All That Glitters…Can Cause Blindness
Jun

This is a guest submission by Kathy from WorkingForWonka.com
To the outside world my career was glamorous. I traveled the world; dinner in Paris, lunch in Buenos Aires. I interacted with interesting people; I met with Hollywood studios, I read scripts years before the film release date. I once attended a week long meeting held on a 120 foot yacht.
Reading that, I can see how it might have seemed appealing to those around me. And if I squint my memory’s eye, I guess I could make it into something glamorous in my head. But once the memories are in focus, I remember the truth.
I lived on planes; once traveling to meetings in five countries in four days. Scripts were read in windowless rooms while being watched by studio security. And meetings on yachts? While we had every imaginable comfort (including an onboard chef preparing everything down to homemade chocolate covered potato chips), we had this because we were so busy, in such crank-it-out-now mode, that we couldn’t leave the ship.
We didn’t step foot on dry land for six straight days. We could have just as easily been in a Sheraton in Anytown, USA. (That is, if you could find a Sheraton serving homemade, chocolate-dipped potato chips!)
In my old career I worked with entrepreneurs launching companies and brands. And my old career defined me.
Being defined by your job can be a good thing, if that job brings you satisfaction. My job didn’t. My job brought me stress. It brought me wrinkles. It brought me a dwindling circle of friends that I never got to see. It brought me a very big psychiatry bill.
Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes To The Grind Stone
To be very cliché, launching a product or company is like giving birth. That doesn’t mean that it’s like planning a nursery, and taking Lamaze classes, and learning how to swaddle, and everything else that goes into the long process of planning and prepping for a new arrival.
Launching a product or company is like the actual act of giving birth. It’s an all-consuming, sweat filled, pain fest that requires mind-numbing focus and energy. Not to mention extreme amounts of stress.
Of course there’s initial excitement at the prospect of what is being produced. But like a soon-to-be second time mom, with selective amnesia regarding labor pains, it’s not until you’re deep in it that you remember the truth. “Oh crap, that’s right. This is gonna hurt.”
For many years I excelled in that environment. I reveled in the chaos. I would rise to any challenge placed in front of me, no matter what the sacrifice.
But I wasn’t happy.
Blinded by the Light
You see, you don’t have to be one of the grey drones in the famous 80’s Macintosh ad to be in a job that isn’t fulfilling. When Barbara Streisand stopped performing, she left what– to the outside world–seemed like a dream career. She walked away from throngs of adoring fans and seven-figure paychecks and doing something that came naturally to her.
But performing made her uncomfortable. She didn’t enjoy the stage freight. She grew tired of the grind. So she stopped doing it.
Which is what I did.
It wasn’t an easy transition. I started by leaving my W-2 job with the entrepreneur-of-the-moment, and began consulting. I was now working from home, determining my own schedule and only taking on only the projects that I wanted to work on.
But it didn’t take long for me realize that if I only took on projects that I really wanted to work on….I wouldn’t take on any projects.
The truth finally hit me. The work I was doing was all about making someone else’s dream come true; bringing someone else’s product to life, building someone else’s future. Not my own.
Losing the Shades
Somehow in my career path I had gotten lost in the task at hand. I had been blinded by the all that came with my job. I had defined myself by a job, not realizing that the definition had been written by someone else.
The real sacrifice had never been that I was harried and stressed. The real sacrifice was that I wasn’t living my own dream.
Any job that isn’t satisfying you is the wrong job.
On Oprah’s final episode she said that we are all called to do something. And that our real job in life is to figure out what our calling is, and to get about the business of doing it.
I have figured out my calling and I’m making it into something that works for me. I’m taking what I’ve learned about working for entrepreneurs, and about launching products and companies and I’m educating others through my blog, speaking engagements and an upcoming book.
It’s difficult sometimes. I went from constant stimulus to working alone out of my house.
When I look back at my old career there are some things that I miss. I miss being needed in that urgent, do-or-die way. I miss the adrenaline, probably in the same way that an addict misses their drug of choice. I miss the stories that I would tell my friends after whatever crazy adventure had happened.
But I don’t miss living the stories. I don’t miss the pace, and the insane stress is almost a distant memory.
It has been replaced by slow, steady, but most importantly, fulfilling work.
But, I will say this: those chocolate-covered potato chips? Now that’s a memory that just might stay with me forever.
Kathy Ver Eecke is a 20 year marketing veteran who now works as writer, blogger and public speaker. She spends her days explaining the method behind the madness of the entrepreneurial boss, and helping those struggling to survive in a startup company. You can find her at WorkingForWonka and @WorkingForWonka

Graham Lutz
It’s funny – All the nice stuff sounds cool, but it’s really only that good if you’ve decided to be there for yourself right?
I’m having an “Oh crap…this is gonna hurt” moment – I’m in the process of applying to medical school!
