Late '90s. Autumn. I\u2019m sitting in some depressing caf\u00e9 with plastic chairs, sipping an Americano and nibbling a cheesecake\u2014because that\u2019s all I can afford, and the coffee is non-negotiable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was that kind of time\u2014when life felt like it was buffering. No clear plan. Work was annoying. The city weighed on me. I felt like I was stuck between \u201cstill young\u201d and \u201cwhy hasn\u2019t anything worked out yet?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the corner, a lively group. One guy pulls out a laptop! Shows something to the others. I catch a few words\u2014startup, demo, pitch, angel investors. These words sounded like a spaceship to me at the time. I wasn\u2019t from that world. I was from the world where PowerPoint took 20 minutes to load, and \u201cproject\u201d usually meant something my boss made up again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A few minutes later, they leave. But one of them forgets his business card on the table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I hesitate for a second. Then I take it.\nThen I sit there another 15 minutes, just turning it in my fingers.
Then I write an email:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHey. I overheard you. I can do this, I\u2019m curious about that, I know a bit of this. If you need someone\u2014I\u2019m around.\u201d
And I hit send.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It wasn\u2019t a resume.\nIt was a jump.
One of those jumps that begins with: \u201cWell\u2026 why the hell not?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Three days later, they replied.
A week later, I was in their new office talking marketing and building presentations that actually loaded.
Another week later, I got paid\u2014not for hours worked, but for results delivered. A first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I still think about that caf\u00e9 sometimes.\nAbout that business card.\nAbout how everything would\u2019ve gone a different way if I\u2019d just finished my coffee and walked home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sometimes fate hands you a business card.
More often, you just have to ask yourself:
Why the hell not?
And jump.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A forgotten card, a gutsy email, and a first project that flipped everything. Sometimes, \u201cwhy the hell not?\u201d is all it takes.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":702,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-701","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-life"],"yoast_head":"\n