The End of an Era… Again… Leaving iThemes

istock_000003721281xsmall-flipFive months ago, I left the nest of my last job to the vast expanse of the start-up business to enter at the ground level. Life was, and still is, exciting every day: meeting customer requests, helping teach people how to use FTP and WordPress, and hopefully generating more income for the company by upselling and holding enough hands to create a fanbase.

Today, this morning around 11:00, the era as Customer Support Manager of iThemes came to an end. For now, I’m shocked, hurt, and all of the other things that come with losing your job, but I do have good company as I am reminded of a post a while back from Bryne Reese, who was let go from Six Apart: A sad departure from Six Apart and looking to the future.

The good news first: we still have 12 months of COBRA left, my moonlighting is doing quite well, so while I look for another job, we hopefully aren’t going to drain much of our rainy day savings, and I got a decent severance package to allow me some time to get my bearings. With such news, there is usually an influx of work that comes in with news of one’s free time, so I hope that is the case for me as well.

The bad news is a tad more complex, as it primarily deals with emotions and history. I really don’t want to go back to my last employer for a number of reasons, but they had the best darn insurance and benefits package I’ve had. I also don’t want to be in that profession any more now that I’ve finally started to make a name for myself in the WordPress and online publishing industry. I’ve got clients, references, and testimonials out the wazoo, and I’m excited to exercise those with my full-time attention now, but feeling the responsibility to get a “real job” and get a salary again. Monster.com isn’t very likely as an option because I was working in an English degree, but still have about 20 hours left to go, and my area of expertise is computers, which often require a computer science degree to land a desk job.

My mind is going 1,000,000 miles per hour with plans, ideas, and ways to keep our heads above water. I’m certain it won’t be a problem… I just don’t know what path to take right now. Looking at this on the home page, it’s such a stark contrast to yesterday’s post, it’s unbelievable what a day will do.

In the meanwhile, if you have any site needs or know anyone who needs a professional, easy-to-use site, please head over to JessePetersen.com and check out my testimonials and services.

Comments

  1. Jesse-
    You are the most awesome web guy that I have ever worked with-hands down! Any organization would be lucky to have you on their team.

  2. Jesse-
    You are the most awesome web guy that I have ever worked with-hands down! Any organization would be lucky to have you on their team.

  3. Thanks, Lucy. I managed to keep working all day on projects, so it kept my mind off the worse things in life. Besides, tonight is Hollywood Week show #1, how can I be in a bad mood now? 🙂

  4. Thanks, Lucy. I managed to keep working all day on projects, so it kept my mind off the worse things in life. Besides, tonight is Hollywood Week show #1, how can I be in a bad mood now? 🙂

  5. Michael Erb says

    Jesse, I was SHOCKED to hear about this. Let’s chat soon! Email me when you get a chance.

  6. Michael Erb says

    Jesse, I was SHOCKED to hear about this. Let’s chat soon! Email me when you get a chance.

  7. Sure. I didn’t know if you wanted me to add a chat invite with my personal e-mail or not.

  8. Sure. I didn’t know if you wanted me to add a chat invite with my personal e-mail or not.