The Summer I Turned Gritty
May hit me like a fastball to the ribs. After nearly 10 years at Microsoft, I was laid off. Boom. Out of the lineup. For a moment, it would’ve been easy to slump into self-pity. But instead, something else kicked in: grit.
This summer wasn’t about being “pretty.” It was about being gritty.
Grit Not Glam
Grit doesn’t come with confetti cannons or LinkedIn hype posts. It looks more like:
Showing up for EVERY practice and game, whether you have the energy or not.
Sitting across the table from your family and actually being present.
Looking at your career not as a loss but as a reset button.
That’s grit. It’s messy, it’s unpolished, and it’s exactly what I needed.
Shifting Roles, Shifting Mindsets
This summer wasn’t just a professional reset. It was a personal one, too. For the first time since our son was born, my wife went back to full-time work outside our house. Let’s be real, for the last 9-ish years she’s been CEO and head badass of keeping our family running. This shift meant, for the first time in a long time, I was home with the kids and trying my hardest to fill her impossibly-large-for-how-small-her-feet-are shoes.
That role reversal forced me to rethink everything—how I worked, how I scheduled my day, even how I defined “productivity.” Suddenly, instead of back-to-back meetings, I was juggling a job search, camp drop-offs, and coaching practices. And while it was an adjustment (okay, a huge adjustment), it gave me a new perspective: grit isn’t just about charging forward. Sometimes it’s about shifting gears.
Coaching With Grit
On the field this summer, I focused a lot on the why with our players - why they play, why they support each other, etc. Yes, we still focus on the fundamentals - hitting and fielding in baseball and literal blocking and tackling (ok, flag pulling) in flag football. But the real lesson? Grit.
When a kid drops three passes in a row and still lines up for the fourth—that’s grit. When teammates pick each other up instead of pointing fingers—that’s grit. When a nine-year-old looks at you and says, “I’ve got this, coach.” That’s freaking grit, baby. And honestly, it’s the same stuff great teams in business are built on.
Community, Family, Impact
The layoff and the role reversal gave me space to zoom out. I realized my next chapter isn’t about chasing the flashiest project or the biggest paycheck. I’ve done that, and honestly I can’t say it made me happier. It’s about impact. On my family. On my community here in the Pacific Northwest. On the people who actually feel the work - the customer.
I’ve worked on some of the biggest brands in the biggest markets in the world - but at the end of the day, what I missed in those roles was a connection to the audience, the people, the community.
Why Grit Matters
Being gritty means choosing to see opportunity in uncertainty. It’s putting in the reps even when the stands are empty. It’s trusting that the next chapter will matter more because you’re stepping into it with intention.
This summer I didn’t turn pretty. I turned gritty. And that’s a lot more powerful.
Can’t wait for this next season of my career.