I Gave My Resignation (Secret Series #2)

Have you ever thought about what it’d be like to resign from your job? What if that job was a career that you originally planned to follow through to retirement? That’s what I did this week, so this second installment of “The Secret Series” breaks down the how’s and why’s of resigning along with the first stumbling block in my full time endeavor (which of course had to happen the very same day). 

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S4E09 | Series Episode 72

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:21

Hello and welcome. My name is Tom. This is the Enthusiasm Project season four, episode nine. Also secret series, episode number two. So last week I played a secret recording that Heather and I did in early February. That was where I had made the decision or was pretty much leaning towards the idea that I was ready to move on from my job and dive into YouTube and online content creation full time. But before making any kind of actual real world, real world decisions, Heather recommended that what if you acted as if and just sort of lived with that reality for a while and you know, see how that feels and all the different things that popped up. And after a few days of that, we sat down and sort of shared the hows and the whys and that sort of thing. And that was last week's episode. This week's episode is the next step. So this was recorded at the end of February, so about three weeks later. And at this point, not only had I made the decision, but this was actually recorded on the day that I turned in my resignation officially. So that was a uh that was a very exhausting day because things are exhausting in general, and that was a day where I had worked all day. We even no, we didn't do a couples table that day because it just made sense. But it's it's been busy. It had been very busy up until then, anyway, just with everything happening and chaos and try and just so many different things happening on top of trying to navigate resignation. And I had been absolutely dreading having to go to my boss, who's been nothing but kind and supportive to me over the past five years that we've worked together, and turn in a resignation in the midst of a pandemic, in the midst of the school preparing to transition back to having some students in person and some students online, and then me just kind of going, well, also this is a thing that's that you're gonna have to deal with. And so I had to navigate that, and it was uh very, very scary, and the the thought of doing that was very, very stressful, and even the process of of turning in the resignation letter because I you know got to work early that morning and tried to go into the office to do it, but it was like every time I went, like the door had just shut for another meeting or another call or something. So every time I'd walk to the office thinking, like, okay, it's happening, this is it, and then it would be delayed and ended up being like four different times. It was very, very stressful. But I did it. Uh we cover that whole thing in this episode, and then the other thing that happened that same day, that was huge victory, and then immediately got uh I don't want to call it a like a a you know, like a negative thing that happened, but definitely a a wake-up call to oh boy, things could go wrong if you if your your own personal thing is what you're relying on for everything. And it's of course, because I have nothing but impeccable timing, of course, that would happen on that exact day, like after I turned in resignation and decided to dive all in, there would be a speed bump. We'll call that. So that's what today's this week's episode covers uh the actual process of resignation, how that went, and the first stumbling block that I experienced literally the same day as all of that, in addition to just being wildly exhausted. So I'm gonna smoothly transition over to that recording, and I hope that uh I hope that you enjoy the process.

SPEAKER_01 4:14

Hi, Tom.

SPEAKER_00 4:15

Hi, Heather.

SPEAKER_01 4:16

It's been it's been three and a half weeks since our last episode. Right. It's been a very, very long day. Yes. Two big things happened today, and we will try to tackle them individually.

SPEAKER_00 4:29

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 4:30

So I'm gonna walk you through this process because I know you're still I'm fried. Okay, so let's why don't you talk about the big thing that happened in the first half of the day?

SPEAKER_00 4:44

Well, this is the real big thing. Uh so today officially gave my notice that I will not be coming back next school year.

SPEAKER_01 4:56

Can you describe how you felt yesterday?

SPEAKER_00 5:00

So I have been anxious the whole time, and it's been going back and forth between like like kind of around the last time we recorded a little like secret podcast to be released at a future date. The secret series. Yes. Uh I I was very, very excited, and then excitement was still there, but the last week or so has been a lot of anxiety, a lot of like you know, just anxiety, uncertainty, all that stuff. And but it didn't mean I wasn't gonna do it. And because uh currently there's a ton of talk about schools going back and this hybrid format and all the stuff that it just like, even though the end of February is very early, with everything that's happening, it just sort of felt like the right time. And my principal last week just randomly said, Do you have time to chat? Can you come by my office when you're on campus this week to talk about totally unrelated, like helping out with project stuff, not not anything like this. And I was like, Look, if all this stuff is happening, I need to give my notice. He's specifically asking me to come talk to him in his office. It's the timing is is right, and so I was very, very nervous. And yesterday, like last night, didn't sleep. I was so restless. Ben threw up, everybody was restless. Long night, complete exhaust basically woke up at 3 30 this morning and didn't really go back to bed. And it's I don't know what time it is, it's like eight o'clock at night or something now. Um, and so that's how I was feeling. But I had I last week worked on my letter of resignation, did a couple drafts of it, had you look it over. So I had a printed out letter. I've never given like a legit official letter of resignation before. And then I've just been like thinking of how to approach it, what to say, and I've just been like, you know.

SPEAKER_01 6:50

So this whole time you because you made the decision that you were officially not gonna renew your contract. Like, when was that? It was a couple weeks ago.

SPEAKER_00 7:01

I mean, it was around the time we recorded the last one of this, so I don't know, a month almost.

SPEAKER_01 7:07

You have not looked back in terms of that decision.

SPEAKER_00 7:11

No, no, I haven't. Right. Even doubt and anxiety. No, no, no, that hasn't been because as far as I'm concerned, my job doesn't exist anymore. Right. It it there is was that Alex?

SPEAKER_01 7:21

Alexis like talking to us.

SPEAKER_00 7:23

There, there is no like going back to normal.

SPEAKER_01 7:28

She's hold on, sorry, sorry, you can edit this out if you want. Alexis reminded me to give a snack to the dogs.

SPEAKER_00 7:34

I don't know if I'll remember to edit this.

SPEAKER_01 7:37

It's fine, then you guys are just gonna this is the household. Okay, anyway. Yeah. Um so this morning.

SPEAKER_00 7:43

Yeah, so there hasn't been any looking back because as far as I'm concerned, it's not that I'm like my job as it was, which was already stressful and already something that I was ready to transition out of just pre-all of this, it doesn't exist anymore. And it's been confirmed that you know, going into next school year, it's gonna be a weird hybrid thing, regardless of what happens this school year, and then I have to rebuild my home. At that point, yeah, I'm starting. That's a whole nother episode. So, yeah. So, anyway, this so it was just very clear that this was the thing to do.

SPEAKER_01 8:16

This is the right decision for you for me. Okay. So this morning.

