Even we renegades still have to follow the law, and thus this morning I find myself in jury duty.
It made me think back to a few years ago when I was working for a big agency and was put on jury duty notice. At the time, I was unhappy with my job and welcomed the respite of a few days in the court system. Part of me even wanted to get put on a jury.
Interesting how a few years perspective and a self-perpetuated pay check will change your point of view.
Since you’re all just getting to know me, I wanted to share with you my “Renegade Manifesto” which you can actually find on this very site here. In getting to know why I left corporate America and started my own business, I had to go through a series of revelations. And truth be told, had I not worked where I did and had the experiences I had, I wonder if I would see things the way I do.
So if you haven’t read the manifesto before, or are looking for a quick moment of inspiration, I invite you to read before.
The Renegade Manifesto
Corporate America. Been there, done that. Over it.
When we’re younger we read about corporate America. When we’re in college we hear stories about those ‘other people’ who are slaves to their jobs and their careers. Ants marching blindly along, unaware of what lies beyond their cubicle.
We hear about living under bad lighting, being hidden from the world and locked in a prison of copy machines, meeting makers and e-mails. The thought makes us shudder.
We tell ourselves that we’ll never become one of them.
So we finish school, choose a career, assured that our story will be different. We promise ourselves we’ll never become a cog in the corporate machine. Then we graduate. And we need a job. A few years go by. And we wake up one morning to discover that we too have become prisoners of an 8’ x 8’ cell, locked in with fellow inmates (aka ‘coworkers’). We sacrifice our lunch hours, work late, give up our weekends, blind to the fact that the only difference between us and people actually locked away is our ability to order in Japanese and our access to the internet.
But then again, even prisoners get to enjoy an hour a day outside.
And then one day, something sparks inside of us. We have an awakening and we tell ourselves that we just can’t do it anymore. We can’t live this life. We want out of the corporate existence.
And why should we put up with anything less than what we deserve? We’re smart, educated, hard working. We believe in hard work, but just not doing it so someone else can get rich.
Which brings us to this moment. To YOU. You want out of the corporate life. You are an employee without a company. A corporate refugee, if you will.
And that’s just how you want it.
You decide it’s time to start your own enterprise. After all you’ve lost your passion for your boss, not your business. You’ve got an idea and you know how to make it work. Now you just need the tools to bring it to life and sell it. That’s where I can help. I can help you create the copy that not only helps you get out on your own, but guarantees you’ll never have to go back to that corporate board room again.
It’s OK to fit in, but better to stand out.
