Greetings from Life After College
As I sit alone in a dark office tucked away in the woods of a sprawling campus somewhere in south-west Redmond, WA, working on some of the fastest growing technologies in the business world, a part of a revolution that is about to change the way Fortune 500 companies conduct themselves both internally and externally, I have to reflect on where I have come from and the people who have been there for me along the way.
It was no accident that I am writing this today; our brother Ben Hornbacher had asked me to contribute almost a year ago and I had told him I would...eventually. Days came and went and it just never happened. Then, today, being the sadistic egotist that I am, I Googled my name and found that it was linked to a Theta Chi alumni blog; the same one I had promised Ben that I would contribute to so long ago. And here I am.
It has not been easy. After graduating from the University of Idaho with a degree in Business, I stayed in Moscow for a girl who wanted nothing to do with me (men, never make this mistake. But if you must, learn from it sooner than later). After working for a failing car dealership as a salesman for 6 months, I had had enough and took an unpaid internship with a movie production company. Our first movie would be based in Spokane, titled "Home of the Brave" starring Samuel L. Jackson, 50 Cent (who prefers to be called by his first birth name, "Curtis"), Christina Ricci and Jessica Biel. Directed by Oscar winner Irwin Winkler who is famous for the Rocky movies and mafia cult classics like Raging Bull and Goodfellas, it has promise. However, a union strike blacklisted the company and although I was promoted to Locations Manager for my expertise with Real Estate (someone who organizes filming locations for a movie), the company went under after filming had completed. This was my first and last experience with the wild world of Hollywood politics. I may enter it one day again but for now it is my 15 minute claim to fame. And don’t watch the movie, it is one of the worst I have seen.
After that, I threw my few worldly belongings into a U-Haul and drove west to Seattle. I had friends there and a job lined up with one of the top print advertising companies in the United States. I would be managing advertising deployment for some of the best corporations in the world; Starbucks, Boeing, Nike, Adidas and many other smaller projects. If you ever make it to the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle, go see the bat exhibit; it is a smaller, fun project that I deployed...in fact, the day it was deployed was the day I was laid off. The company was in shambles. Cost of goods sold had been approaching revenue for the past three quarters with no end in sight. I had taken my CIO to lunch the day before and even paid for his lunch; he knew my demise the entire time. Although I was one of the highest performing project managers at the company, I was the first to go because of seniority. My boss had called me into her office. She and our HR manager were both in tears as they explained my termination to me. What was I supposed to do? Anger was not a fitting emotion at this time. This was not a decision either of these women had made; our failing executive team was trying to save costs wherever they could. Being a man raised with strong respect and integrity which I can attribute to those at Theta Chi who had taken me in at such a wayward time in my life, I shook my boss’ hand and thanked her for the chance to learn from this. She looked at me as if I had just spoken in an alien tongue. I walked out and did not look back. I was later told that she publicly resigned during an all-company meeting the next day because of the stress caused by firing me. In less than 6 months, the company would unravel from 220 employees to a mere 20. Finally looking back, I was glad to get out so fast.
I spent a month trying to get back into sales, being offered six figure incomes left and right to sell anything from international oceanic shipping route rights to imaging solutions for 500-5000 employee companies. I quickly realized that I hated sales with a passion and took a job as a game tester for a best-selling car-racing game franchise at Xbox called Forza. After a short time there it was recognized that my background in photography would help me excel at photo consulting. If you have played Forza 2 before, you will know that you can pause during a race and take a “photo” of your car and use that image to share with friends over the internet or use it as a desktop background on your computer, among other uses. My job was to give feedback on this feature and to test it and more or less try to break it before shipping to our end user.
This would have been fun but I have learned that I dislike playing video games. And it paid terribly. I became good friends with an HR rep from my contracting company and she inferred that I would do much better in a business environment. The next thing I knew I was interviewing at the Xbox support offices and I had landed a new job that doubled my pay, cut down my hours and allowed me extra time to work on a talent and modeling management company a friend of mine and I had started. I spent 6 months there until a friend of mine who I had met back in my days of racing cars offered to have me meet the members of his team on main campus at Microsoft. At the time I was still a temporary contractor so having an opportunity to join the full time staff was something I could not refuse.
The next two months were a whirlwind. I landed the job at Microsoft corporate, I bought a condo overlooking Lake Union in downtown Seattle only 5 blocks north of the Space Needle and I left the talent company I had started. I had an awesome girlfriend (who I am still dating and is still awesome) and life seemed like it was finally starting.
Now here I am, 8 months later, not sure what tomorrow brings but I will say my time with Theta Chi has prepared me for it. The brothers I have built bonds with there have taught me about how to be a stand-up individual in what can be an otherwise cruel and unfair world. We are taught to be gentle but stand tall and take accountability for our own actions while protecting the well-being of others.
As a founding father, I have to say I had no idea what we were doing would make such a big impact at the University of Idaho. And to say that presupposes some unwarranted credit; I did not have as much to do with the charter of Theta Chi in 2002 as much as I would have liked. But being there, we were making history. You guys are a big deal and the campus knows it. Theta Chi’s virtues of honor and integrity are rich in your house; don’t ever let the temptations of the world sway you otherwise.
I hope to keep you all better updated with my progress in life and I want to hear your stories as well. Let’s create some adventures that we can use to help mentor others. And by all means, if you are in Seattle and need a place to crash or you are moving here and need a job, call me at 425-652-9099 or email me at emetdw@gmail.com. I am always ready to assist a brother in need.
