This week is very odd, I am working with my team in the office to prepare them for my departure. Friday is my last day at my job and dumping all the key information in my head to my team is harder than I thought. I touch on one thing and a dozen other important tidbits pop up. Trying to stay at a high level, it’s nice that my guys are so professional, and it really helps that they are all smarter than me. That is the key to success, hire people smarter than you, set high expectations and turn them loose. They have never disappointed me.
I will miss my team and many of my colleagues. The nice thing is I live in a small town so I will bump into them often. I hope to see them at local craft markets.
I have not gotten depressed about being laid off, quite the opposite, it’s hard not to smile. With the company struggling, I was anticipating drastic changes. I’m not surprised it was me that got laid off. I developed an incredibly strong team that are more than capable of carrying on without me. I basically have worked my self out of my job, and I’m proud of it.
I do feel for the others in the lay-off. I am the lucky one where I had planned for this. I have contacted several others to pass along contacts for potential jobs. Good thing the local job market is strong.
I do have a lot of things to take care of over the next month or so due to the changes. Finding good affordable healthcare options is the big one, but I will take advantage of the employee assistance program to get things started.
My plan is to take a few weeks to enjoy not having a day job and spend quality time in the studio. This is the first time since I was 15 that I have not had a job working for someone else. I’m sure I will learn a lot about being a full time artist, and plan to make this blog a journal of my journey.
One thing I am scrambling to do is get more of my artworks onto my web site. Like this carving, the challenge is getting good pictures.