Twist of Fate?

On this glorious Friday I shall share a story with you. It may be meaningless, it may be wishful thinking, or it may be a sign...

So last week I had just completed a few Monday morning ski runs up in the majestic White Mountains of NH. Just a phenomenal way to start a work week. However as we now know, this would be the start of a very different work week.

The Friday before I had a long, honest, heartfelt conversation with my boss. I pretty much let him know that my heart was not into the job. It would take a very long term commitment in order to succeed, and out of fairness to the owner of the company and to myself, I felt the need to cut the strings. Rather than mislead the company, go through the motions and collect a paycheck, I became overwhelmed with a sense of honesty. After all, working at a small company, every dollar counts, and they were paying me a decent chunk of change. I hoped they would respect me for the move. My boss told me to take the weekend, think it over and call him on Monday.

So here we are, Monday morning, and a lot is weighing on the mind...like, what am I going to do with my life? I was definitely going in to resign later that afternoon, but was hoping for some tranquility up in the mountains before making this big decision. After an amazing morning of skiing, I headed down to the health club.

Hoping for some "maxin' and relaxin'" I headed for the outdoor jacuzzi. A slopeside outdoor jacuzzi is an amazing thing, in case you haven't had the pleasure. As I nearly went head over teakettle on the ice near the stairs, I noticed a gentleman already taking advantage of the hot tub. My almost fall turned out to be an adequate icebreaker, no pun intended, and we struck up a conversation.

Turns out he was in town on business, meeting with a local hospital later that afternoon. His company sells and services lab testing equipment. I thought this was ironic, because I had an appointment later that afternoon at the same local hospital, same time and everything. However I was about to cancel mine, obviously due to the fact that I was resigning in a few short hours. The gentleman, who we will refer to as Jack, mentioned his company works with 400 hospitals nationwide, and he was in Hawaii a few weeks ago. Doesn't sound like a bad life, I thought to myself. After some small talk, he left the jacuzzi in fear of passing out. "Nice meeting you, good luck at your meeting."

Minutes after, I dunked in the indoor pool and headed for the steam room. After a few minutes of sweating, the door opened, and in walks Jack. Conversation naturally started up again, the topic being all the different hospitals in the state, many of whom I had called on in the past. I mentioned The Book of Lists, a publication listing all the top businesses in each industry. Very useful for prospecting new businesses. He then mentioned he has "reps" that complain about not enough "leads." Even though I was resigning from my current sales job that afternoon, I know you never complain about "leads." If anyone out there has seen Glen Gary Glen Ross, you know this. "The Leads are weak," laments one struggling sales rep. "You're weak!" shouts a stern Alec Baldwin. But I digress...

I ask Jack if he was a national sales manager, or something like that. "No, I own the company," he said, as light hit his shiny watch and nearly blinded me. I then asked how his industry was doing in current economy. "I'm meeting with some venture capitalists over the next week, who will be investing millions into the company." OK, seems to going alright I thought. Again, fearing a coronary, Jack exited stage left, and I sat alone in the steam room.

I soon left, showered and began to get dressed in the locker room. Jack is doing the same a few lockers down from me. At this point, I'm thinking this may be some type of sign. I've got to ask this guy about a job, I'm thinking. Finally, after a couple minutes, I blurt out, "So, you looking for any new reps?" Boom I did it! "Well, these guys are throwing tons of money at us, so we just may be. Check out our website, everything goes directly to me," explained Jack. Not a bad answer I thought. We shook hands, exchanged names, and parted ways.

The reason I started thinking was some type of sign, or fate or whatever you want to call it, is the same type of thing happened to a friend of mine. A young, enthusiastic lad, Tyler, we'll call him, had a one way ticket to Buenos Aires, trying to find himself, search his soul if you will. As he was smoking a cigarette in the Miami International Airport, he struck up a conversation with a fellow smoker. Turns out the guy was CEO of an oil exploration company in Peru, and "could use a kid like Tyler". Long story short, Tyler now lives in Peru in a rent free luxury apartment, working hard, making decent scratch, and playing even harder.

I thought of this story as I drove home from the mountains, listening to live rendition of Bruce Springsteen's "Thunder Road" on my Sirius Radio. It was a deep moment. Maybe that interaction could really mean something. After all, if I had not been leaving my job later that afternoon, I would have never been in a jacuzzi outside in the White Mountains on a Monday morning!

A few days later, I purchased the aforementioned Book of Lists, inscribed a hand written note and mailed it to Jack with my contact info. Who knows, that chance meeting could be just the break I'm looking for...

And so it goes.