[abalashov]

I got fired personally by the CEO of a midsize company I was working for last time I was employed (I was, despite the size of the company, a direct report of his), for some combination of insubordination, chronically coming in late, and generally being a political nuisance. Amidst his litany of admonishments, he told me that I am one of those people who just needs to be running his own business. At the time, I assumed that was sardonic and snarky; I now realise he was genuinely prescient.

And so, after my 6th job in 3.5 years, I decided to do what I had been itching to do for the last 2 or 3 of them, but not had the balls to do, given the conventionality of the steady W-2 paycheck. I've been running my VoIP consultancy for almost 36 months now and I am still here, growing steadily and slowly - but growing. It's twice the work, half the money, but I'm a whole lot happier for it. I don't think I would be exaggerating to say that I needed someone to kick me in the ass and push me out of the plane, or I might not have gone down this path for quite a while yet.

Ironically, and pleasantly, the same CEO sent me a lot of consulting work, especially early on, and continues to be an important relationship for me. When I occasionally come in, he shakes my hand and says it's nice to see me and asks, "how's business?"