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The story in full (but the short version is: A combination of extreme luck and work ethic prevailed in my success that starts tomorrow, and I have many people to thank).
Back in 2016, I was excelling at a job I actually hated. My team and immediate Supervisors were good people but we were all at the whims of upper management who were making terrible choices. I was miserable and I had a last straw moment and quit for my own sanity. I was able to quit because I was in a living arrangement that would support me until I could secure a new job.
Then almost immediately that living arrangement dissolved and my family and I were on the verge of being homeless and me without a job. It was a very dark couple of months where we were in serious consideration of renting an unfinished warehouse to live in. Thankfully a good friend was there by my side when few weren't and helped me navigate emotionally the turmoil.
Then, my fairy-godmother, a child hood friend, shows me how to get my foot in the door at Tesla Motors as an entry level physical grunt worker at the age of 45 years old. It paid less than I was previously making, and I could not see a future there as I had ZERO experience with the automotive industry, manufacturing, etc, but it was a job.
Then something utterly strange happened. I started to excel at Tesla.
Thanks to co-workers who have turned into amazing friends and family, I was able to find a new path in life. Promotions quickly followed. I was now making more money than in my old job. Intelligence and a work ethic will take you a long way but after 4 years I had reached pretty much the limit of what I could do in that role, and I had no desire to be a Production Lead or Supervisor.
Then truly out of the blue I got a call from another department who had seen my resume somehow and asked if I wanted to interview for technician position. I of course did, and I got it. It was more money with significant room to grow again. My first day in that role was December 7, 2020.
I was incredibly fortunate, absolutely dumb luck, to come on board at the very beginning of something new and once again, intelligence and work ethic propelled me towards success. In the last year I have earned the respect of upper management and engineers who know me by reputation and in personal connections. I jumped over ranks in promotion mid 2021.
I tell you all this, because now I am jumping again to Supervisor which will change the trajectory of my families life for the better.
And I start tomorrow.
One day less than a full year from when I started this new role, and a few weeks shy of 5 years at Tesla.
Of all the things I've personally accomplished, reaching this level of success in this short of a time, is my proudest, even if took me to 50 years of age to reach it. People talk about doors of opportunity, but you have to be ready to bolt for it when that door swings open.
Thanks for reading.
-Brent
"A great accomplishment shouldn't be the end of the road, just the starting point for the next leap forward." - Harvey Mackay
