Taking That Leap

I wanted to be an architect like Mr. Brady.

This morning I Facebook messaged with a friend who was telling me he was miserable in his current job. I told him to think about what was worse, being safe in his current job but miserable, or (albeit scary) taking a leap of faith and make a change and do what he really wanted to do. It made me reflect on my own past decisions.

When someone asked me as a kid what I wanted to do when I grew up, I'd usually say I wanted to be an architect. I think that was because "Mr. Brady" the dad on my favorite TV show "The Brady Bunch" (this was the 70s) was an architect. I didn't really know what that was, but it sounded cool.

My early art. Not great, but I really enjoyed drawing, It was
my escape. Probably haven't drawn anything in 20 years.

Of course I didn't become an architect, but dreaming about it was fun. As a kid, I was always making something. My poor dad. While other fathers were in the sports section of Roses (Wal-Mart of the 70s) picking out a glove, ball, or bat, my dad was in the crafts section waiting for me to pick out the next whatever I was going to make. I never had any formal art training. Never even took art in high school, but on my own, I drew. I drew a lot. Mostly pen and ink and colored pencil. I was never secure enough in my talent to take an art class or to take it in school. Ironically, kind of like sports at the time. I was scared to put myself out there.

Then all of the sudden I'm getting ready to graduate from High School and I'm expected to have a career in mind.  I really had no idea. I was accepted into App State, NCSU, and UNC-Chapel Hill. Not exactly sure why, but I chose App State. I was thinking I was going to go into "art" not knowing what that really was or meant. There's one thing about me that has always been and will always be and that is that I might not know what I want, but I definitely know what I don't want.

My first few days at App were not very good. Now keep in mind, I had really only been away from home by myself once. I was a preacher's kid and while I wasn't really sheltered I was a very naive kid. Looking back I'm pretty proud of that naivete because it really let me be a kid. Problem was that at that point in my life that naivete didn't prepare me for the first couple days of college life having drunk kids fall into my room and lots of other not-so-appropriate-things being thrown in my face full force in concentrated form on day one. Scared the heck out of me. I called home and without much detail, I told my parents that ASU just wasn't for me. My Dad, said, "Well, let me come up there tomorrow, we'll talk about it, and then we'll decide what to do." Dad arrived the next day like he promised. But when he got there, I had my room emptied and my car packed. We headed home. LOL! Like I said, I may not know what I want, but I know what I don't want. Still true today.

So coming home, my Dad said I had to have a plan. And so I did. Because school had already started, I couldn't just go to NCSU or UNC even though I had been accepted. I had to reapply. So that semester, I took evening classes at UNC while awaiting my re-acceptance status for the second semester at UNC or NCSU. I heard from NCSU first so, I headed to Raleigh with the idea I'd be a business major. First two semesters were great, then in my third semester, when I took my first "real" business class (some kind of statistics class), I thought "holy crap!" Decided then-and-there that the business route was not for me (kind of ironic since today, I'm a small business owner). I transferred to UNC-Chapel Hill as an Education major.

A letter from a student in my last 5th grade class.
Wow! She'd be about 31 now....I feel old. 

I had finally found my niche. I graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill with a BA in Intermediate Education and began my career as a 5th grade teacher in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools. I really loved what I did. After eight years, I had an opportunity to go into educational publishing with a company based in Greensboro, NC. It was scary, to move from teaching into a more corporate setting, but it was a great blend of teaching, creating, and big business. My first leap of faith.

I was in publishing for 13 years. Loved what I did. Had worked my way from writer/editor, to Senor Editor of Intermediate Books, to  Book Development Manager, to Curriculum Manager. I got to travel some and really loved what I was doing. I thought I'd be in publishing until retirement. Then the bottom fell out of the economy in 2009 and 1/3 of the company I worked for was let go. I was a part of that 1/3. Funny how the ones with the most experience and longevity are the first to go during times like that.  Insult to injury, the company held me to a non-compete and I was not able to work in my field for 18 months. I could have fought it, but instead I took it as a sign to do what I really loved doing....running and fitness. Leap of faith #2.

So in 2009, back to school I went getting my diploma in fitness training from the National Personal Training Institute in Raleigh, my personal training certification from the American College of Sports Medicine, and coaching certifications from RRCA for marathon training and USA-TF for track and short distance running.

In 2010, I leased a 400 sq ft office space in Greeensboro, NC with (no money and no clients) and opened RunnerDude's Fitness. Leap of Faith #3. Scared to death, but excited beyond belief, I began my journey as RunnerDude. Best decision of my life. In the past seven years, that 400 sq ft has grown to 3000 sq ft and that zero client list has grow to me working with over 600 running and fitness clients. I've helped hundreds of runners reach their running goals from running for the first time to qualifying for Boston. I've crafted RunnerDude's Blog into one of the top rated running blogs in the country, being read in over 90 countries and  over 1.5 million page views, giving me the opportunity to interview running greats like Olympians Shalane Flanagan, Kara Goucher, Nick Symmonds, and Jeff Galloway as well as Runner's World's Bart Yasso.

Evolution of a Dude

Is it still scary? Heck yeah, but I love what I do. All though I didn't know it at the time, all of those life "stepping stones" helped create the person I am today. Many my age are talking about upcoming retirement, but I feel like I've just started. I'll probably be coaching runners from my hoveround on the greenway when I'm 90. :-)

Change is hard, but to grow as an individual, you need change. Your change may not be a huge career change, but whatever change comes your way, embrace it, it may bring amazing things your way. Are you due for a leap of faith?