want to learn more. On a personal note, this was the first time in my life that I formed strong bonds with my coworkers. I’m so happy that even after so many years, different jobs, and major life events that I still have so many people from that first opportunity in my life.

There have been plenty of ups and downs over the past few years, but through each experience I tried my best to take away lessons for the future. A few of note…

• Define what motivates you & what you believe in. It’s easy to forget/lose touch of that when things get wild.
• Keep an open mind & heart. There’s lots to learn, different perspectives and new experiences will help you see things in ways you never thought possible.
• Surround yourself with people who want to be part of your life.

To tie a nice bow around this post, fast forward a few years, happily married, two children, a house, plenty of fun/challenging/interesting professional experiences, and lots of love surround me. Sure, things aren’t always rosy, but we make the most of what we have, while we have it.