Why me? Reflectively

I’m at a bit of a cross-roads in my career. This current chapter, which does coincide with the first of the year 2018, I find a re-emergence of a re-occuring theme in my life. A juxtaposition of sorts. Comprised of the two components of my life and dare I say it, my entire being. I have a left vs right brain conundrum.

I’ve spent my career in Marketing and Business Development. I studied English and went into Advertising only to find that I knew nothing about business. So I went to business school. I learned all the buzz words and worked up the corporate ladder (or at least I took a couple of steps up, a few down and have enjoyed a career that allowed me to help put two kids through expensive private Universities.

In a parallel universe (i.e. at night, on weekends and off and on throughout my life) I have been a musician. A pretty good one at that. But certainly not committed enough to make it a full-time job and more importantly, not confident or driven enough to let go of the stability of a paycheck to persue my creative calling.

So here I sit, on the precipice of another career path course correction starting a Marketing and Sales Consulting practice. I’m very excited, very motivated and very confident that the time is right for me to break away from the employment “teet” and embark on a solo stint. I’ve been doing this for others for years. Why not do it for myself and reap the benefits, enjoy the autonomy and give back to an industry with all the things that I’ve come to learn over the past 20 years.  

But today, I’m trying to write a bio that spells out WHY I am so well-suited to solve my potential clients’ problems. I start with the bigger than life question, “WHY ME?”

Who do I think that I am? An industry expert? One of those brilliant guys from an Ivy league school who can advise the Industry Titans on how to position their companies for war? No, I’m just a guy, who met a girl… wooops, wrong story. I’m just a guy who has worked for small and large companies with good and not as good experiences. A guy who has always been told that I’ve got some pretty smart ideas and can synthesize things down to rational thoughts and direction. A guy who is so passionate about why some things are features while others are benefits. AND I can talk about why and how those benefits add up to what is REALLY important and matters so much more than most all of the features in the world. I’m a guy who loves to work with smart people and get’s so deeply involved in developing the winning strategic direction that I barely sleep at night.

Hmm. I guess I just answered the question. Why me?