Baltimore
The year was 2008 and I started my career in a shiny office building above a steakhouse in downtown Baltimore.
I had my own apartment nearby in LIttle Italy and I swore my landlord Alberto was in the mafia. I was working at a Top 20 firm named CohnReznick where I worked on top real estate and financial services clients.
I was ready to take the world by storm but so was the great recession. I’m part of what they call “the new lost generation”. I passed the CPA exam and felt encouraged to test the waters of what else I could accomplish.
I started doing pro bono work for a sharing economy startup. I organized young professional events, I airbnb’d my house and bought a second property. I had big dreams and was filling my time with ambitious projects.
I had a bigger itch to scratch though.
San Francisco
It seemed like all the cool jobs were in Big Tech, most of which were located in the San Francisco Bay Area.
One night in Baltimore over some ribs at Dinosaur Barbeque , my future wife and I decided to make the move to San Fran (don’t call it San Fran).
I put in my notice, rented my house, sold my car, said my goodbyes and booked a one way ticket to SFO. When I arrived in Frisco (don’t call it Frisco), I had no place to live, no money, but I did have a job with the Big 4.
I joined PwC out of their embarcadero office which had breathtaking views of the bay bridge and ferry building. My coworkers were sharp, my clients were big and the firm lived up to its reputation for prestige.
I took the cable car to work from my Nob Hill apartment and the postcard views and the ding ding ding of the trolley never got old.
I was a networking machine and joined the leadership committee of a prominent young professional group. I had a membership at a vineyard in Sonoma, had a favorite dumpling spot in Chinatown, and sipped hella overpriced blue bottle coffee like a true local. The City truly was a special place.
My days in public accounting though were coming to an end and I was an old dog looking for a new trick.
San Bruno
I wanted to go big, like really big. I thought if I could succeed at one of the biggest most successful companies in the world, I could succeed anywhere.
At the top of the Fortune 500 list was Walmart, the world's biggest retailer. To Wally World I went.
I joined Walmarts financial reporting team as part of their fast growing eCommerce division in San Bruno. A few months later Walmart acquired a unicorn startup named Jet.com. From there on out, it felt like I worked for a startup with the resources of a Fortune 1 company.
Business was booming, the work was interesting and the scale was as big as it gets. My favorite project was piloting a hush hush subscription model that would later compete with Amazon Prime. It was an exciting time.
But I couldn’t ignore that my dream job was staring at me from across the street. It was a sign, a YouTube sign to be exact. Youtube’s HQ was directly across the street and I couldn’t help but feel drawn to it.
I wanted to be partying on the Youtube patio for the Friday BBQ’s, I wanted to ride around town on those colorful Google Bikes that littered Silicon Valley. I was a man on a mission.
Silicon Valley
I’ll never forget tossing my pinwheel hat into the air alongside my fellow Nooglers in Mountainview.
The amount of sacrifice that it took to get there was unreal. The perks were as good as advertised, but it was advertising itself that paid for those perks, and I looked after the golden geese.
I’m in a similar role today, where I work on Google Search and YouTube deals that the company offers its VIP customers. When I first joined I felt like Vince Vaughn from that movie, but the movie left out the 4 hour daily commutes and the $3,000 1 bedroom apartment. After 4 years those things got old.
San Francisco was a playground for the upper crust of society but it turns out, I'm more of a deep dish guy.
Chicago
I relocated to Chicago to help Google grow it’s finance hub in the West Loop.
Chicagoland is a vibrant city with a down to earth vibe. It’s a real city with real people and that’s exactly what I was looking for.
Next came covid, then sky high inflation, then soaring interest rates followed by (you guessed it) layoffs. I managed to dodge the bullet for the 4th time in my career.
My wife Katie and I eventually bought a home in Roscoe Village, no burbs for us. We moved in just in time to welcome our little guy Manny to the world.
These days my biggest challenge is figuring out how to be a cool dad, raising a little kid, in a big city.
That’s All Folks
Well, that just about wraps it up. Some people know me as Mike from Accounting but there are better ways to describe me.
I’m an effort guy. I try hard, I’m ambitious and take calculated risks. I’m comfortable carving my own path, I’ve been doing it my whole life. I’m creative, I embrace change and I’m tech forward. I’m a visual thinker who loves to bring creativity into the business world.
Now it’s your turn! You’ve heard my story, now let's hear yours. If anything from my story resonates with you, let’s connect. Maybe we’ll write the next chapter together.
Cheers!
Mike
