New Job, New Home

Today is my fourth day at my new job. I realize I haven't been very clear about what it is. When I first accepted the position, the staff at the new company hadn't been told yet, so I had to be vague just in case, then never really came back to the topic. I've been asked a few times about it, so thought I'd share it here, too.

I'm now the president of a directory publishing company in Washington, DC called Columbia Books. The company has been around for over forty years, having incorporated in 1966 - two years before I was born. It's currently about ten people and publishes five directories plus two websites. I've spoken individually with every employee already, and I am fortunate in that there are really great people and a massive amount of untapped potential here already on staff.

The outgoing president, Debra, is headed off to culinary school after twenty years in publishing, ready to start her own new career. I've been involved with Columbia Books for about five years as a software consultant. During that time, I've revamped their databases, built a data maintenance application for them, and done most of the development work to launch their two web products, lobbyists.info and associationexecs.com.

The idea of me as Debra's replacement was raised last September or October (my memory on that's a little hazy) but didn't really get rolling as a real prospect until early December. I'd actually already accepted a new position at Microsoft with the team that produces Office Live and was in the process of transitioning to the new team when Debra asked me if I could interview with the Board of Directors over the Christmas break. I did and was offered the job about ten days later. That's what's caused this whirlwind of sudden departure from Microsoft and move across the country.

The job itself is a great opportunity. Olympia and I have been really finding some great new foundation for our relationship, too, and this has made a difficult set of decisions (Microsoft vs. Columbia Books, Seattle vs. Maryland, etc.) a far easier one. I've only been here a week, but reconnecting with Olympia and my children has been wonderful. The home environment has been so different and so much more positive than ever before. It makes the last several years seem like a smelting process, taking iron and making steel.

It's also already very clear to me that I learned a phenomenal amount of stuff at Microsoft. It's not just the company, either. It's been the company I've kept. The discussions I've had with Trevor, and more recently with Kevin, have proven immediately invaluable background for starting to understand this new company's strengths, weaknesses, and potentials. I'm working to figure out ways to still have that peer support network while in this new environment, because I realize that had become a vital part of my life and it's important I don't lose that.

This new experience is exciting to me and I see it as a great new adventure. I'm sure I'll have a lot more to say on the subject in the coming months and years.