End of an Era

This post is probably going to be long, emotional and have really nothing to do with food.

So if you are not into that sort of thing, go ahead and move along.

There ain’t nothing here for you.

Now, let me begin.

When I was about ten, my dad worked for this super cool company (at the time) called No Fear. I had never been particularly popular, but the fact that I could tell people my dad worked for the cool company, it made me just a little bit cooler.

So when he came home one day to tell me that he was moving companies, I was devastated. There went my one cool card. Out the window. Damnit.

I had no idea that he was making a change that would have a major impact on the next two-thirds of my life.

I always loved the beach, but when my dad went to work for Quiksilver, my love of the ocean really took over. I fell in love with surfing and the culture and the company itself.

So when it was time for me to get a job, I was over the moon to start working there. I worked in many different Quiksilver retail stores for many years. When I was in college, I did my internship in their marketing department. Working in sales there was my first job out of college. I grew up there. I dealt with rejection, and success, and growth and change. I learned to handle dealing with people different than myself, and about having bosses you don’t like, and about having a boss you love, and about working hard.

And now I’m learning how move on.

After ten years of working at this amazing company, with phenomenal people, selling the lifestyle that I love, I made the decision that it is time for me to leave.

I’ve been blessed with an opportunity at a small company where I can really grow, and learn, and for lack of a better cliché, really spread my wings.

While I am very excited for this new chapter, I am really, really sad. The idea of leaving the company, the people, and the place where I grew up is really, REALLY, sad. I have no better word than, sad. Some part of me feels like I’m going to be forgotten. But the more I think about it, it’s all right if I’m forgotten. Because it is so much a part of me that I will never forget.

Thanks for shaping my life Quiksilver.

Here I come change! Here I come.

Love and Beer Floats

Angela