The Journey That Was 2017, Pt. 1

The Journey that was 2017, Part 1

Much time has been spent debating whether or not I would ever publicly tell this story and if I did, could I make it reasonably interesting? Several of you have asked about what happened and I have held off telling the story until now.

Thanksgiving morning, I came across an article on LinkedIn that would support the second half of the journey.   

The article, by Jack Kelly, is “Where are all the Older People at Work? Oh, yea, they’ve been fired. The new Discrimination that we don’t talk about.”

The article will be discussed more in Part 2.

I have spent seven months of this year in search of what I would hopefully be doing for the rest of my life. What I learned, however, is that the world of working has changed drastically and not necessarily for the better.

Before I can share about the last 7 months, I need to build the foundation leading up to my coming back to SC.  I could write about these experiences for hours and while cathartic,  no one really cares all that much. So, here is a brief review.

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   After selling our businesses in late 2011, I stayed on and worked as a consultant/managing director for one of my former businesses for an initial period of five years. I grew bored and began poking around and identified what I thought would be a perfect place for me to ply my trade and contribute at a high level.

Prior to accepting the position, the owner of the company was candid with the challenges he faced and was encouraged by the fact that I had demonstrated success in those areas. We discussed my comprehensive 30-60-90 day plan and I felt comfortable that this was going to be a good fit. I received a nice offer and moved my wife and dogs to what seemed like a different world from Aiken.

It wasn’t 60 minutes into my first day that I realized we may have made a mistake. The owner, providing no real onboarding/orientation, expected me to solve all the problems in the first week while insisting, however, that I use the exact same methods that he and others had tried in the past. There were also several dynamic personalities (mine included) and personal agendas involved and things went downhill from the first day. We were both quickly frustrated and had some frank discussions about my tenure as the first months passed by which, unfortunately, was the only time we ever really talked.

During that period, I was contacted by a nationally known consultant who wanted to know if I’d be interested in helping him turn around a distressed, family business in another state. We had worked together several times over the years and I was comfortable with his evaluation of the business. “Affirmative” was my answer and we began discussing the situation. After a few quick visits, I believed that this family really valued my experience and observations of their needs while the consultant stated I was a perfect fit for this situation.

After only six months in Michigan, I gave my notice and moved on, relocating my wife, dogs, and belongings to Ohio.

Moving, unfortunately, from the proverbial frying pan to a boiling cauldron of evil.

I am going to withhold any further comments due to some pending litigation, but after only two months, we were headed back to South Carolina to re-group.

Having been successful in several business endeavors, I was quite shaken by the two experiences, but I was not prepared for what was still to come, looking for a new career at age 57.

To be continued. . .