Taking a Leap of Faith

Game changing moments. Turning points. Epiphanies. Everyone has them. I’ve had quite a few in my life, but I have to say the one that’s made the most difference for me in the last twenty years was accepting a job at FatWallet.

Despite what most people might think, it wasn’t an easy decision. You see, I’ve been a good friend to the person who hired me for a very long time - over 25 years at this point. We’re not acquaintances; we’re the I-might-help-you-bury-a-body type of friends. Working in an employee-boss relationship could have changed our friendship considerably for the worse. Thankfully, that did not happen.

At the time, I was working for a non-profit. My salary was tiny. Tim was able to offer a salary that was a third more than I was making. However, FatWallet was not offering health insurance or a retirement plan. I would be betting on a company that was just gaining some momentum, trading security for opportunity. The thought of having enough money to stop scraping by, paycheck to paycheck, was appealing, but the opportunities that were possible with a start-up company were worth far more, in my consideration.

I had recently obtained a Bachelor’s degree in business administration. I knew I wanted - actually, I needed - a job that could challenge me, pull me in directions I’ve never been pulled, yet utilize things I’d absorbed throughout the years. Things that didn’t necessarily have anything to do with the degree I’d just earned. Tim needed someone to handle the nuts and bolts of running a company: organizing, filing, making sure people were paid, etc. It was something I knew I could do, and I hoped it would grow.

I also yearned for a place that was different from anything I had yet to experience. I don’t think I could have told you then what I was looking for, but today I know: I wanted a culture of accountability laced with kindness. I wanted to work for a company that embraced the philosophy of “Treat others the way you would want to be treated.”

I wouldn’t say that Human Resources would have been my first choice in careers; I don’t believe it would have been in my top 10. Over the years, I’ve learned, stretched, and gained experience. I’m comfortable in the role, and I do have a passion for it: a passion gained by seeing what companies are like when HR is handled poorly.

FatWallet has given me choices in life that I didn’t have before. I earned these choices by proving myself, proving my worth. I no longer worry about struggling paycheck-to-paycheck. I have confidence in myself and my abilities.

My job has changed many times in the past eight years. I’ve handled and supervised customer service, HR, payroll, accounting, and facilities. In the process, I’ve assembled furniture, cleaned restrooms, answered phones, researched, created processes, scrapped processes, implemented benefits, supervised, hired, fired, talked about company strategy and talked about company game days. Every day has held something different, and I’ve found I fit here. Perhaps this is because I’ve helped create the culture; perhaps it is because I’ve grown up a bit. Whatever it is, I know that my life changed for the better the day I took a leap of faith, accepted Tim’s job offer and embraced FatWallet as my home away from home.