Well, my biggest update from this past month is that I’ve locked in a job!

On Monday, I’m all set to start as an Engagement Strategist at BizLove – a boutique consultancy focused on org transformation and culture work.

I feel like this opportunity is a great fit for me, and it actually came about from me sharing my thoughts in this newsletter.

In my November update, I mentioned an interest in working at a boutique org transformation consultancy. The following day, I received this message:

Andy and I follow each other on Twitter and subscribe to each other’s newsletters but don’t know each other outside of the internet world. Yet Andy was generous enough to reach out and make the slam-dunk connection with a company that I would’ve been unlikely to stumble upon otherwise.

The following week I chatted with Andy’s friend over Zoom and then, while in New York City in December, I grabbed coffee with the BizLove founder. We had a great conversation and made plans to continue exploring the fit in the new year. In early January, I was given a case study to present on and the following week I was extended an offer to join the team.

After receiving the offer, I just felt in my gut that it was the right next step for me to take. And when I dug in deeper, I was able to pinpoint some of the reasons why:

1) The work is up my alley

I care deeply about the ways that people experience work, especially during periods of transformation. With BizLove, I’ll get to focus on strategically helping businesses navigate through change via a people-centered approach.

I was attracted to consulting during the undergrad job recruiting process because of the problem-solving nature of the work. But being a “problem solver” is only as enjoyable as the type of problems you’re tasked with solving. With BizLove’s niche, I’ve got a good degree of confidence that I’ll spend my time on problems that genuinely interest me, and that’s not an easy thing to find!

2) It’s a small team of quality people

As an opinionated person coming from startup-land, I didn’t want to be a part of a big bureaucracy — nor would I likely thrive in that environment. I hate red tape and company politics, and I enjoy the vibe and camaraderie of being a part of something small.

Beyond that, during the interview and selection process I met 4 people from the ~10-person team and they all seemed kind, smart, and enjoyable to be around. I believe that who you work with is more important than what you work on, and the folks at BizLove seem like the type of quality people that I’ll enjoy spending my time collaborating and hanging out with.

3) There’s an opportunity to build

BizLove is 4 years old, but only in the last year or so has the company started to find its footing and land more work. Jumping in now provides me with a fun opportunity to be a part of building something from the ground up and to contribute in a meaningful way while the company is still in that “figuring it out” stage.

Furthermore, despite being a consultancy, BizLove has unique IP that they’re working on bringing to market. It’s pretty out-there and different, and I’m excited to have a hand in shaping its development and eventual release.

4) It’s a job that I can approach with a medium amount of care and a medium amount of ownership

I want to work a job that I care about. But right now, I don’t want a job that I have to care TOO much about. I want a job that I like and can thrive at, but also one that just feels like…a job, rather than an obsession, lifestyle, or calling (in the way I felt about Zcruit).

I also want to have ownership and not feel like a mere cog in the machine. I want to be able to think creatively and strategically rather than simply follow orders and do what I’m told. But I also don’t want TOO much ownership to the point where I feel stress around the weight of my decisions or feel like there’s always more that I could or should be doing.

At BizLove, I’m not the founder or boss or in a meaningful leadership role. I’ll finally have a job that I can think of like a normal job. One that provides me with structure, stability, and fulfillment, and that doesn’t follow me around 24/7/365. And at this point in my life, that’s something that I’m genuinely excited about.

General Life Updates 

Outside of the job stuff, I’ve had a nice month back home in Austin. I’m settling into a routine that includes weekly pickleball and bar trivia. I’ve had a couple of friends in town that I’ve shown around. And I went to comedy shows on back-to-back nights; first to see Sam Morril, and then to see the taping of my friend Raza Jafri’s comedy special 😊

Monthly Favorites

🎵 Song: Flagpole Sitta by Harvey Danger – I knew this song before, but I certainly didn’t know it by name until listening to the lead singer of Harvey Danger interviewed on a Freakonomics podcast episode about one-hit wonders. But let me assure you — this jam still holds up quite nicely 25 years later 🤘

I also want to give a shoutout to MIDDLESPOON, my Uber driver who had QR codes on the back seats of his Tesla Model Y that linked to his tunes. Crush On You and Bon Bon Boy both came out less than 6 months ago and have 120k and 60k views on YouTube respectively. And they’re quite fun music videos too!

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📝 Article: The Craziest Sports Story of the Year Is FC Sheriff by Grant Wahl — After the beloved soccer journalist Grant Wahl passed away in December, I saw someone share this article that he wrote the previous year. A couple of weeks ago I finally got around to reading it, and boy is it a fun one!

FC Sheriff is a soccer club in the unrecognized territory of Tiraspol run by a former KGB agent turned oligarch that defeated Real Madrid in the Champions League last year. For the piece, Wahl traveled to Tiraspol (technically within Moldova, but which has its own currency), spent time with the eclectic mix of players from 15 countries (including Peru, Trinidad and Tobago, and Luxembourg), and chatted with locals. It’s an enjoyable and entertaining read from a much-missed voice in the sports journalism world.

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💻 Product: Lex — Lex assisted me with the writing of this newsletter! It’s pretty much Google Docs with AI built in and I’ve found it pretty darn useful to counteract writer’s block. When I’m stuck on what to write next, I just type ‘+++’ and Lex will give its suggestion on the next sentence or paragraph I should write. It’s saved me a few minutes here or there and I’ve been impressed with the quality of their suggestions (as an example, the italicized section here was written by Lex).

They also have an ‘Ask Lex’ feature, where you can ask its AI chatbot questions in a way that feels like you have another person to bounce your writing off of. Overall, it’s a nice, free tool that complements and speeds up my writing process.

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Thanks for reading! As always, if anything I shared resonated with you, I’d love for you to shoot me a reply 😊

Til Next Month,

Ben

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