SPEAKER_00 8:20

So this morning, yeah. So this morning I go to school on Thursdays and I get there early at like seven o'clock or a little before, because I have a class at 8:30, and we I need to prep stuff and we record our broadcast and all that. So I was like, okay, I'm gonna have my letter. I know principal gets there about the same time I do. I'll first thing in the morning just take care of that. And I it's like a long walk from my classroom to the office, it's all the way across a huge outdoor campus. And I walked all the way over there, and then he was in a meeting, and I was like, oh god. So I kind of like hung around a little bit and then walked all the way back, and then walked all the way over, and he was in an interview, like a job interview for somebody, and then all the way back, and then it went like three times, and every time I went, I was like fairly calm on the way to work. I got to work, you know, like setting stuff up, I was fine. But as soon as like I picked up my letter, got my keys, and went to go walk out the door, like my legs turned to complete jello, heart racing, the whole thing, and then that just happened every time I went to the office. But every time I went to the office, the door was closed, and then it turned into time for first period class, and there I was like, Well, I have to do class now. So switching gears completely to that, where then kids are asking, like, oh, if we come back, will we be able to like record broadcasts and stuff? And and I was like, I don't know, we'll have to play by ear. Uh, and then you know, then you get into teaching mode. There's a thing, I'm just gonna say it's a thing that is legitimately taught to you in teacher training classes, and it's specifically what you're told is leave your feelings at the door, like you're having a bad day, you're sick, you're not feeling well, you're not you have to just leave, you shove your stuff to the side and just and I understand why. I don't know that that's always the healthiest thing to do, but you get really good at like okay, switch it and just go for it. But then the tricky part is switching back, so you know, class is pretty normal, class ends, and then suddenly I was like, Oh, right, I have to go do this now. And then I went and you know, his door was open, and I walked in and he was just happy, you know, good morning, what's up? We're gonna talk, and I was just like, I we need to talk this morning. I was like, before that though, I need to just update you on something, and I just said it's as succinctly as I could, uh, I made the decision that I'm gonna leave teaching. I'm gonna move on from teaching at the end of this year, and he was like, Oh, but he handled it so nicely, very different than past experiences. You know, he he was just very gracious and very understanding and actually very happy, like, I've seen your stuff, you know, taken off and makes sense that that's what you're gonna do. And you know, I'm happy that I had you for the five years that you were here, and very exciting. And I explained, like, I'm giving you the letter and giving you notice now because my program is it's a tough one to replace, and and uh, you know, I just want to make sure that you have as much notice as possible. And he he was like trying to make me feel better, I think. Because he's like, I've left positions where I thought, you know, it was gonna crumble after I left, and it turns out the world can went on, and I was like, Yeah, it will be okay, I know. And so then I made the offer like, if you want me to help out and work on, you know, transferring as much knowledge and info as possible, I'll do that. And if you want me to just sort of step back and let you guys transition how you think is gonna be best for the long term, I'm cool with that too. Like, you know, I it's the mindset of I'm not gonna be here anymore, so I don't I don't want to. It is my program, but it's in such a weird state right now that it's like for those of you who are gonna continue being here, they're gonna be there. Yeah, you're the ones that have to deal with this, so yeah, exactly. You get priority in that, and it was super duper just nice about that. But then the other part popped up, which was you and I made this decision a while ago that if they said we were gonna come back to a hybrid situation, which is just any any situation that requires you to be on campus with students, yeah. Because I'm on campus right now, but I'm alone in my I'm alone, yeah. There's no one else, you know, talking to my principal, which we were more than six feet apart the whole time with masks on. Yeah, yeah, and that's the only person I interact with. Um I just made the decision I'm not on campus with students, and I I think that our school's actually doing above average compared to in terms of preparation for students, and it's still gonna be a mess if it happens. And I haven't it's been seeming like we're just gonna stay online the whole year and then do a hybrid thing in the fall, and then the last like couple weeks, like nope, huge push, huge push, yeah, huge push to come back. So it really seems like we're gonna come back in April. And I I I was the whole time I was like debating like, do I don't want to give an ultimatum? I know this went so well, I don't want to then throw a wrench. Yeah, but it's I think with this particular situation, it's like I I just needed to be I I knew what I knew was that I was gonna walk out, and if I didn't get everything clear and I had to tell you, and you would say, like, did you tell him this?

SPEAKER_01 13:40

Like, no, it's gonna be one more thing. Yeah, then you're just it's it's baggage that you're taking home.

SPEAKER_00 13:45

And the whole reason we had to meet originally was to talk about some stuff that's happening at the end of the year for like graduations and things and making plans, and so I said, Well, you're not gonna be there, yeah. And so I said, Well, here's the other part of this, you know, and I just explained my reasoning as briefly as I could of you know, like I've decided that I don't want to come back in person, and he was again super understanding, and you know, you gotta do the best that's for you, even help me, you know, gave me some advice on like if you need to, you could figure out if you can use sick days for that time or or whatever. Um, and so you know, I I said I'm here to facilitate and you know be active and and do the best I can. My goal is until the end of the school year, but till till as long as as I can. Yeah. And that was kind of where we left off, which has been great. Um, and then I mean it I I kind of like left and I was like, wait, was there's like was that it? Like, what do I do now? And then he like uh had me come back and sign uh like an official form of resignation, which was very intense because it it literally just it's just a triplicate form that's just you know this employee on this date resigned, you know, checkbox in person with a letter to this person. Last you know, date of work will be this date, uh, which on that form was June 5th. So I guess that's the last day of school. I don't even know when the last day of school is. Uh and that was strange because it was like, oh, this is like like this is going to the district office, this is non-revocable, like this that's it. So jumped out of the plane, and now you just like okay.

SPEAKER_01 15:26

So now that you're flying, how do you feel?

SPEAKER_00 15:30

Well, I I felt great, and overall, um I mean I'm so tired right now, but I felt great, I feel great. Overall, I was very excited. So no regrets. I called no no no, no, no, no. Because there's there's no option. The only other option would be to destroy myself mentally and put myself in jeopardy. And you know, I like it's sort of a joke, but it's also not that like legitimately in staff meetings, the question pops up of do we leave our doors open then to protect from the virus, or do we keep them shut like we're supposed to to protect from shooters? That's just one small detail, but that is definitely not what like little old me with a liberal arts degree, English lit degree, wanting to make digital media stuff, like those are just not things that I'm equipped for prepared for, yeah. And it and I so it's it's it's not an option, like and it is what it is.

SPEAKER_01 16:20

And I won't even let that happen.

SPEAKER_00 16:22

So I know, and and we've been you know, we've been trying to put measures in place to to, you know, we've been looking at our health insurance quotes because that's such a huge thing, and I mean that's one of the biggest benefits, is I have really good health insurance and just figuring out all that stuff, which helps put me at ease when I know how things are being taken care of. Um so you know, yeah, so I was super happy. Called you, gave you the whole rundown on what happened, called my mom. My mom was actually a happy and crying, which I was I don't know when that shift happened, but that's not what I would have expected a while ago. So it was a big deal, and you know, then and it and it definitely did help. And I taught my classes, and I I did a frigging great job on my other classes in the day, and it's a very it's strange, it's strange because perspective just immediately shifted of like you feel it, yeah. Like, oh, I don't need to worry about this, this is no big deal. Um, and then you know, I started packing stuff up because I only go to campus once a week, and there's really only a couple weeks left for spring break. Seems like I don't I really don't know if I'm gonna actually be able to come back after spring break. So I need to kind of get everything cleared out, and my rooms are even without my personal stuff, there's like so much stuff to just organize and figure out, and I just want to keep it like you know, I don't want I need to get my stuff out, and I don't want someone to come in and I've taken over crappy classrooms where you have to sift through someone else's life and it sucks, and I don't want to make someone else do that.

SPEAKER_01 17:55

Let's talk about how you were feeling when you got home and you were telling me, and you were just like, you know, because I was I mean, I was super I'm you were very excited, and your excitement makes me more excited because then it's like because the thing is like I feel I feel just a sense of guilt.

