And how julienning carrots made me stick it out in major programmes.
In 2015, I was finishing up the most successful year of my career to date. A couple promotions, some big bids won—in theory, I should have been on cloud nine. Instead, I was Googling how to open a restaurant and planning my exit strategy from my then (and spoil alert: current) company.
This was the year that earned me “my fat pants” which I still have stored in my loft… just in case. Surprisingly, the extra weight wasn’t caused by “researching” other restaurants in hopes of finding the perfect recipes of my own—it came mostly from stress.
I lived for work and didn’t do much else living (especially none that happened near a set of weights or a treadmill). I was getting practically no sleep and weekends didn’t really exist back then. I knew despite the approval and incitement I was receiving from my uppers, this was not sustainable. And not sustainable to the point where the only way to slow down was to find a way out.
Though I can’t recall exactly what made me think adding a program for culinary management to my hectic schedule was a good idea, I can confirm I have always been a foodie…and a planner. If I was going to leave infrastructure in my dust and open a restaurant, I was going to know the industry in and out. The Bubble Dancerblog, which name comes from a nickname for a dishwasher, was my launch pad.
I would approach learning the industry in two ways: 1) Trying and creating content around Toronto’s best restaurants and 2) Earning my diploma in culinary management from one of Canada’s best culinary schools.
With the same workload as before, I started attending my classes at George Brown College, which required me to wear a white chef’s hat and all, and somehow convinced my wife to join me (though she wasn’t going for her diploma so she didn’t get the cool hat).
For a year and a half, I would spend two to three nights per week in the kitchen. The length of my nights varied depending on prep and cleaning time but there was always three hours of cooking—some of which I wouldn’t call cooking per se, but more so…cutting. I distinctly remember one night our Executive Chef going to everyone’s stations with a tape measure to ensure we had properly diced, chopped and julienned our produce. Another week, we learned how to break down and butcher an entire cow. Yes, there is photo evidence and I will include it upon request.
My wife and I began looking for a space to put our newfound culinary knowledge to good use. Like I said, I am a planner and if I was going to leave a well-paying career I had worked for my entire adult life, I was at least going to have a good gas burner. We almost bought two different restaurants but luckily, neither of them worked out.
Part way through the program, and quite suddenly, I realized I would be julienning those carrots seven days a week and that I might even get burnt out of my passion for food. That’s when I decided to reframe how I approach my career in infrastructure. I choose to fix rather than abandon my career.
I began searching for areas of passion within my position and if I couldn’t find it within my job title, I created opportunities that I was actually interested in. I committed to leaving the office at a decent time and also took up kiteboarding and hired a personal trainer to find healthy passions outside of work.
My career began to progress, my health began to progress and dare I say it, I was happy not hanging out with dead cows and wiping down the stainless steel until 11PM!
Thinking about this lately, I found it interesting: I wasn’t too burnt out to learn something new. To commit to hours a week on top of my busy schedule. Even though I was the epitome of burnout, I mustered up the energy for a passion project. How is that even possible? On reflection, I believe that is how I reframed how I approached my career in infrastructure and ultimately, found joy within it.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I do still experience burnout from time to time, which is why I preach (more so than ever before), a work-life balance and finding passions outside the workplace. You’re probably sitting there thinking I still am butchering or julienning carrots as a hobby but no, I left that in 2015. A few hours kitesurfing in the right conditions in Lake Ontario or heading up to Sauble Beach can do wonders for unlocking work problems sitting in my brain all week.
Now with mentees of my own, I hope to pass along the hard truths that I learned early in my career. Whether you switch companies or not, your career is a marathon. Don’t start too quickly out of the gate and give up before you truly get going. Have extracurriculars, but if you can find the passion in your career, you’ll be amazed how little burn out comes.
So I’ll leave you with two questions: How do you find passion in your own career? And for fun, what hobby or project are you most passionate about outside of work? Join the conversation.