💡Cost - Ep #22
$407,776.04 -> That's what it cost to Quit JNJ... to burn the boats after a decade in Robotic Surgery and fail at all-in entrepreneurship... and I'd do it all again because what I've gained far outweighs the Cost.
And yes...
I will transparently share all my numbers from my JNJ exit in Tokyo incase there's another crazy expat father of four kiddos preparing to quit their job and navigate the most expensive and financially damaging year they've ever endured...
I've written and re-written this dozens of times in my head during multiple 11-hour 3rd shifts at Amazon... and I've wrestled most with how dangerous it is to share this information.
I'm in the middle of negotiations for various MedTech Global Leadership opportunities and sharing my numbers could impact both my leverage and reputation...
...I've already lost a Director of Front End role after the final round of interviews because of a LinkedIn post... -> HERE
But I'm not writing this episode of Sunday Sips for me or my comfort and safety...
...it is in some strange way, a love letter from future you to yourself, delighting in the risks you will choose to take after hearing my story.
Carpe Diem: Seize the Day... make the most of the present moment and let the future worry about itself.
We have a lot of ground to cover...
... so grab your favorite beverage worth sipping on and let's get to work!
Today's "Sunday Sip" is inspired by Juthika [JP] Pal a Global MedTech Executive, Mother, and one of the newest member of The Big Brain Club
She recently shared this beautiful encouragement during her guest appearance on "Sunday Sips":
- "Touché by the way Joe, I love everything you said about me but I think it is me who is watching you in awe...
...everything that you have built, the spaces that you're creating and how you're amplifying unique voices...
It's been a joy to watch.
When I talk about you to my friends and peers it's like:
"Do you know what Joe did today?
Did you see his content?
Do you know what he dared to share and talk about?"
So I talk about you in a very loving, nurturing, almost motherly way... ...because I'm so proud to see what you're creating and building."
Every once in a while, you have the privilege of crossing paths with someone who is beyond remarkable, and while you're both deep in your own context, you get just enough of a touch point to spark something profound.
That's Juthika!
We've had powerful but brief interactions during our time together in JNJ as well as over the last year of my entrepreneurial journey.
Now that I think about it, this 2 hour Sunday Sips podcast was the most continuous time we have ever spent together... yet every moment with her has been a gift over the last decade.
Her kindness, deep empathy and fierce leadership have been a timely push for me to step out, hold myself to higher standard and takes the risks that most folks have nightmares about.
The last refrain of her encouragement has been echoing to me all week:
"Do you know what he dared to share and talk about?"
It echoed when I "lost" the job from a LinkedIn post.
It echoed when I continued to boldly lead my community, The Big Brain Club.
It echoed when I shared some one of my most painful failures on LinkedIn... garnering 32,000+ impressions.
And it echoes now... as I share what it Cost to "quit" JNJ and navigate financial calamity from hitting Zero three times in Tokyo & Chicago.
Thanks for the push Juthika, it's a good and necessary Dare.
Financial (Cost):
- $140,050 Lost year of salary by not continuing at JNJ in NJ
- $75,000 Personal Loan to cover housing and international schooling post JNJ exit...pulled 4 weeks before leaving with no severance or financial cushion
- $32,000 Estimated future value of lost JNJ Long Term Incentives that didn't vest in time.
- $26,072 Maxing Citi Credit Card (Life Expenses)
- $16,208 Maxing AMEX Credit (Life Expenses + $8,500 return flight to Chicago)
- $22,057 Sea Shipment of Goods from Tokyo to Chicago upon hitting Zero
- $81,240 Pulling our 401k (retirement savings) to reset in Chicago... Zero'd that out over 9 months life expenses, minivan (with engine rebuild) and taxes.
- $15,149.04 JNJ Subsided Tuition Repayment notice received 11 months post exit...that was a fun email.
- Total: $407,776.04
Experiential (Cost):
- Health and Wellness (Mental Strain, Weight Loss/Gains, No Medical Coverage for a year with four kids)
- Stability for our kiddos and an abrupt 20 day exit from all their friend circles at Tokyo
- Shattered Pride - Navigating an incredibly public failure and returning to our hometown dependent on others
- A Home of Our Own - Crash Landed in a 4 generational home with the in-laws at 33yrs
- Costco - This is weekend rhythm of life that I really miss having with the kiddos particularly picking up their salmon
- Traveling with our friends in Japan and living cross culturally
- Restaurants and buying groceries that I enjoy
- Leisure Time - Netflix & Chill, Ghost of Tsushima on PS5, and Game Nights... traded for building The Big Brain Club in all the gaps of life... 60 seconds at a time via Loom
- Marital Stability - Definitely the hardest and most refining year of our 12 year marriage
- Sleep... and I didn't have a lot of that to begin with lol
But friends as mentioned...
$407,776.04 -> That's what it cost to Quit JNJ... to burn the boats after a decade in Robotic Surgery and fail at the last year of all-in entrepreneurship... and I'd do it all again as what I've gained far outweighs the Cost.
