TLDR; I’m leaving Automattic. My last day will be August 25th. I’ll miss working with this incredible company – mostly because of the incredible people. 🙂
Why I’m Leaving
Let me start with Automattic is the best job I’ve ever had. By far.
Anytime there is a merger or acquisition there’s bound to be some restructuring. And gradually over the last year I did less and less of the things that I like to do.
I don’t know where I’m going or what I’m doing. I just know that I need to be challenged to continue to grow. I’m keen to dig more into product management & product marketing.
Things That Make Me Proud
There are numerous projects at WooThemes / Automattic that I’m really proud of.
I loved developing some of the core functionality in WooCommerce, helping with both WooConfs, I loved helping lead 3 WooCommerce releases, kickstarting our NPS endeavors, writing a bajillion product specs, and then feeling so incredibly good when a product finally gets launched (like Square).
I'm also proud of my meet-a-mattician score of 38% (meaning I've met 38% of Automatticians).
People
The absolute best part of Automattic is the people and I have some magical memories.
- Michael Arestad – For being the most friendly Automattician in Denver. You made a real effort to reach out to me and bring me in the Automattic family. I’ll always appreciate it.
- Karen Arnold – For showing me around ABQ and great chats over dinner
- Marjorie Asturias – For a great chat at WordCamp Albuquerque ? – I can’t believe we both spoke at WordCamp Dallas Fort Worth and we didn’t say hi!
- Scotty Basgaard – I’ve always loved your commitment to the WordPress project. WordSesh is an amazing tool for the community. Happy to work along side you.
- Kevin Bates – For having the perfect amount of beard scruff… I still don’t understand how you do it.
- Sheri Bigelow – I love your positivity and your passion. I wish the world could be filled with Sheri’s. Thanks for making the effort to meet up when you were in Denver. It was nice to say hi.
- Joel Bronkowski – You always wanted to talk to me about the Packers! Every time I saw you you wanted to talk about the Packers despite the fact that I didn’t even watch the games. I’ll miss your conversational nature and your positivity.
- Caleb Burks – You’ve got passion and skill. Nothing’s going to stop you.
- Paul Ciano – You’re a real life (food) ninja! The entire week in Barcelona I never saw you eat food. One second it was on your plate and the next it was gone. You’ve got mad ninja skills. I also really appreciate your cerebral hobbies, passions, role models, etc. I thought I read some interesting stuff but the people & content you follow makes me feel like I’m in kindergarten again.
- Matty Cohen – You got me into product. It’s something I didn’t realize that I love so thank you for helping me unlock that within myself. Also “Eatin & Drinkin”
- Sean Cull – You were a champ when we had the support meetup in Chicago. I remember getting up super early to play one last board game before we left.
- Elizabeth Eurello – For driving me to Walter White’s house
- Steve Ellemberg – I can’t believe we met at the first WooConf and then you decided to apply after that conference. And then a year later we’re working on the same team. Crazy random happenstance huh? Thanks for helping me grow even when I wasn’t my usual motivated self the past couple months
- Jesse Friedman – You inspired me to write a book which then helped me create a course for Lynda.com. Lynda is where I started web development. You helped me come full circle and I don’t think I can ever pay you back for that.
- Kelly Hoffman – Thanks for putting up with my insistent pleas for rock climbing. I think it finally turned into a good thing. Also that one time you put my name in for Karaoke! I wouldn't have done it on my own so I really appreciate it. 🙂
- Warren Holmes – For getting me started with my Audible obsession. It was an offhand comment at IRCE in Chicago but it’s given me 20 days 12 hours and 33 minutes of listening pleasure (so far).
- Jen Hooks – Ugh… that embarrassing moment outside the elevator at WordCamp US. Appreciate how cool you were with that. 🙂
- Sam Hotchkiss – I’ve always loved Brute Protect and I loved how you presented it. You epitomize the “let me help you; and if you need help I have a solution for you” approach. You were always helpful and it’s nice to be able to “sell” by being helpful. Thanks for showing me that.