SPEAKER_00 18:11

And but yeah, that's just your nature. That's normal. Like my principal was saying, like, I'm so happy for you. He even said, Above all, I'm so excited for you. And then I I checked in a couple hours later with my specific like department administrator. Um, and I was like, Oh, I don't know if you've heard he's like, No, we talked a little bit, and he's like, I'm sad, but it's like more than anything, I'm just so happy and excited for you. So everybody was because the best possible reaction you could hope for.

SPEAKER_01 18:34

Because understanding has seen, like everyone knows what you're doing, which I didn't really realize. And the fact that you're going to be able to focus on that, I mean, who wouldn't want to see where you're gonna take it, you know?

SPEAKER_00 18:50

Yeah, so I mean that it's not like you're leaving for another job. Yeah, that could be different if I was like, I'm going to the school on the other side of town. Of course.

SPEAKER_01 18:58

That's like weird. Why? Yeah, but that's especially since you run the program there.

SPEAKER_00 19:03

Yeah, but it's not that. I mean, and I was clear, I was like, if I was gonna keep teaching, like I got it.

SPEAKER_01 19:07

This is Yeah, you have the best job.

SPEAKER_00 19:09

Yeah, yes. So yeah, so it the I feel guilty. They you know that helped me feel a little better, and then you your excitement, it was like, oh, this should be like a and just for the record celebration.

SPEAKER_01 19:21

Yeah, for the record, I'm insanely excited to I mean, not only do I have a life partner who's like the best, but now business partner, like this is this is my dream. Like, we can literally design our life from morning to night, like every week hour.

SPEAKER_00 19:40

It's very exciting and also so scary to me because I've just never Oh, you're gonna get over it so fast.

SPEAKER_01 19:47

Like that first night morning where you don't have to set an alarm, you're you're gonna be like, wow.

SPEAKER_00 19:51

Well, it's not, I mean, I've not had to set alarms before, but not have to set alarm and like not because even summer vacations, which are long, you know, it's not as long as non-teachers think that they are. But I I can't help but focus on the yeah, you know, this is everything I need to do during summer vacation. This is and that's that's just like not a thing.

SPEAKER_01 20:13

Oh, I remember what it was. It was um Labor Day. That's the one in September, right? Yeah. So this was the Labor Day after I had quit my job. Um, and like there you just feel like oh my god, what are you gonna do for Labor Day weekend, three-day weekend? It's it's like at the end of summer, so the weather's still beautiful, and everyone's going on three-day weekend, vac staycations, vacations, blah blah blah. But it's like for me, it was like when's Labor Day? Like, oh yeah, there's a Labor Day thing. Because there is no weekend, the concept of weekend. I mean, you can take a weekend Thursday, Friday if you want, right? It's totally up to you, which is awesome. Anyway, so I'm super excited.

SPEAKER_00 20:52

Well, thank you, and thank you for all of your support.

SPEAKER_01 20:54

And I'm just so excited. I mean, the thing that I'm most excited about is to see you dedicate all of your energy to your own thing without any barriers or approval, permission, like nothing. Like you can I was thinking about this in the shower, so that's where all the good thinking happens. Tom, like you have been on this bus, the struggle bus, okay? You're on this bus and like drive that bus. The team that you work for is on the bus, and there's some people who think they're the driver, and some people who not, and there's all this conflict, and you're trying to drive in one direction, and it's just a mess, right? But working as yourself, it's kind of like water making its way through something where like even if you blocked, like if you put like a barrier, the water would just go go around it and find a new way until it got to the bottom of the bottle, kind of thing. And like it's just it just even though because the The where I'm going with this is because after all the celebration, you had your first hiccup, which caused a lot of stress. But I was I was thinking like it it's not like a door closes, it's just you just reroute, but you're still heading in a direction, and that's the beauty of entrepreneurship is like yes, you don't have to like get approval or permission or anything, and yes, there's a different other kind of stress, but you will always be in total control of what you do have control over, and that's like an amazing powerful feeling.

SPEAKER_00 22:37

Right, and I'm excited to explore that feeling. So why don't you talk about so this sucks because hopefully in the grand scheme of things, the other thing that happened today is very small potatoes.

SPEAKER_01 22:48

I think it's it feels big potatoes because it's the first thing. I mean the timing up.

SPEAKER_00 22:54

And this is so this is the thing. Is I was telling you before this happened, like I'm scared to I'm scared to feel celebratory because I've just that you know, if I if something if I feel good about something, that means something bad's gonna happen.

SPEAKER_01 23:09

So literally you got home like before 2 30.

SPEAKER_00 23:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:13

And then this thing happened at 3 30 when we were gonna go get dinner.

SPEAKER_00 23:18

I was like, cool, I saw my email and I got an email from We were about to go out the door. I thought this was a fake email. Actually, it was an email from Amazon Associates, because I meant, you know, do the Amazon affiliate links and stuff. And they send out emails fairly regularly, just like updating the program every month. So I kind of thought it was that, but it said action required, and I was like, hmm. And I clicked on that, it said your Amazon affiliate account or Amazon Associate account is at risk of closing. I was like, oh my god, like I'm so conscious about labeling everything and following the rules and all that.

SPEAKER_01 23:47

You want to talk about like who is like the rule abider? Like Tom, he will follow every single rule to a t to a fault.

SPEAKER_00 23:56

Yeah, and that's who you are. The thing, yeah, I will incriminate myself for things I'm not even like guilty of. And the thing, the thing is, currently, like I did episodes all about breaking down revenue streams. Amazon, even though I have lots of revenue streams, Amazon is the biggest one. It's your biggest one, right? Yeah, Amazon and Google AdSense, but usually Amazon breaks it out. This month, specifically being, which is weird because it's short February, a very good thing, my biggest month ever on Amazon, like by far. And the month's technically not even over yet. And then I get this email that's like your account's at risk for being shut down for rule violation. And they um, I don't have my phone here, but the the thing they cited, they they sent this very vague email. I don't know if it's a person that like clicks a form or if it's just an AI that sends it out, but it says mindset um for like essentially like misrepresenting our relationship with you for uh the I think it used the word bombastic, like like outlandish claims and stuff like that. And it said in these examples here, and it gave me it linked to two of my videos. Uh one of them was about a USB mic where I just looked for the least expensive USB mic, and the other one was um just some boom arms where I compared some mic boom arms. And it's like okay. And the the problem, and it's the the wording is like vague, but what it says is you have five days to respond. If you don't respond in five days, we hop permanently hold your earnings and we can close your account, and it's just done. And once your account's closed, you can never reopen it. So that's very scary, and that happened right as I'm like, okay, things will be okay, and money's okay, and oh, I should just relax and enjoy myself. Then it's like, oh, your biggest revenue stream now at risk for reasons. And so what I could find. I'm so annoyed at the world, and it also know how I will then react to things.

SPEAKER_01 25:51

Okay, so here's two of Tom's like biggest things that he doesn't like. Like, it it will make him act in a very like like tail tucked between the legs, kind of like completely shuts down. One is he hates being yelled at.

SPEAKER_00 26:10

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 26:10

And two, he hates being in trouble. Yes. And it was a combination of both.

