When Your Heart Says Jump
When I was seven years old, my parents put me in swimming lessons at the nearest community recreation center. I spent the next four years learning all of the fundamentals of swimming - breathing techniques, stroke types, muscle relaxation functions and more. In the last session of my fourth year, our swimming instructor took us to the deep end of the pool and told us that we could jump off the diving board.
I was terrified. Not at the thought of jumping, though. I was terrified at the thought of walking away from a challenge that I knew in my heart I could accomplish. And even though my instructor gave me the option of not diving, I knew it would be much harder to live with if I didn’t do it. So when my time came to jump, I jumped. And I’ve made decisions this way ever since.
With that in mind, I’ve made the difficult decision to resign my position at Navantis, effective today. I’m going to focus my efforts full-time on a new business opportunity in the mobile space. I’m calling the project Zeus River, and I intend to take it as far as life allows me. I’ve been planning on starting my own business for the last ten years, going as far back as my freshman year in undergraduate university. Over the course of my stay at Navantis, it began to dawn on me that if I didn’t jump now, I wouldn’t get another chance.
I’d like to take a minute to thank a few people at Navantis who have helped me along the way:
To Amber Lalone and Lyle Ralph: Thank you for believing enough in me to bring me in for an interview. I can’t tell you how grateful I am that you took a chance on me. Like I said to you before, it’s hard to say no to Amber (and Lyle!).
To Kevin Oakes and John Kvasnic: Thank you for giving me the opportunity to develop my skills on the business end of technology at Navantis. I appreciate the faith you showed in my skills, and all of the time and resources you poured into me so that I could learn about CRM, social media and Microsoft technologies.
To Patricia Holder: Thanks for always supporting me on projects. I’ve often said you have the hardest job in the company, but you handle it with an incredible dose of grace and elegance.
To Jason Shuker, my bodyguard and fantastic project manager: I want you to know how appreciative I am of the work you did to protect and support my efforts. I’m sorry I couldn’t stick around for the whole project, but I’m here to help anytime you need me. Keep me informed on how the kids are progressing with their studies!
To Charles Jewell and Eric Landry: Thank you for showing me the ropes at various client sites. Going into various companies and analyzing their business requirements is exhilarating, challenging and frustrating all at once; you guys made it look easy. Charles, I would have never left our final project unless I was 100% sure that I could leave the project in your capable hands.
To Amanda Chan: Thank you for your sincerity, your honesty and your friendship. I hope we’ll be friends long after Navantis (hell, I still live down the street!). Don’t let them undervalue you at Navantis, you have a ton of skills that you should get paid for! :)
To Ken Wong: Thanks for the many laughs on the road in Calgary. I will definitely be buying some warm, USB-powered boots next winter.
To Ahmed Al-Samady, Dennis Furtado and all the other soccer superstars I played with… enjoy your time in the sun, and thanks for letting me do some running with you.
To Olayinka Soetan, Yong Hu, Alvin Jiang, Julian Cardarelli and Dan Ditomaso: Thanks for putting up with me these last few months. It has been a pleasure to get to know you and work alongside delivery professionals of your skill and stature. Good luck on your current project and all of your other client work in the future.
To all other members of the Navantis family: Thank you for all of the laughs and all of the learnings that I take away. Navantis has an incredible, unique work culture that I’m grateful to have been a part of.
If you’d like to follow my journey, I intend to document every step through my mailing list. I’d love it if you’d sign up and receive updates on how I’m doing. I’ll also offer special discounts to anyone who is on the list, so if you’ve ever had an idea for a personal or professional project related to mobile, you may want to consider the sign-up to be an investment in your future. :)
I’ve decided to follow a dream that I feel passionately about. That is a humbling and powerful feeling that very few people get a chance to experience. I owe this opportunity to many people who have helped me along the way. Succeed or fail, I feel strongly that I will be a better person for it. To all my friends, family and colleagues, your strength, courage, wisdom and hope means everything to me. Thank you so very much.
-Milan