- Sven Hutchinson – “I’ll be ready…” I wasn’t even at WooThemes when that happened but loved seeing that gif around Woo Hipchat/Slack
- Magnus Jepson – In addition to the infamous Boo moment you also convinced me to read Hatching Twitter. Thanks for helping me get back into reading
- Mike Jolley – I can’t articulate how rare it is to find someone who is a capable developer but also has a knack for user experience. You are the person most responsible for WooCommerce’s success. It’s incredibly inspiring to have worked along side you for a few WooCommerce launches
- Kevin Killingsworth – For your bravery and openness talking about relationships the very first time we met. It's inspirational and it’s changed the way I’m going to talk about my relationships. ( <- see what I did there? )
- Nicole Kohler – We played so many board games and had so many good life talks. Thanks for being open. It felt like a real connection not something fleeting or superficial. That doesn't happen with many people. Wish you the best moving forward! 🙂
- Barry Kooij – Hindsight is 20/20. It seems like you had the right intuition. Hope your own ventures continue to prove fruitful.
- Jay Koster – “Pardon my reach” – loved chatting about the differences between the US & the UK
- Mikey Krapf – You’re really good leading people and helping them be the best version of themselves. And on a more tactical level you convinced me to get a ROTH IRA many years ago. Super appreciate that one. 🙂
- Beau Lebens – For your expert burrito advice
- Dwain Maralack – Watching you eat a Reeses Peanut Butter cookie at the Creamery in San Francisco. You loved it so much you bought every cookie they had.
- Lori McLeese – You are just… wow. You? I don’t think you can describe Lori with words. There’s just too much awesome. You are perfect for Automattic. Thanks for welcoming me with open arms.
- Mike Moore (not the documentary maker) – It was great to really chat on the Barcelona trip. It’s amazing when you have a job like this what you could do with your life and how you could live it. I expect some sort of epic news from you in a year or two. 🙂
- Simon Ouderkirk – I was instantly impressed with how you talk about business, leadership, learning, and the culture at Automattic. I love that we had similar interests on that front as well as podcasting and freaking Warhammer 40,000! Sorry (not sorry) for addicting you to Freeblade.
- Marina Pape – Eating affogato every morning before WordCamp San Francisco
- Aviva Pinchas – I loved our chats about how to position WooCommerce against other platforms. I’m sure you’ll do an amazing job leading the charge on that
- Rodrigo Primo – For organizing rock climbing and for talking about ahimsa. You’re unapologetically yourself and I love it.
- Ryan Ray – “Twist and pinch” in Berlin. Good times.
- Claudio Sanches – There have been countless lost-in-translation moments. We’ve had good times. So happy you were contributing to WooCommerce on GitHub and we were looking for a developer. It was perfect timing. 🙂
- Danny Santoro – That one time you accidentally packed your swiss army knife in your carry-on luggage and went through security
- Thomas Shellberg – Thanks for introducing me to Denver and for my awesome yellow bike. I’m happy for you even though you left the mile high city. 😛
- Derek Smart – For showing me that you can “make showers great again” with a light up shower head.
- Andrew Spittle – We had a few group discussions on the WooTrip and I really appreciate how good you are at abstracting complex topics and questioning assumptions. Really wish I had the time to chat more with you.
- Ian Stewart – I loved played Perudo with you at the GM! You had a streak of bad luck and were knocked out quick but you kept trying! I hope we can continue to nerd out to board games.
- Hannah Swain – Chatting with you in Barcelona. It was great to see you relax and slowly be more and more of yourself over the course of that week. Also that one time we sang along to Dr Horrible’s Sing Along Blog in the car and probably bored Sean & Paul in the back
- Michael Tieso – I loved our chats about travel and TravelBlogSuccess. You’ve got an entrepreneurial spirit and I love what you’re doing for Woo now. Also that one time you got destroyed in Exploding Kittens at the GM. I believe Aviva exploded you. Not sure why I remember that moment but it was certainly a good time. ?
- Ines Van Essen – You’re the epitome of the passion that Automattic wants. You’re going to do amazing things at Automattic with that mindset. I can’t wait to bump into you at a future WordCamp and hear about all of the amazing things you’re bound to do.
- Andrew Wikel – So many stories! How about playing Heads Up with Mindy, Will, and myself and trying to get Mindy to guess Dinosaur?
- Lance Willett – Chatting about being 3rd culture kids.
I do want to apologize to anyone I met in the past couple months. I've been thinking really long & hard about this decision to make sure it's not an impulsive decision. But I've been a bit quieter and less energetic than I normally am.
Mark & Magnus
I’ve broken you two out from the rest because you made one decision that drastically changed my life.
It wasn’t just for hiring me at WooThemes but for helping me move to Denver. You gave me a cost of living adjustment so I could continue to work with you and live in a place that I love. My life would be completely different if I didn’t make the move. You drastically increased the happiness I experience every day. It truly was a life changing event.
Thank you.
Thanks to everyone at Automattic. I’m sure I’ll see you around at some point. 🙂