SPEAKER_00 26:16

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 26:17

Yeah. And on like not even an hour after we and I was over here trying to like make a big deal. We were gonna go to Carls Jr. to celebrate.

SPEAKER_00 26:27

I've been in the Amazon affiliate program for years.

SPEAKER_01 26:30

I I am the one who's been like, babe, we're gonna be okay, don't you worry about the money thing, like blah blah. And then of course, like on this day of all days, yeah. Everything is at risk, and I was just like, why?

SPEAKER_00 26:41

And the email too, it's not like, oh, just reply and talk to a customer service rep. It's like who like wants to help you and you have to click on a form and then fill out the form, but they're so specific, like literally, it's like click this link to fill out the form you want to fill out. Click this link to find out what you need to include in that. It's just a very small thing that says like you need to, like, it's like language, you almost need to copy and paste, like I did this. So, what I believe my issue was so if anyone is using Amazon affiliate stuff, and I understand this now, was just don't even hint, basically, just don't even say Amazon in your videos or whatever. If you link to something, you have to say it's an Amazon link, of course. But just if you're making a video, don't say I bought this thing there or whatever, just say, hey, like this is a thing I'm talking about, blah, blah, blah. Also, don't talk about price. And I had heard in the past, like, oh, you you don't want to say like definitive prices, and I never do. I always say, like, this is about Yeah, because they change all the time, right? And so um, I have some videos where I'll say, like, at the time that I bought this, it was blah blah blah, and prices fluctuate, and then um, you know, at the time or or or whatever. Um but I think that's what it was because in these two videos, that's that's what I that's what I gathered. One of them said like it had Amazon, like the you know, cheapest microphone on Amazon in the thumbnail. I was like, okay, that's that's very clear. So I'm going to just swap that out. Easy. Um well, I had to remake the entire thumbnail, right? But easy, like relatively easy, and it is also one of my best performing videos, so I know that changing the thumbnail changing the title is gonna kill the video. Uh and and actually I did it, so sorry. So anyway, I did that, but then so change the title, change the thumbnail, made sure to change the description, so it's literally just like, hey, is this budget microphone good? Let's check it out and compare it against some other microphones, like very vague, and it knows specifics, and then the Amazon links which say they're Amazon, has the affiliate disclaimer. I went through, I used TubeBuddy and went through and bulk replaced. Um, I still I had always had the affiliate statement, but I took their current one word for word and just put it right in there so it's exactly the one that they specifically say is okay to use. And every video, all 200 and some odd videos on my channel, um, I changed that thing. And then though, in the video itself, I was like, okay, if I'm not gonna take the video down and lose like 200,000 views or something, but I'll have to use the YouTube editor, which is like very glad that it's there, but also incredibly like clunky and tedious to use, and like chop out, basically just add in a thousand jump cuts. One video I had to just essentially chop off the entire intro, which if you know my videos, the intros are like the parts that I'm oftentimes most deluxe. Yeah, so literally the video just starts with like, so I'm gonna take this move on over here. I just cut off everything. Um, and I had to, and then then they sent me links for two videos, but they just said examples can be seen here. So I was like, does that mean fix these two videos, or does that mean like the whole thing, yeah, like all of your videos? So I tried my best to go through my not that I had like a ton of videos that are like, oh, this this product or whatever, this specific Amazon product at this specific price, but I went through everything, including my most popular video, change the thumbnails, change titles, change descriptions, cut out chunk in the editor just to like to make it so there's not even like a hint of of anything. And then I in the in the little form, I had to go and say specifically in this video, I did this. I removed blah blah blah from thumbnail, blah blah from title, this in the description. Here's the link, you can see the updated version, which then I'm all worried because it like on my YouTube, it like showed, hey, it's edited, it's saved, and then like watching it back, it's like, oh, I don't know, it takes time to process. So if they're surprisingly on top of it, then they could see the version before it's processed, and they're not gonna see the edited changes, and I was like, oh Jesus. And then anyway, so I did all that, which took a lot of time because making like five thumbnails from scratch, editing videos, using an online-based like editor, just mutilating your own work, and you know, and and I have no resolution as of now, so um so how do you feel? I feel crappy because that it that I don't know what to do.

SPEAKER_01 31:08

I mean I mean there's nothing to do. You did it.

SPEAKER_00 31:11

I just have to wait, but there's just there's no there's no resolution. It's just like wait some days and then we'll see. Okay. Um and then anyway, well, we don't even need to that. But so here's how I'm trying to view it. What I've been thinking.

SPEAKER_01 31:28

I have thoughts, by the way, but you can go first.

SPEAKER_00 31:31

Okay. Well, my one thought is if I want to turn this into a positive in terms of timing and just raining on my parade, um, if this clears everything up, then I'm gonna view it as a really good thing. At a very important moment, there was a very nice reminder of like just keep things in line so you never have to worry about this again. And if that's what happened, if it resolved everything, I mean I'm more than happy. Like, it's not like I tried to argue with them or anything. I'm like, if these are the rules, I will adjust for sure. Um, and if that's it, and it just if that got everything in line, and then from here on out I know just to be double sure to triple check everything, I'm cool with that. And that this could be a great time to have that reminder instead of later on.

SPEAKER_01 32:12

Perfect time, yeah, exactly. Right.

SPEAKER_00 32:13

So if that's what happens, then I'm cool with it, despite the stress, because I think that's a positive thing to happen right now. An educational moment, sure, teachable moment, yeah, exactly. And then the other thing is I was like, okay, like I have been feeling pretty good about how diverse 10 or 11 revenue streams coming in from my channel, but it's like I need more. Yeah, now you're seeing it. Yeah, and it's like, and even stuff like okay, you know, so I have notes on I already made a list of notes about like I'm gonna do, you know, I really would like to focus on either YouTube channel memberships or Patreon. I don't think both is the way to go because I think that's too fractured, but I want to figure out like what some kind of community-based. I want to figure figure out what my community Patreon's the more like the common one that everyone uses, but if you're YouTube-based, YouTube channel memberships are so much easier. Easy to integrate. So easy, but that YouTube also takes 30%, Patreon takes I don't know, 10% or something. So anyway, um, so I'm trying to so that's something I want to figure out. And then I also, you know, there's a couple other affiliate things that have just been kind of on the back burner, like BH Photo, for example. I'm part of their program, but their interface, Amazon's affiliate interface to add products is super easy. It's so good.

SPEAKER_01 33:32

Yeah, it's so find the product, it's so click the link done.

SPEAKER_00 33:35

Everything else is like you can do it on mobile. Yeah. Do you remember surfing a website in 1997? Because that's what the other ones are like. It's like, what are these terms? What is this interface? Are you kidding me? And so I just like I've just been like, oh, just stick with Amazon because it's so much of a so easy and it's all right there, and it it just updates nicely. But I clearly need to be focusing on the other ones, which is you know, obviously kind of a pain in the butt. Um, and just sort of and then figuring out, you know, obviously courses coming out, so that's a revenue stream, which hopefully would be a potentially a good one, especially if down the line then there's more courses, but you gotta get the first course out before there can even be talk of that. Um I don't know. So that's that's kind of where, you know, and then in my mind I was like, okay, well, I guess, you know, like what would happen if like Amazon just disappeared? How would I make up like four grand a month? Um, and it's like I don't I don't know, sponsorships, but then but that's exactly what I don't want is I don't want to be the person that's like I quit my job to do this full time and now my whole channel is ads. That's the thing I don't want.