Kathy Ver Eecke
First – Thanks to Steve for asking me to write this guest post. It’s was an honor!
Graham–uh, yeah. I think that’s definitely gonna hurt! HOWEVER, I’ve always thought of medicine as one of those careers where you end each day feeling fulfilled. You’ve worked your butt off, yes. But for such a great cause. Honestly I think I may be jealous of you.
Congrats and good luck on your new quest. Oh, and, I’ve had this persistent sniffle…..What’s that? Not a doctor yet. Oh, okay. 🙂
Kathy
Steve
My pleasure Kathy! Thanks so much for sharing your story with us.
Graham Lutz
with my three kiddos, job and school, I’m the busiest I have ever been in my life, but I am loving what I am doing.
about the sniffle…I may not have an MD behind my name just yet, but the letters are not what impart the knowledge 🙂 If you’ve got lots of mucus, try limiting carbs and dairy for a week – this will drop mucus production significantly, giving your immune system the opportunity to do what it does best!
Great post, Kathy – I thoroughly enjoyed it!
Kathy Ver Eecke
Thanks Doc! 🙂
Benny
Hey Kathy,
I remembered you from your comment on my guest post on Frank Dickinson’s blog. Thanks for reading that and sharing your views!
The first part of your story sounded kinda like my guest post here minus the yacht, and the script reading, and meals in Paris. Well the situations are different but the idea is the same. 🙂 Having certain luxuries might sound great to other people but it’s not enough to make us happy.
You said you helped entrepreneur’s launch products or businesses so how does that relate to meeting Hollywood studios and reading scripts?
Of course to me, it sounds cool and interesting but I understand actually doing it is not.
I’m happy to read your doing something more fulfilling!
Chocolate covered potato chips sounds pretty amazing by the way. I hope to try them one day.
Kathy Ver Eecke
Hi Benny!
Yeah, I loved your post. I think our stories have similar arcs. Even if yours didn’t include the chips or the yacht.
The scripts came into play because several of my past jobs had a licensing aspect. One involved launching a line of licensed products. I negotiated over 50 contracts with that one, and worked with most of the studios you can think of. In another I was helping sell in promotions to consumer products companies overseas. So I’d meet with Kellogg’s Mexico (for example) and walk them through the summer movie schedule a few years in advance.
The scripts and interacting with the studios really was an appealing part of my job. I enjoy that industry. And the perks were crazy. My nieces thought I was a rock star; wanna go to the Harry Potter premier? Want the creator of Veggie Tales to sketch you something for your bedroom? It’s partly why they don’t understand my leaving that world.
But that said, I am still enjoying what I’m doing now more. And BTW I don’t know where you live, but Trader Joe’s has a reasonable facsimile of those chips! 🙂
Thanks for your comment!
Benny
Hey Kathy! I didn’t want to sound like a geek but I love reading about the business side of Hollywood. The deals. The behind the scenes of getting a movie made. I got so excited when I took studio tours at Warner Bros and Sony. So reading about your past duties, I thought you were a rock star too like your nieces. 🙂
I live in Florida so we don’t have Trader Joe’s! The closest we have here is Whole Foods but I don’t know if they carry it. If I head out west next time I’ll have to hunt for one. If they’re addicting, I’m sending you the bill for my gym membership! 🙂
Kathy Ver Eecke
You’re hysterical! I’m sure they have a great option at Whole Foods. But yes, you may need to bump up your spin classes a bit!
Justin | Mazzastick
Hi Kathy,
Your story sounds cool yet exhausting to me. I would imagine that your past lifestyle would be too much for anyone to handle.
Many of us look at the lifestyles of wealthy and or professionals and think that we don’t measure up.
The truth for me is that I wouldn’t want a lifestyle like that either.
I am happy that you are now living a life according to your values.
Kathy Ver Eecke
Hi Justin:
Thanks for that. I think for some it’s a great career. It was for me for a while. I have friends who still launch a new product for a new company almost every year. I don’t know how they have the energy. Or more importantly, the passion. But they do. I don’t. At least not any more.
Yeah, it’s easy to think that we don’t measure up. But then again, don’t we all hold ourselves to a higher standard than we hold others to?
Maybe we all need to give ourselves a break.
Thanks for your comment Justin.
Harriet`
I like what you’ve written here about finding your calling for it and going for it. I believe that everyone has a purpose and its just our duties to find it and build on it for good!
Kathy Ver Eecke
Thanks Harriett:
I agree. In her final episode Oprah said (yes, I am about to quote Oprah, sorry) that it’s our J-O-B to discover what we’re meant to do, and then to do it with a vengeance.
I’m paraphrasing. It was much longer when she said it. And the sentiment may have ended with ‘you get a car, you get a car, you get a car.’ Or I may have my episodes confused. 🙂