Finding my voice...raw, real, and very uncertain but not afraid!

Like so many of you before me, and so many of you trailing behind me.... here I am at another, what feels like every 10yrs; inevitable cross road...where I'm assessing, evaluating ...to whom/what friends/peers/what company/or companies; and to what purpose/ who's goals/challenges...have I devoted the past 10yrs of my life doing/achieving.....have I been making the undeniable difference I think I've been? Do the people I've bled and torn my soul apart for, even really care? Ready for the raw, the real?

They don't.

So now what?

Well, like any other long term relationship break-up, you can regret the time spent and feel it was time lost or you can focus on what you learned and be grateful it didn't last longer!

Stop living someone else's ideas of a successful life! It's not your weight to carry and to live the life your parents couldn’t, your sibling didn’t, your friends want to, and the media says you're supposed to! CREATE and live your OWN DASH! (More on 'the DASH' to come!)

After recently parting ways with my last company, I find myself in new waters completely! Have not had to update my resume in over 15yrs! Maybe even longer, as my last several jobs were referrals recruiting me from a previous job! I'm now surrounded by the ''What do you want to do now? With your qualifications, you can get a job anywhere! With your experience, anyone will be lucky to have you!'.' Wonderful words, literally from clients, to have echoing off the mental walls upstairs, then it's welcome to the Saas; the CRM; the CI/DI; need a JD; get ATS certified; need a CDL-- swimming pool of acronyms that in the not so long ago times, either didn't exist to begin with or completely meant something other than what they mean now!

Dating myself I'm sure, but CRM used to mean, a type of software platform for gathering /processing that said company's information/ how you conducted your business. Like SAP, Oracle, Sales Force etc. Now, it is referenced as Customer Relationship Management (or... always was...and I'm only now finding out that’s what it stood for all along...?!). A recent job posting I applied for was a SR VP position that said, 'must have 10years CRM experience'. I have been a top SR Salesperson and in a form of Leadership/ Management or SR Management for close to 30 years... do I have 10yrs CRM experience... uh ... I think I do.... or do I? Everything I do is related to managing the customer relationship... or would that be called MCR? I am not alone and nor am I old! This is simply how fast the world around us is spinning, whether we open our eyes to the ride or squeeze them shut as tightly as we can!

A huge part of me is hoping you are not still reading... and that I lost you at ...inevitable crossroad. Another microscopic part of me is believing, my God given gift is not making the next company I work for, another million or 2 or 3 like I have been doing the past almost 30 years of my young life. But rather to be using my voice to help Coach/Mentor/ be a DASH Thought Leader inspiring change and teaching you to seek out your own gateway path to becoming a better human being! That all of my decades of being in Sales and leadership roles, were not about the act of selling whatever/whose-ever products at the time, but rather to better understand- through multi-faceted industries: PEOPLE and the importance of building relationships! From C-level execs to the bus boy-- from the wealthiest surprisingly often times loneliest; to the most broke yet often times happiest--news flash-- we ALL matter- we ALL have feelings, goals, dreams, desires, insecurities, bills, stresses, dysfunctional families and want to be regarded and treated, with respect and simply loved by someone! We all want to live; die; and have mattered.

I am the recent Founder/ CEO of a new start-up called the The Dash Academy. A company with the initiatives to coach, mentor, motivate, inspire, challenge and teach the tools to help you design/recreate the blueprint of changing/ making-- your ''DASH'' on your headstone meaningful- a life well lived! But more importantly, a life to always be cherished and remembered!

Ie: Your Name born 1234---DASH---died 1234

What does/will your DASH represent ... are you a giver/ a taker/ a leader/ a follower/ selfish/ invisible/ what difference do/will you make/ how do you want to be referred to now/remembered later??

I invite and seek to inspire you, to become a part of The DASH Academy movement- to create and live the DASH--- you want to be remembered as!

While it's been a blueprint burned onto my soul for the?better part of 30yrs,?the above?is all new as of the past couple weeks as I've only recently parted from?my last company of 8yrs. Lets simplify and say, 'the parting' was due to 'LIFE' having at times, a monumental way of opening up your eyes to things you didn’t see before! After decades of living and breathing in the corporate world, I am learning sometimes you've got to step out for fresh/new air! Since its to be assumed 99.9% of you are not still reading this, 1 of the other legs of SR Management, a very dear friend of mine, unexpectedly passed away a couple weeks ago. When her passing was dismissed as if her 17yrs of employment and heavy contribution to the company, simply did not matter; it broke my spirit and commitment to the company.?I no longer was feeling I mattered so greatly and believed I was making such positive change; after her passing, I saw firsthand just how little I mattered at all.

So, I got punched in the face, can’t even say sucker punched, as I was aware of the company's challenges for many years. (Maybe not aware of how deeeeep the levels of challenges well really was) but I still chose to stay committed to the company (if you feel like this is you-- and like you're in church and the Pastor is looking right at you...maybe I'm just a messenger for you right now...to tell you - its possibly YOUR time -- to rethink- and possibly make a CHANGE!). I stuck around believing I was truly making a difference. Be it naivety or blinded by own ambition to matter and effectively positively change lives, after 8 years, I got punched in the face. Hard.