SPEAKER_01 34:43

Yeah, but I think there's a way to do it. Like you're of course you're never gonna let that happen. And I think it's just like it has been quite the journey for you to figure out how you do your YouTube channel. I think figuring out the sponsorship things, like I can't I told you, like have Road invite you to their thing. Like it doesn't have to be here's a road product, like in this video sponsored by Rode, but like there's a there's a way that you can make it work for everybody.

SPEAKER_00 35:10

I would just like to be able to do that organically on my own time and not organic put out the fire mode because that's I don't feel that's gonna be the best I don't think it's gonna be the best iteration of it. So yeah. Anyway, you said you had thoughts.

SPEAKER_01 35:24

Yeah, I mean it's it's basically I mean you you you kind of already have the same thoughts, but I was I was thinking about our friend Carissa, who's my accountability partner, and she has well not anymore, she closed down her restaurant, but she had a restaurant, and when she moved from her, you know, the original location, it was a family-owned restaurant, a real mom-pop size shop, to a like you know, there's several more tables, it was four times bigger. Bougie. Yeah, it was like so much bigger, but like the the pain and process to get the permits, to get the health inspector to approve everything. And I mean, talk about them wanting you to fail before you even open.

SPEAKER_00 36:08

And they were already up and running, like they had already proven, like, look, we're we're a restaurant, we're doing it already.

SPEAKER_01 36:13

Everything, like, you know, the and obviously these are all rules for reason, but like, you know, certain amount amount of feet between equipment and like you know, how you sanitize, like, there's so many things, and I just feel like the creator economy is amalgamous, you know, like there isn't it's still something that all of us are trying to figure out companies, creators, fans, community, like you know, brands, all of it. And I know we all know that you are very particular about working with companies and how you represent companies and their products and stuff like that. And I know for a fact that if you had if you knew what the rules were, it's not like you would go around them and yeah, no, I'm not trying to subvert anything, right? Exactly. And so the way that I see it is like you putting your notice is you saying, Okay, I'm gonna get the bigger restaurant, I'm getting the new space, and it just so happens that there's gonna be hiccups, there's gonna be some things that you didn't foresee, but this is part of it, this is part of the evolution. You're just gonna cut out.

SPEAKER_00 37:22

You know, you're a hundred percent right, and that's a wonderful analogy.

SPEAKER_01 37:26

It's just like I know it's frustrating because, like, okay, we know we know who we're dealing with. We're dealing with Amazon, but how many other companies have you talked to that are like I know so willing to have you have a seat at the table? Like, it it sucks that Amazon is Amazon, but again, they're one thing you're gonna diversify. You haven't been able to diversify because you haven't had the time.

SPEAKER_00 37:51

I know, but that's why, like, again, though, having because even Amazon happened organically, like using links in the first place, it was just very organic, and it just ended up being such a good fit for my channel that it's like, oh, this is this is perfect, and letting that kind of stuff happen, not choking it to life, but just sort of consultations are a great example of something that happened organically. There's a revenue stream that's like even the course you could argue is pretty organic, you know, you gotta consciously bring it to life, but the demand for it is there, like the it totally makes sense kind of thing, and more of that sort of stuff versus like scramble mode. And I just I just you have we have I just don't want to be in trouble, and I don't want people to think I'm like I mean the I I should I wish I had my phone in here because I might be on my computer. I think I could read it because I think the the email's right here on my computer if I can pull it up. It's it's literally like You're in trouble.

SPEAKER_01 38:45

Oh, Tom hates it when he's in trouble.

SPEAKER_00 38:47

It's literally like not only are you in trouble, but here's everything you're doing wrong. Action required. Your site makes inaccurate, overbroad, deceptive, or otherwise misleading claims about products, the Amazon site, our policies, promotion, or prices. It has language that misrepresents or embellishes our relationship with you, including by expressly expressing or implying that we support, sponsor, or endorse you. An example can be found here, and there's links to two of my videos.

SPEAKER_01 39:15

Yeah, but that's just a copy and paste.

SPEAKER_00 39:17

I know it's a copy and paste, but that's why it's like so which thing like I know I have never seen. He was just like, holy, like, well, I thought it was I thought you know it's something I don't need to pay attention to, and then I immediately think it's a scam.

SPEAKER_01 39:31

No, you look like you hit a wall.

SPEAKER_00 39:33

Well, because they're like running. I mean, and it says what's next? You have five business days to correct this. Um and and then they they give you like the link to the form.

SPEAKER_01 39:44

And it's like I Well now you know what to do. And that's fine, you know. You fixed it. You fixed it.

SPEAKER_00 39:51

I I believe that I fixed it, but no one has, you know.

SPEAKER_01 39:54

You I mean you fix it like, you know, I mean yeah, give them five business to receive it.

SPEAKER_00 39:59

It says 24 hours, but I'm I'm counting on longer than that, but you know it's just the waiting period. It's not like if it's an AI that sends the thing, it's not like the AI can then just like boop. And I was trying to do some reading, and some people said like you might get an email back, and the email's kind of vague that says like, thank you for your continued uh participation in the program. You're like, I guess that's good. And then when you log into your affiliate thing, there's a big red banner at the top that says your account is at risk. And the other thing is like, if that just goes away, or if your account just goes away, you don't know. Like, Jesus. So, I mean, I appreciate the Amazon Associate program. I do not intend to mess anything up, I don't want to be in trouble, and I've done everything I could to try to fix it, and I've tried to even go beyond it, and like I don't know. I even wrote my little thing, like, I'm sorry, like I don't want to jeopardize my opportunity to participate, and blah blah blah.

SPEAKER_01 41:00

So well, yeah, celebration and a rude awakening.

unknown 41:06

Jeez.

SPEAKER_01 41:07

So how do you feel now?

SPEAKER_00 41:08

I'm just tired. I I just feel tired and I feel stressed. Like I don't really feel excited because I just feel stressed. Well, because I'm also exhausted, and because I am stressed from work, and I am, you know, being a teacher right now kind of sucks. Um there's a a a light at the end of the tunnel, but it's just doesn't make it easier. Yeah. I'm not feeling great right now. Yeah but you know.

SPEAKER_01 41:36

Well, I am. I'm so excited.

SPEAKER_00 41:39

I I was feeling great earlier, and I was like, oh, this will be fun, because now, like, you know, I've been at work all day anyway, and now I'm home, so we can like just and this was a thing too where it was like I thought maybe I could fill out a form or do something and fix it in a half hour, but it took three hours, you know, it took the whole evening, but you know what?

SPEAKER_01 41:57

That's the beauty of it. You just fix it right away and we'll see what happens tomorrow.

SPEAKER_00 42:02

I know, and I I I know like again, it could be one of those things, like if it gets fixed, I'll forget it even to happen to the next six months. But um, yeah, and if it's just a good learning experience, like hey, you're doing it.

