Letter No. 5: "Light in the morning"
To Jake Thompson, Founder of Compete Every Day
Jake,
This is a story about how you saved my life.
I was commuting to my first real eCommerce job from Texas for several months when we finally made the move to Columbus, Ohio in December of 2011. It was a big move for us, I accepted my official role, sight unseen, in October of that year. I didn’t have to apply or fill an application, I was recruited into the position of a lifetime after months of contract work. At the time, it felt like “manna from heaven.” It was an unexpected aid, a starting salary that was more than double any money that I’d ever seen in my life.
One night, at 8:26 PM, I was called into the brand owner’s office. I walked from my cubicle into his office and he sat my down next to his general counsel and told me that he was notified about my military discharge and that I no longer had a job. Ohio was a place that I’d never been, we had no family, and few friends. Just months into our time in Columbus, I was jobless and we were back at square one.
The moment of loss was heavy on me. Just three years prior, our family of three was destitute and we had been evicted from our one bedroom apartment after neighbors teamed up and notified the apartment’s management of media headlines from my Academy ordeal. Through prayer, grit, and a lot of luck: I landed the opportunity of a lifetime and it felt like our family was back on track. Symbolically, the job was everything to us. And in an instant, I had no way forward once again.
When I got home from the office building, that night: my family was away. Lindsey was training for the CrossFit Games in Lake Forest, California and Alexis was at her grandparents house in Michigan. That night was the first in my life that I felt the urge to end my life.
The very next morning, you called me out of the blue. You needed to make an introduction. A kid that you knew from Dallas, Texas had an idea for dress shirts and he needed someone’s help to build the brand and help him move units.
Without that good fortune, I am not sure what I would have done. In moments like that, everything feels terminal and hopeless. I don’t know what I did to deserve that call from you but I thank you for it. Kevin flew to my house the next day. Our partnership was finalized within the next few weeks.
Without you, none of that would have been possible. Thank you, Jake.
Lesson: there may be light in the morning if you just wait for it.
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