I have a friend who is a business and product development expert, he is well-versed in OEM and EMS partnerships and licensing, and has an excellent education. I had the opportunity to work with him for a full-year before the tech start-up where we both worked stopped hiring, then stopped paying its employees. He was and is incredibly driven and I learned quite a bit from him during our short tenure under the same roof.

We spent lunches dreaming up ways to reach out to potential investors and customers. We talked shop non-stop. It was a great time in business for each of us as we ran up our learning curve with such eagerness that it could barely be contained. And we enjoyed the game while the ball was in our court. But 2008 lurked around the corner and started to develop these really ugly claws. The future, not the past, began to cast a shadow – not a good sign.

Given that I was the Manager of Recruitment and hiring ceased, the writing loomed heavy on my pristine white wall. I sought greener pastures as I understood what the ever-lengthening shadows meant. My resignation and departure was sad; I had anticipated a two-week period to wrap up my endings tidily but I was escorted off the premises by day’s end with my personal belongings in tow.

I made my rounds as I told the fifty-eight people whose salaries I had negotiated goodbye and good luck. They also understood what my departure meant. The etchings had begun to appear on their own walls. My business development friend left shortly after I and has faced one short consulting gig after another. The Great Recession has been evil to many. None more than those that work in sales or business development (and of course, recruiting – they are all relative, are they not?)

We wait and anticipate relief that we hope a new decade will provide. Yesterday, I sent off my friend’s resume and LinkedIn profile to a software company in Orange County, CA. I received an immediate reply from the company president that my friend would be considered but that several “great” folks were also in consideration. Hope: it no longer feels so heavy. And there is new writing on the wall. Thank God it’s a wall and not stone.




© by rayannethorn