I was senior manager at the time we opened the command center in Florida. Just a quarter in and the company Board of Directors came to see what we launched. They were about to experience something new, something that was about to disrupt the industry.
Before starting, our CEO came up to me to give some advice. "Explain it like you would explain to your mother", he said. I wondered why he would know my mother.
The room and space was futuristic. Speaking of space, the founder of the X-Prize and first female space tourist was a member, so we were honored for her presence. But instantly, sitting in her little green business dress and red glossy heels, she pulled out her iPhone from her Louis Vuitton handbag and proceeded to text the whole time. She seemed spaced out.
Spacewoman aside, the demonstration was successful which drew mild cheers and celebration. In fact, these Board members, average age of 60 and current or retired executives, showed a surprising amount of energy, like kids in a candy store.
We became an overnight phenomenon and company rockstars. That year business leaders from all over wanted to bring their customers in. We had unlocked a channel to executives in customers and we were the headline act. We hosted entire executive teams of Fortune 500 companies, inventors, investors, media, and the Crown Prince of Dubai once.
The company jet would drop us off while chauffeur-driven cars waited on the tarmac to take us to important meetings. We were also guests presenting in supply chain classes at MIT and advising leading economics professors.
Our influence on the company and industry could not be greater. We had something that would go on to be legendary, gaining awards and patents and once appearing in the Wall Street Journal.
I've often wondered what makes a celebrity like Robin Williams at the peak of career deliberately end his life. It was uncomprehend-able to me before, but now I have a little more context. Fame can be gruesome after a while. There's intense pressure for constant peak performance. You begin liking attention until it becomes addiction. And when supply runs out the game is over. A fall from grace is inevitable and intolerable and isolating. It's withdrawal.
I might have been in love with work, and I had fallen in love with Florida, but was time to leave to embark on a new chapter of my career. Colorado was the best thing for my family at that time and so we hit reset button, moved to the Mile High City, and began a new life.