Call it that ole 'gut instinct', ' Holy Spirit', Buddha, God... whatever you may; but after getting punched in the face then I got a vision clear as daylight, 'It's Time...to stop reping' other people's voices and use your own''.

After all these decades of waiting, putting it off; feeling non-qualified; feeling not ready; telling myself it’s not time-soon but not yet; so many saying -you should own your own company blah blah - and me saying I know, but selling/doing what... I don’t want to be in Sales anymore (when we all know, everything in life involves 'selling' there's no way around it); so many saying you should be a Business Coach or Consultant, you have a natural aptitude of breaking down the problem and simplifying the solution; you should this you should that; you could this, you could that; questioning who is going to listen; selling myself on how, until I get my auto-bio written and people finally hear my crazy story, no will listen until then;..... when.... until.... then.

I did it.

I got my FEIN#;?purchased the company The DASH Academy LLC and domain name thedashacademy.com (no website yet- need help building one! Hint hint!)?all on the same day as my last day of employment.

Fully intending on finding a 'reg fulltime gig'?while building The Dash Academy?'on the side'. Then upon the many many hundreds of job opportunities out there, I am running into the same mundane postings/ positions looking for the same mundane qualifications…. Do you have a good worth ethic…are you a hunter…can you sell…are you a team player….! VP this, SR VP that. How many degrees do you have …..is your resume ATS certified to make it thru all the automated AI ?software programs...No?... well you need this, you need that.... or you're never gonna make it to a virtual interview by phone; to make it to a potentially live virtual interview by computer; to make it to a live interview/meeting with a recruiter; to make it to a live hiring manager or member of a team that's actually employed with the company you are seeking to potentially virtually, remotely work for... ! No exaggeration folks! Told ya, raw; real; uncertain, but not afraid!

Even after explaining what The DASH Academy was all about, some said, 'Why, that?'. Said, 'I can understand if you were opening up your own advertising or consulting company...but the Dash Academy...?''

When you finally hear your own inner voice speaking to you, many people in your life may not understand. They may even discourage; doubt; be non-supportive; surprisingly turn on you.... be prepared for that....all of it. Another news flash, they do not have to understand. After all, most are so consumed with their own outside noises, they cannot even hear their own inner voice, much less yours.

First thoughts are, with my experience and tenure?dealing with DM's, VP's, C-level execs, and building sales teams, in conjunction with my passion to follow my true God given calling (to mentor/coach help guide/teach people to live truly meaningful lives). I thought this may be?the time to update the resume (hasn't been updated in almost 15yrs) and open some doors to finding a 'job/company' that?compliments my current talents/ experience/ and aligns with my moral compass (the need to help change the world for the better-1 person at a time-unless you can get me in front of a group in a room!). All the?while staying on course to my goal of eventually becoming a consultant only, for other companies’ vs a direct hire.?Whatever company I work for/join, at this junction of my life, it’s imperative they are a company that are known for caring about?their employees and understand and participate, in?the importance of contributing to making the world?more connected.?You start with your neighbor folks, long before you even put on that C-level title suit and step out of your C-level house into your C-level car.

In addition, from attending 150-200 tradeshows, I've got contacts and relationships with hundreds of businesses from varying industries,?from the biggest national food shows; CES (consumer electronics show), Housewares, SEMA?(big automotive car industry), pharma, etc)/ Like most in the military, or having grown up in a military family; when surrounded and soaked in massive diversity, you LEARN how to communicate and relate to different people.???

I'm investing the time to be as transparent as possible with my 'intentions/ strengths/ goals'' for my next role---- as after this time---?I do not intend to have the need to ever rewrite my resume again (though- certain I probably will!).?I am amazed how colleagues (mid/upper 40's to mid/upper 50's) are in similar situations where they too, have not had to update /rewrite a resey; have an interview; etc in a decade or more. Like we have just been floating along in our little bubbles- oblivious to everyone else.... then one day that oblivious little bubble goes POP! Seems the worlds just spinning even faster every few years, you wonder how to keep up!

I?know Gods put it on my heart that my true gift is helping/ coaching/mentoring people and to help create and be a part of a serious 'movement'?that encourages and teaches people to be BETTER, nicer, kinder - more authentic and CARING ---and with this comes the lessons (like worth ethic, integrity and character)??The Dash Academy?will ultimately have ''Grace & Grit'' workshops teaching the importance of both, and??I will eventually write a book or 2 as society claims to be heard, you must 1st have been read ... for whatever that means. Or maybe my 'books' will simply be, compilations of hundreds of mini thought inspiring shares, that make you think or crack a smile, like this one! Call this Publishing DASH #1!

So, if you are the .01% that happens to still be reading this-maybe you're my people- looking to elevate, motive and inspire change! Consider this my very 1st of hundreds to come, publishing samples of- 'me finding /using my ''raw, real, very uncertain, but not afraid,'' own voice!' And if by chance you have a company or know of a company who functions by a solid connected culture, gut instincts and by what simply; right, that could greatly use someone like me; whose light will brighten a dark room, whose positive energy will leave you inspired and whose work ethic will make you want to up your game, then reach me!