It was no accident that I am writing this today; our brother Ben Hornbacher had asked me to contribute almost a year ago and I had told him I would...eventually. Days came and went and it just never happened. Then, today, being the sadistic egotist that I am, I Googled my name and found that it was linked to a Theta Chi alumni blog; the same one I had promised Ben that I would contribute to so long ago. And here I am.
It has not been easy. After graduating from the University of Idaho with a degree in Business, I stayed in Moscow for a girl who wanted nothing to do with me (men, never make this mistake. But if you must, learn from it sooner than later). After working for a failing car dealership as a salesman for 6 months, I had had enough and took an unpaid internship with a movie production company. Our first movie would be based in Spokane, titled "Home of the Brave" starring Samuel L. Jackson, 50 Cent (who prefers to be called by his first birth name, "Curtis"), Christina Ricci and Jessica Biel. Directed by Oscar winner Irwin Winkler who is famous for the Rocky movies and mafia cult classics like Raging Bull and Goodfellas, it has promise. However, a union strike blacklisted the company and although I was promoted to Locations Manager for my expertise with Real Estate (someone who organizes filming locations for a movie), the company went under after filming had completed. This was my first and last experience with the wild world of Hollywood politics. I may enter it one day again but for now it is my 15 minute claim to fame. And don’t watch the movie, it is one of the worst I have seen.
After that, I threw my few worldly belongings into a U-Haul and drove west to Seattle. I had friends there and a job lined up with one of the top print advertising companies in the United States. I would be managing advertising deployment for some of the best corporations in the world; Starbucks, Boeing, Nike, Adidas and many other smaller projects. If you ever make it to the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle, go see the bat exhibit; it is a smaller, fun project that I deployed...in fact, the day it was deployed was the day I was laid off. The company was in shambles. Cost of goods sold had been approaching revenue for the past three quarters with no end in sight. I had taken my CIO to lunch the day before and even paid for his lunch; he knew my demise the entire time. Although I was one of the highest performing project managers at the company, I was the first to go because of seniority. My boss had called me into her office. She and our HR manager were both in tears as they explained my termination to me. What was I supposed to do? Anger was not a fitting emotion at this time. This was not a decision either of these women had made; our failing executive team was trying to save costs wherever they could. Being a man raised with strong respect and integrity which I can attribute to those at Theta Chi who had taken me in at such a wayward time in my life, I shook my boss’ hand and thanked her for the chance to learn from this. She looked at me as if I had just spoken in an alien tongue. I walked out and did not look back. I was later told that she publicly resigned during an all-company meeting the next day because of the stress caused by firing me. In less than 6 months, the company would unravel from 220 employees to a mere 20. Finally looking back, I was glad to get out so fast.
I spent a month trying to get back into sales, being offered six figure incomes left and right to sell anything from international oceanic shipping route rights to imaging solutions for 500-5000 employee companies. I quickly realized that I hated sales with a passion and took a job as a game tester for a best-selling car-racing game franchise at Xbox called Forza. After a short time there it was recognized that my background in photography would help me excel at photo consulting. If you have played Forza 2 before, you will know that you can pause during a race and take a “photo” of your car and use that image to share with friends over the internet or use it as a desktop background on your computer, among other uses. My job was to give feedback on this feature and to test it and more or less try to break it before shipping to our end user.
This would have been fun but I have learned that I dislike playing video games. And it paid terribly. I became good friends with an HR rep from my contracting company and she inferred that I would do much better in a business environment. The next thing I knew I was interviewing at the Xbox support offices and I had landed a new job that doubled my pay, cut down my hours and allowed me extra time to work on a talent and modeling management company a friend of mine and I had started. I spent 6 months there until a friend of mine who I had met back in my days of racing cars offered to have me meet the members of his team on main campus at Microsoft. At the time I was still a temporary contractor so having an opportunity to join the full time staff was something I could not refuse.
The next two months were a whirlwind. I landed the job at Microsoft corporate, I bought a condo overlooking Lake Union in downtown Seattle only 5 blocks north of the Space Needle and I left the talent company I had started. I had an awesome girlfriend (who I am still dating and is still awesome) and life seemed like it was finally starting.
Now here I am, 8 months later, not sure what tomorrow brings but I will say my time with Theta Chi has prepared me for it. The brothers I have built bonds with there have taught me about how to be a stand-up individual in what can be an otherwise cruel and unfair world. We are taught to be gentle but stand tall and take accountability for our own actions while protecting the well-being of others.
As a founding father, I have to say I had no idea what we were doing would make such a big impact at the University of Idaho. And to say that presupposes some unwarranted credit; I did not have as much to do with the charter of Theta Chi in 2002 as much as I would have liked. But being there, we were making history. You guys are a big deal and the campus knows it. Theta Chi’s virtues of honor and integrity are rich in your house; don’t ever let the temptations of the world sway you otherwise.
I hope to keep you all better updated with my progress in life and I want to hear your stories as well. Let’s create some adventures that we can use to help mentor others. And by all means, if you are in Seattle and need a place to crash or you are moving here and need a job, call me at 425-652-9099 or email me at emetdw@gmail.com. I am always ready to assist a brother in need.
posted by Emet Ward at 3:42 PM
