About a month ago I had flowers delivered to my office. I’m a 40-year-old man. This was a first for me. The flowers were from Lightspeed Marketing. They wanted me to leave my cozy cube and the safety of my corporate job to join their team.

Awesome timing because I was at a crossroads.  This wasn’t a full blown midlife crisis. No Porsche, no hair plugs…I didn’t join Tinder. The endless hours in Cubeville were crushing my soul. I was going through the motions at work and was a true asshole to live with. I wanted a change. I needed a change.

I read the card that accompanied the large bouquet of roses.

Time to see how deep the rabbit hole goes. Take the blue pill. Call by 5PM. Time to break free.”

Lightspeed didn’t sign the card. They didn’t need to.

We’d been talking for a couple of weeks. These weren’t interviews where you talked about your strengths and weaknesses. We didn’t spend time rehashing every job I’ve ever had. These guys had done their homework and knew what I brought to the table. Crazy, right?

Instead, we met for dinner and drinks. A few times. We talked about our families. We talked about the kind of people we wanted to be and the kind of place we wanted to work. The conversations were effortless. Nothing was forced. For me, this the was pie in the sky type stuff. There was a better chance of stumbling on a sasquatch or funny CBS sitcom.

I took the flowers out to my car and called Lightspeed. This was around 3:30PM. No need to wait until 5. I was ready to break free.