SPEAKER_01 42:14

I mean, I think this is a good learning experience for sure. I'm cool with that. I mean, let me tell you the story of like my rude awakening. Well, this was like a a year into it was after I got my car accident. Actually, I in so a year into my entrepreneurial journey, I got into my first car assembly. It was April 1st. And I was on my way to a client, and this client wanted me to um do a real estate video basically, which I you know this is newbie Heather, new freelancer Heather, who had zero experience and zero knowledge and zero like mentorship. I had no idea what the hell I was doing, and but this person was like willing to pay me to do they had seen my videos, and I was like, I don't feel qualified, but whatever. If you think I can do it, then and you're willing to pay, I'll go. And I drove two hours to get to the place. Um, got into an accident, still went to the client. Wow, did the thing, wow, got home, made my first draft. They were not happy. And I was like, okay, like here's how like I, you know, here's my approach, and you know, I specialize in vlog style type of thing, so that's what I chose to do. And you know, he was suggested some fixes and wish I did, and then turn around with a phone call, like, oh, we want to talk about the video. And literally, I just feel so embarrassed to admit how much this this was for. This was for $300. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 43:42

It's like I'll pay you four hundred dollars to go away.

SPEAKER_01 43:44

So basically, I I paid them half. I was like, here, here's the footage. I don't want to deal with you anymore. Um, and I would rather just pay you so I don't have to deal with you. And so I was like, here's the money, here's the footage, bye. You know, and and that that was like my I wish that had ha I wish someone would have told me like do not say yes to everything.

SPEAKER_00 44:07

When you say you paid them money, did they give you like did they give you 150 and you gave 150 back or something? Or like like they give you 300? They 300, yeah. And you just gave money back with the footage. Okay, okay. If you got zero dollars, no did the work and pay them.

SPEAKER_01 44:22

But still I got into a car accident. Yeah, that's you know, like I mean, that's not their fault, but I wouldn't have exactly like oh, I was so annoyed, and I mean, there's so I I'm embarrassed describing this because I'm so much more experienced, you know, there's so many things, but it's like I just had to go through it. Like, how else was I gonna learn?

SPEAKER_00 44:43

I know, and that's the thing too. For me, is as stressful and weird as like my job is right now, I'm experienced. Yeah. Like I know how to handle it.

SPEAKER_01 44:52

Yeah, you've been through every situation. Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_00 44:56

And and then jumping into something where it's like, I don't Yeah, but you know what?

SPEAKER_01 45:02

But seriously, yeah, fine. You could say that.

SPEAKER_00 45:04

I mean, I know it's not accurate because we've been doing it for a while.

SPEAKER_01 45:07

Yeah, you're not starting from zero. Plus, you have me. Hello.

SPEAKER_00 45:10

There we go.

SPEAKER_01 45:11

Plus, you have a whole community that refuses to let you fail. Like, come on.

SPEAKER_00 45:16

Oops.

SPEAKER_01 45:17

And that's saying a lot. Like that, that is saying a lot. You should really give yourself credit because you built that.

SPEAKER_00 45:22

I mean, that's a one and that was a huge thing that you brought up too, where it's like you're not quitting your job to start a business, which would be terrifying. It's like you've already been building a business for four years. And like I started, I signed up for my YouTube channel in June of 2017, and I'm scheduled to officially leave my job in June of 2021. So that's the time frame of like just at least once a week, if not more, that whole time. New things have been coming out, figuring out new stuff, yeah, you know, building more of this and going through the experiences, you know, like getting the experience under your belt and all that.

SPEAKER_01 45:59

Yeah, and uh and that's why I just you know it sucks, and I'm I really think it's gonna be fine.

SPEAKER_00 46:07

I I have faith that it is, I mean, it did everything. I I'm a very good rule follower, so you know, I I've seen like I mean I can only imagine some of the other responses they get to things. It's probably just complete insanity, but you know, so it's like okay, look, I used correct grammar and and yeah, you're super professional. I read the instructions as best I possibly could repeatedly. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 46:33

Yeah, you're trying to make it easier for them to see that you changed all the things and blah blah blah.

SPEAKER_00 46:38

No, but you know, I I don't have any comfort until there's resolution, and that's just me. And it's just there's just this thing that's happened like my whole life, which I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing, but it's literally like, and I've had I've had this exact thing happen where like, oh my gosh, my taxes are thirteen hundred dollar, like my refund is thirteen hundred dollars more than I than I expected. This is amazing. Boom. Here's also an unexpected bill for $1,300. Oh, I know. And it and it like that kind of thing has just always happened. Like, oh my gosh, I've been able to budget really well and just put a little extra money into savings. Cool, now I need all new tires. Like, there's just every time, every time there's like, wow, look, like, step ahead. It's like, here's the thing to just I just feel like it's so hard to just break like a little further. And you know, I try to think like that's just all in your head. There's why, you know, the universe does not care about you this much to like orchestrate these things. I still which I still feel has to be the case, but then things like today where it's like you've been doing this program for 900 days, but on this one particular day, this is when this thing is going to happen.

SPEAKER_01 47:55

I know, but I I seriously like I know it's so I know I know telling you this as someone who's literally quitting teaching, that this is a teachable mobile. I know, like I I understand the idea.

SPEAKER_00 48:08

It comes down to like I I I feel like you know, maybe if someone's an outsider and they're just like this guy's like whining about Amazon things. But uh what it is is like, oh, a giant source of your income can just be that you've now come to rely on in a different way, can just snap away. And and they don't really need there really needs to be no justification. If they're actually giving you the justification, that's basically a courtesy. Like they don't they don't even have to do that. Um, and then it's just like, oh geez.

SPEAKER_01 48:40

And then you even mentioned another thing or this, you know, friends.

SPEAKER_00 48:44

Kevin, the basic filmmaker on YouTube, his channel got hacked, like legitimately hacked, uh 13 days ago as of this recording. And like someone got into it, I don't know what they did, but then it got deleted for violating terms of service, and his whole eight-year channel, which is his main source of income, zapped down.

SPEAKER_01 49:03

And even though disappeared, not down completely down.

SPEAKER_00 49:06

Yeah, no, it's it's gone.

SPEAKER_01 49:07

It's non-existent.

SPEAKER_00 49:08

And now, if you go, it says that he violated terms of service. This channel has been deleted for violating YouTube's terms of services. He's like, I didn't do anything. Um, and he's been working with YouTube and they've been helping, but it's now been 13 days of nothing and 13 days of no hope, and they said it could be weeks more, and every day is just more revenue going away, and it's just like God, that's terrifying. I mean, I know, and there's nothing, it's not like he was posting his password online or something, like who knows what happened, but you know, it's just that kind of stuff. So I was just reading this, like, oh my god, I'm so scared. Like my YouTube studio didn't load the other day, like the app, like it was it was doing weird things with numbers, and then it was like cannot be displayed, and I was like, uh oh, and then of course it it popped back up, and I have like all my two-factor authentic authentications and randomized passwords, and you know, I try to like do all the things you're supposed to do, but oh it's just you know, I don't know, it's just you're trying your best, but I'm trying my best and it's enough, don't you worry, okay?

SPEAKER_01 50:12

It's more than enough. You're doing fantastic.

SPEAKER_00 50:15

Oh boy, so yeah.

SPEAKER_01 50:17

Well, I I really am enjoying this series. It's it's been like I know I feel bad telling you this, but seriously, like I'm just so excited.

