An email from the dude at the random meeting with the terrible slides
Ok I’m back I’m back, catching up
Wait wait
You mean you got an email from the guy who was presenting the terrible slides?
I don’t know if he was the one presenting, but it’s his company
AndClara
What
He asked if I would help them with their marketing strategy
Are
You
Kidding
Me
????
Right?
I’m still laughing
Like, Clara I was so mean!
I don’t know what came over me, but I think I was just triggered by a zoom room full of bros
What did you say??
What do you think I said??
Chapter Two
Jude
No thanks!
Istare at my computer, unable to believe the two-word response to the email I sent earlier today. By scanning through the recording, I’d tracked down our Zoom bomber; she turned out to be Veronica Cochran, an MBA with a focus on marketing from Northwestern, whose most recent position was at the successful and edgy ad firm PitchSlapped. Thrilled, I’d carefully crafted an email asking her to help us with our marketing strategy. I explained that her honesty and wit were impressive and sounded like just what our company needed, and we would love to have her on board as a consultant.
And in return, she gave me “no thanks!”
Standing, I walk around to the other side of my desk and then back again, sitting down, hitting Reply, letting my fingers hover over the keyboard. But my brain blanks. What on earth can I say to that?
I close out the email window and open her LinkedIn page again instead, staring at the minimalist logo in place of a profile photo: her initialsVCin digitally created embossedcream on a matte navy-blue background. It’s classy and sharp and modern. If the information on her page is current, she’s also job hunting. Why would she say no to the opportunity to freelance and earn some money? I know José’s presentation needed work, but was it that bad?
Blowing out a breath, I get up again and this time walk onto my balcony, needing a slap from the cold air outside. I’m only on the second floor, but I’m facing the Riverwalk in downtown Chicago and the view is always breathtaking.
An upstairs neighbor takes loud calls all day long, but right now he is blissfully silent, and I close my eyes, trying to calm that vibrating stress that has lived inside me ever since I stepped from the chief technology officer role to CEO six months ago, taking over the company from my brother, the founder. There are so many aspects to this job that I feel like I’m learning on the fly, and the understanding that we can’t get by simply by having the best programmers in the industry makes me feel queasy.
I listen to water, and birds, and people down below. I take ten deep breaths and realize my sister, Hailey, is right: It helps to just breathe sometimes.
Even without a business background, I’m confident that I can bring the company back to what it used to be: a small tech firm that excels at building custom phone apps. But my brother Jason’s car accident and subsequent brain injury have sent many aspects of the business off the rails. None of this is his fault, of course, and it kills me to see how devastated and worried it’s made him. It’s my hope that we can build everything back up and maybe even exceed what it once was.
