After 7 years grinding in sales, I've found myself unemployed once again. In 2018, I got a job as a Business Development Rep for a software company. The gig paid 48k a year in Los Angeles and required me to make cold calls all day long. Did it. Eventually the company went private and I found myself interviewing against 16 other candidates for the 1 promotion that opened up per year.
I found a new gig at another tech company. Again cold calls all day. The company went bankrupt a month after I got there and I had to find a new job 8 months later. Sick.
Found it. It was a paycut, but I accepted and worked through the entire pandemic from home. This time as an actual rep, however again it ended up just being cold calls all day long. The company ended up going private, and guess what: My entire team got cut. The company was extremely generous with their severance, but existentially I'm a bit lost.
This was in June. Tbh working for 7 years cold calling from my room seemed to suck my soul from it's body. I hated it, but ended up starting a podcast on the side to have some sort of outlet. Turns out I did that well, but it's cost me a fortune. I always dreamed of starting my own company, but it scared the shit out of me. Since I started one thing that is doing well, I have confidence I might be able to do it again.
Now I'm at a crossroads: Do I suck it up and get another sales job, or do I start my own company and see where it takes me?
I've decided on the latter. I was already working on designing “The Perfect Hoodie” after meeting a local clothing manufacturer my last trip abroad, and everything within me is screaming at me to do it despite everyone in my life telling me it's a bad idea.
I suppose the reason I'm posting here is to provide some sort of digital middle finger to the life I'm trying to leave behind. I don't care if it's a bad idea, if I'll fail, or even if I lose all the money I've worked so hard to acquire. Taking a chance like this has to be better than wasting my life bothering people in order to make a rich dude richer, and so I've decided to take the plunge.
Wish me luck folks.