SPEAKER_00 50:26

Well, so let's let's end on the positive note because I know I'm tired and I know it's been just an emotional stressful day. Also didn't sleep last night, and for anybody who's listening who is like, oh, I can't, I'm excited to hear if Tom does this thing, like how's he handling it? Uh and then you're like, Jesus. Yeah, he's so let's flip it into the positives, which is we you and I talked about this earlier, and if the if what Tom doesn't like is being yelled at and being in trouble, what Tom does like is being ch in charge of his own time.

SPEAKER_01 51:03

It's his favorite thing.

SPEAKER_00 51:04

Yes, and it's the thing that just doesn't really get ever.

SPEAKER_01 51:08

Yeah. Yeah. You've never done your best, but you've never, you've always had to compromise, or not even compromise, but sacrifice.

SPEAKER_00 51:16

It's yeah.

SPEAKER_01 51:16

You've had to give you have to give stuff up.

SPEAKER_00 51:19

Which is and that I feel like that's gotten unhealthy where now I feel like I can only have something good if I've Yeah, if you give something up in return. Yeah, if I've struggled or to choose one or the other.

SPEAKER_01 51:29

Right. Well, guess what?

SPEAKER_00 51:30

And so the idea of just being in charge is is amazing. It's like when I started my YouTube channel and there was that whole 2017 renaissance of like you know, just used to do a whole podcast, just stretching out a little. I could do a podcast about that, but just you know, reaching out, put yourself out there a little bit, and just discovering, you know, like literally uh things like colors looked different and smells smelled different, like everything was different. Um, I I would love for this to be that, and that is very exciting, and it's very exciting that one thing I hate, which I've talked about before, you and I have talked about before, is everybody has days where they have unpleasant things to do and whatever, but there have just been a lot of days where whether it's from exhaustion or stress or whatever, where 5 15 in the morning my alarm goes off, it's dark outside, and my first thought is like, I cannot wait to come back to bed. And the day hasn't begun yet, like the sun hasn't even risen, it's a brand new day, and I'm just like wishing it were away. And you know, yesterday we had a staff meeting, and somebody was like, Oh, there's 67 days left of school or something, and it was like so much is just like how much you know counting down. Yeah, first day back from winter break is how long till spring break? How that's the last stretch till summer, then we got our summer. Oh, then we go back, but then there's a three-day weekend.

SPEAKER_01 52:52

School year counting down.

SPEAKER_00 52:52

I've literally I mean, I've always thought of it as a luxury, but I've literally been in times where it's like the last two weeks of summer break, and I'm like, okay, we get that sweet three-day weekend on Labor Day. And I'm like, I'm in a break, just looking for a break. Yeah, and you're just kind of wishing, you know. I I had to like catch myself recently because with my students, I'll see them, and you know, it's Friday, like, happy Friday, like, oh, nothing like a Friday before the weekend, blah blah blah. And I was like, actually, I don't really want to teach them that they should be looking forward to they should be dreading most of their time, so I just kind of you know stopped doing that. And the idea that you could stop doing that and not just wanting to like fast forward through massive chunks of your life is like is amazing, and that's you know, that's the thing where it's like, wow, I really hope future Tom is grateful or is is glad that that was a decision that current Tom made. Yeah, a lot of referring to myself in the third person.

SPEAKER_01 53:56

That's totally how it's gonna be.

SPEAKER_00 53:57

Yeah, I hope. So that's right.

SPEAKER_01 54:01

And then you I mean, there's a definitely a different kind of stress when you're running your own business, but I mean we have you will you will do it 10,000 times over in exchange for being able to be a hundred percent in control of your time.

SPEAKER_00 54:15

Like it's yeah, and I mean we you know, we've worked hard to kind of be in a position where I don't know if there's ever a perfect time, but at least it's like okay.

SPEAKER_01 54:24

We're yeah, we're in a like a really good spot.

SPEAKER_00 54:29

And then you told, which also wasn't everybody, you told your brother and your mom today about it, which is like, you know, I've always known that it's nice to be like when we're just oh who's this new guy? Oh, he has like a stable job.

SPEAKER_02 54:44

I know.

SPEAKER_00 54:46

I'm I am very cool with being oh, that's fine, like it's legit. It's not, oh, it's his first year, no, it's his whatever it was at the time, eighth year or something. Yeah. Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_01 54:56

Yeah, no, he's he's a career teacher, yeah, professional. I mean, we gave my whole family a tour of your class or department and the whole thing. But they they also, you know, I mean, my brother was like super excited, my mom was super excited for you, and it it's it's weird because like it's kind of like you said with your mom. It's like you I would have expected more hesitation, but they just know how capable you are, and plus at least for my mom, even she's like, I I've seen you figure this out, and Tom is so much more practical.

SPEAKER_00 55:32

Both her kids have made this.

SPEAKER_01 55:34

Yeah, so you're gonna and and of course she said worse comes to worse because that's how she thinks we have very marketable skill sets, you know. Like you you were freaking out, like I'm gonna go back to retail. Like, you're not gonna be working on target, my friend. Yeah, like you're you've built this amazing program, you were county teacher of the year, like a whole resume that cannot be argued with. Like, I don't know, go on to consulting. There's so many paths, my darling.

SPEAKER_00 56:04

Well, I would like to be able to stay on my own path and you know, and I know, but I'm just saying, like, Amazon can I appreciate them very much, and I abide by all of the emails and all of the rules, and I did all the thing I tried to do everything I could possibly do to follow the rules and be a good child.

SPEAKER_02 56:31

A good boy.

SPEAKER_00 56:33

So there's one last thing that maybe you can kind of like this has sort of been a weird hesitation. So I don't know when this will come out, but we're recording in February. Yes, March, April, May. Our one-year wedding anniversary is in like less than three months.

SPEAKER_01 56:49

Oh my god, I totally forgot.

SPEAKER_00 56:51

Uh and soy 18th. And there it is. And one of the things we talked about our wedding, but one of the really cool things, you know, we just ended up doing at the movie theater and we just streamed it on YouTube. And the cool thing was like people got to be there who couldn't otherwise be there. Both my parents got to be there, which because of their situation, it was definitely gonna be a one or the other, and my dad wasn't in good health, so I was like, I want to invite him, but then my mom couldn't go, and it was a whole thing. Um, and because we streamed it and everyone could just be hundreds of miles away, everybody got to go. And it was great, and and with my dad's health and everything, he you know, I was nervous about like how he's even gonna make I know it's not a long trip, but how's he gonna make the trip and do all that stuff, and he didn't have to, he could just stay at home and do all that. So it was it was really, really great. And I know something he liked was he's he was always a fan of like just do things your own way, and you know, he definitely had the like I'm not gonna just like do what the system says thing. Yeah, definitely let me tell you who would not have written a super compliant letter back to a billion-dollar corporation. Um but but anyway, so he he definitely had like that streak, but he also had this weird, which I kind of only learned more about recently, like this weirdly practical side that I wasn't super aware of, especially I guess when he was younger. I mean, he worked for the Post Service for over a decade, he you know had lots of savings, he went on like retirement disability in the mid-90s and then always had good insurance and you know disability income for the rest of his life. But he also did just did so many non-traditional things and and whatever. So I I never really knew.

SPEAKER_01 58:47

I never really like the last thing that we heard was he was like uh something about horses. Yeah, he was he was like wrangling horses.

