5 Years and 1 Day-1

It’s that time in my career when one typically writes an obligatory LinkedIn post to share how much they’ve grown, learned, and how amazing the journey has been.

THIS POST IS NOT THAT!

As I sit and stare into the sunset at the end of another day, I can say with absolute certainty that it wasn’t me. Everything that has happened to me, whatever people think I’ve achieved—none of it was me.

When I joined Amazon 5 years ago, I didn’t give much thought to what it would be like to stay for this long. To be honest, I never thought I would stay for this long either. It seemed like a great company to have on my CV, and the most logical step seemed to be moving on to something else—something more fun. Little did I know that this would be the most fun I’d ever have at a job.

As I promised to the readers, none of this was my doing. So that was a brief summary from my perspective. In a change of pace from that, I’d like to make this post about the people who made all of this possible and nurtured me like a sapling along the way. I’ve got a lot to say today, so buckle up; this is going to be one of those long ones :)

When I started working in New Zealand, I had modest hopes but outsized ambitions about turning my life into something valuable and making a name for myself. The lack of opportunities that could leverage all I had to offer made me feel stuck, unable to breathe, despite doing pretty well by most benchmarks.

I’d like to begin with a huge thanks to Katrien Pagnaer ?? for reaching out, noticing the odd introverted guy at a random competition, and encouraging me to interview at Amazon. Thanks to Rajat for guiding me through the process and instilling confidence in me by telling me that I had a shot at it. Your words and gestures gave me the courage to make this journey possible from the start.

Once I got in (Yes, it was 5 years ago, but I remember it like it was yesterday), I, for the first time in my life, joined a large organization. Up until then, all my experience was with startups where processes are practically non-existent. Everything has to be done by very few people with very few resources. It has taken me 5 years to try and understand the true meaning of the phrase “scaling through others,” and I still can’t say I fully comprehend it. Thanks to Tejas Mokashi for being a mentor to me and teaching me the value of patience. I would not have lasted this long had we not had a walk at the beginning of my 3-month onboarding period when every day, I felt like I wasn’t moving fast enough.

As I started spending more time at work and getting a handle on things, it consumed most of my social life, and I started making friends at work too. Aman Chadha , Casey Orr , and Jhalak Modi showed me that you can find amazing friends and build personal connections with people you meet at work. Your support through this time, has made it all worthwhile

When I went through some of the darkest periods of my life thus far, Dr. Haren Sam and Tiffany Bloomquist showed me how leadership, above all else, can be about empathy. The mental and emotional support they’ve shown has made me into a better person overall and has motivated me to imbue these characteristics into my day-to-day operations.

It was Gilbert Quinn , Simon Battson , Hayder A. , and Nick Broadchoi who showed me the ropes on how to navigate the systems of a large organization, how to align incentives across teams and nationalities, and how to bring resources together, both internally and externally, to deliver great outcomes and experiences.

All of these people have played a crucial role, and there’s no way I can have a moment of celebration without acknowledging them. All the credit goes to those mentioned above, and I’m sure I’ve missed more than a few here—you know who you are!

From the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU for believing in me, supporting me, and continuing to do so as I grow into the tree that could eventually hope to give back to the community!

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