So here's what I've Gained:
- Resiliency and Entrepreneurial Grit - I'm a radically different person than I was on my last day at JNJ. I have unlocked a tenacity and intensity that I didn't know I was capable of. Running your own business is radically different than operating in someone else's and it fosters an adaptability to work the hardest business killing projects first.
- A deep and rooted sense of self - I quit JNJ because I knew taking a shot on continuing life in Japan was what my family deserved after navigating 12 relocations in 1 year to get there in the first place. I refused to be captive to the indifference of an organization that no longer served my family after I had dedicated a decade of service to them.
- Product Market Fit - It took countless failures over a longer time horizon than originally planned, but I have finally hit a positive inflection point in my business with revenue exceeding burn rate. In the past two weeks alone I've pulled in $4000 which covers most of my operation costs for the rest of the year... everything beyond that will be profit to provide for my family.
- Integrating Fatherhood and Entrepreneurship- I've proven to myself that I can build something that is incredibly valuable at a digital global scale while at the same time being present as a husband and father. Too many sacrifice proximity with their families at the perceived necessity of running their own entrepreneurial ventures.
- Titles and fancy stuff don't matter - I know exactly who I am, what I'm capable of, and where I'm going... everything else is just noise.
- Diversifying financial risks - Historically I've taken big swings with JNJ's innovation money, and this past year was my first time doing the same with my own. I'm excited to see what financial risks I can take on that can lead to outsized gains
- I know what game I'm playing... and I know how to win - Both in my entrepreneurial ventures and securing an executive role in MedTech.
- I've already seen lives changed by what I'm building. It's deeply humbling and encourages me to keep pressing on in the journey.
Now friend, I don't want you to feel like this is now your moment to take a $407,776.04 risk and utterly destabilize your family...
... but I do want to remind you that your life is short and worth far more than $407,776.04.
This past week I had an encounter with death that helped me recognize that on a whole new level.
A two days ago one of my coworkers at Amazon stopped breathing and collapsed during their shift.
It was right near the end of the shift while everybody was loading these giant carts with boxes... when suddenly everyone froze as a few leaders started running around and working coms.
Naturally I moved in closer and it took me a while to realize what had occurred.
I saw my coworker face down on the ground in a fetal position, not breathing, multiple leaders, calling 911 and preparing an AED.
In moments like this everyone likes to imagine that they'd be a hero and respond with authority quickly... but the reality is you lose precious time as people freeze and try to figure out what to do next.
6 minutes without oxygen and you start to experience permanent brain damage... and the probability of a successful resuscitation decreases dramatically.
The clock was ticking and one of the leaders started saying that we needed to flip her over on her back... but I sensed hesitation from the crowd standing around because they were worried about moving her.
This leader only knew to flip her because the AED had instructed her to do so.
Me and another co-worker quickly grabbed her and rolled her on her back... and upon seeing her face, I realized that I knew her.
I had just been chatting with her a couple hours prior about life at Amazon and how to do bathroom breaks without getting in trouble.
We had just met and I didn't even know her name.
She was bleeding from the fall, her face was deep purple and no sense of consciousness.
Now I'm not a doctor, but I genuinely thought she was gone.
But the leaders pulled up her shirt and started following the CPR instructions from the AED for chest compressions.
From fall to CPR the response time was between 2 and 4 minutes.
The ambulance arrived about 3 minutes after that and they were able to resuscitate her on their way out.
She was crying and grimacing in pain but alive.
Naturally the whole team was gutted, it had already been a hard day and someone had almost just died on the floor.
I spend some time reconnecting with the leadership team and helping them understand they did everything possible to keep her alive.
I stayed late to help pack up some of the boxes that we we're behind on...
...and began reflecting on a conversation I had had with Steve Bell about his early experiences in Ethicon, Inc. clinical sales.
He had described one of the first surgeries he had ever seen in which a patient died on the table from an aortic aneurysm and how it had sobered his perceptions on innovation...
"It became very real for me, and I started realizing from literally the first week, that the shit we do on a daily basis can affect people on whether they live or die." ~ Steve
Everything just started to hit me...
I was clearing up boxes stranding on the ground where I had roller her over...
What if we froze...
What if the AED didn't provide Instruction...
Life & Death held in tension on the order of seconds and the generosity of strangers.
This moment was huge for me as I was considering moving forward with a potential $20k client in manufacturing... but my instinct was that they were the wrong client... a distraction on my two missions:
To help folks in the Big Brain Club build the lives they desire:
🌎 Living Where They Want
😍 Loving What They Do
🎉 Being Paid Well For It
To Advance Global Healing through Inclusive MedTech Innovation:
🧙♂️Leading at the highest level in accordance with my unique giftings
🧠Raising up the next generation of Global Innovators
📢Elevating the voices of Marginalized Clinicians
So I send the potential client a quick loom message to turn down the money and to continue to build and create with intention.
To Stay on Mission.
To Lead. To Heal.
I'm excited to see the life you build next as you take on your next big risk...
... and know that you'll never be alone in the journey...
You have 163 Big Brains cheering you on!
Benediction:
So may you find...
... a Life that is worth the cost...
Take the jump.
Build with intention.
Trust that you will discover a life well lived.
And as always friend...
Keep Changing the World!
