Leaving the cable company
Two years where I went from web to iOS, met friends I still talk to, and learned what a good salary even feels like.
After Schnucks I jumped to a cable and communications company, and two things changed at the same time.
The first was the work. I went from web development into iOS, writing Objective-C on their app, finally doing the thing I had been circling for years. The second was the money. Grocery money is hard-won; the salary is lean and you feel every dollar of it. Communications money felt like it was pouring out of the ceiling. The contrast was honestly a little disorienting, in a good way. I started as a consultant and got hired on full-time pretty quickly, which felt like being let into the building for real.
This is also where the company sent me to WWDC in San Francisco, my first solo trip and the week Swift was announced. I met people there who became lifelong friends. One of them, Padi, I still chat with to this day.
Going from groceries to communications taught me something I keep relearning: the room you are standing in changes what is possible. I am grateful for the door this one opened, and for the people who walked through it with me.