SPEAKER_00 58:54

He was up in Yosemite, just like wrangling horses because he met a guy and he was like, I now he likes horses. That was like his favorite thing in the world was just to like go live out there and ride horses around, and I don't know. Um, so he liked non-traditional stuff, but like the last really long phone call that we had. One of the things he said, he was asking about work and stuff, and he was saying that like he was so glad that he knew I was like secure.

SPEAKER_01 59:24

Aww.

SPEAKER_00 59:25

And he was asking how long it would be until retirement, and I was like, Well, it's like 20 more years, you know, I'm 10 years in, 20 more years, and he's like, It's gonna go so fast, and that's the same thing my mom said, which like the two of them uh how different they are now. Like, that's our mom's always like, just stick it out, 20 years is gonna fly by. And I'm like, I know it will, like, this 11 years has flown by. Like, I can't, it's crazy.

SPEAKER_01 59:48

Like, has it though?

SPEAKER_00 59:50

I mean, it you know, it's one of those, but for me, when I look at like I'm cleaning out my classroom and I'm finding little a stapler or a literally like a box of paper clips that I bought in 2011, and I'm like, oh my god, like I remember I remember buying this whole punch and it made my life so much easier, and that was 10 years ago. Right, like and it felt like it was six months ago, like so. I know that that time will go fast, but I don't want to think I don't want to spend the 20 years just like I just gotta, you know. I know if it were like a one year away from retirement, there's a okay, you just sort of stick it out. But 20 years is a long time, and if 2020 has taught us anything, it was yeah, planning is hard and you want to do your best, but also like it's all so unpredictable. And if you're literally like 35 and you have opportunities, why would you wait until you're you know, like in a different situation to then hope that you'll still be able to enjoy something, but you also don't want to just throw you know, you don't want to just throw everything away and then your future self's like, what'd you do? Right, and so anyway, it was it was interesting that that my dad, who had such a non-traditional bent for most of his life, was like so comforted by like, I like you know, you're you're secure, you're good, you're taken care of. And then he passed away like weeks after that phone call. And now I'm like, oh, that thing that I know, like up until the end, something that brought him comfort and made him feel good about me. Now I'm just gonna kind of take that and like just step away from it. I feel bad about that.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:35

Are you kidding?

SPEAKER_00 1:01:37

Okay, I'm not kidding, and I know if he were here now, he'd be like, this is the coolest thing, but 100%.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:42

Like, okay, you guys, let me tell. Okay, okay, I have so many thoughts. One of the things that Tom's dad loved talking about was Tom's YouTube channel. Like, he was totally a fan. He would read your comments, okay, like he was reading your comments. He he was definitely so proud of not just you, but like the fact that we did it together. Like that you found someone who also was doing the thing and was into the same things that you're doing.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:12

I mean, he was, you know, he was there when I was four and got into this. Yeah, are you kidding?

SPEAKER_01 1:02:17

And and I think though, I yes, of course, he's gonna be proud and happy that you have security, which is you know, that that of course, like as a parent, I can see, you know, that's something that he would be very excited or about, you know, like feeling peace that you have that. But also, I think if he knew this, like if he's there listening to this podcast right now, I think he would just be really like he'd kick you in the butt if he knew you were even feeling guilty about this. Are you kidding?

SPEAKER_00 1:02:47

I hope so.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:48

But yeah, that's he would be so excited that you get you get to do like not only fine, you're not gonna have a stable paycheck, but you can you are going to have a higher paycheck.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:00

Hopefully, hopefully.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:02

Doing the thing that you love doing and having so much more of an impact, and like doing more of the stuff that he also loved watching.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:10

You know, like are you can't I just don't even anyway, but yeah, that but you understand where I'm coming from, right?

SPEAKER_01 1:03:19

I mean, I understand why you would think that, but I I think that's completely just you being irrational. Because you're not you're not taking into account that that that was an actual option. Like your dad didn't know that. Yeah, your dad wasn't thinking, like, okay, in five years' time, you're actually gonna pivot. Like you you hadn't had that conversation with him, it would have been a different story. Um I know for sure if you had told him that, he would have been like, dude, quit now. I mean, I had no idea that that was Yeah, like you weren't even thinking about it.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:50

Right.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:51

So I think he is very proud of you.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:56

I hope so.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:58

I know so.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:59

All right. Oh boy. So yeah. Well, that was exactly you said that. Well, I don't know how long this is because I might have trimmed something off, but in our recording, that was a literally said so yeah, at one hour in zero seconds. So good timing.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:15

Well, I'm excited for the next episode. I because I'm this is all in my head.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:20

I'm planning out like Oh, okay, my content calendar.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:22

Well, for this series, because I I think it's just I I think it's something that I don't know about you, but I would want to keep.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:34

Like I'm glad we're I'm glad we're recording it.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:36

Uh but also I think it's just helpful for anyone else. I hope so in that transition.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:41

I hope I hope so. Or thinking about it or whatever.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:46

Because that's one thing I've been wanting to do is dive into the the nuts and bolts, because you just hear people like Yeah, you hear like the checklists and the best practices, but it's different when you when you actually hear like there's so many things that like you just kind of have to go through.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:03

Yeah, and it's different for everybody. And I I've thought about I'm curious what your thoughts are. I've thought about like I don't think, especially now knowing that like bosses and stuff are aware of the stuff that I do, you know, like there's the like I quit my job video, definitely obviously making the quit my job podcast, but you know, it's not really related to my channel, but it's kind of a cool, like, wow, look at this. But then I know that there have been so many times personally where I see the I quit my job video, and then the content shifts and becomes whatever. And part of me is like, I would like to just keep doing things as they are, just kind of level it up, level it up as as much as I can, the way that I have been. And then if people dig in, they're like, oh, like a year ago there was this transition, and I didn't even notice. And that's kind of like how I want it to be. Um so it's like what I mean is if you're if you're not like listening to this or whatever, ideally then you'd be watching the channel, just be like, oh, it's it's the channel I like, it's doing the stuff that it does, and not realizing that like a a shift had happened under it.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:12

I think that's that's what I that's what I would assume you would do.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:16

But but anyway, it's almost like when people when I was like, it turns out everyone has an LLC. What? Are you serious? Like that stuff can happen, then you're like, oh, he just did it full time. Like, what do you do? You just leave your job one day and do this the next day, or like what is that process like that? Yeah, that's why the podcast exists. That's why I think this can break it down. Yeah, yeah. And if you're listening over an hour into this right now, clearly you're in it, you know? So you're getting something out of it, I hope, or else you fell asleep, in which case, like, wake up. Alrighty.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:47

Well, stay tuned because there's definitely gonna be a part three, at least, if not a part four, also.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:52

Oh, yeah. And there's also before all of these, I'll record like a precursor, like setting the stage for the next whatever.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:59

I don't even think you need to set the stage. Just press play, yo. Not me, yo. Tom's King Contextualizer.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:06

Yes. Good. To a fault. Oh, gee. That's why I have a podcast. It could just be called contextualizing with Tom. Anyway, I'm gonna push this button to play the ska song right now. So thank you for sorting this out and being supportive. I love you.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:23

I love you.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:25

Let's listen to the ska cat.