Let’s ignore that the lyric above comes from an angry, anti-establishment-type song, ok?

So, hey, some news for anyone who still follows this blog. As of January-ish, I’m going to be leaving the strategic services team at non-linear creations. It’s a job I’ve loved immensely and a team I’m truly humbled to be part of but the time has come for me to make a change. And so change I will. Getting out of the consulting gig all together, actually.

But I’m not going very far.

As of January-ish I will be taking over as Director of Marketing for, well, non-linear creations. And I couldn’t more excited.

To make a long story short, it got to the point that I couldn’t keep going in my current role. The work is amazing, the team is incredible and the clients are awesome but, more and more, those awesome clients aren’t in Ottawa.

NLC is growing in many ways, including the scale of projects we’re taking on, and as I got more established in my role, I was called on more and more to be the face of NLC with some of our key clients, learning their businesses and working hand in hand with their teams. Which rocked, by the way. But it also meant a lot of travel and a lot of mental energy expended – both of which made it increasingly difficult to be the husband and father that my family deserves.

Luckily for me, I work for a company that understands and respects my need to put my family first and they found a role for me that should involve a lot less travel while still keeping me challenged and inspired every day.

After more than three years of helping clients figure out how to structure their digital marketing and outreach strategies, I get to do the same for NLC. It comes at a really interesting time – NLC’s going to market with a renewed swagger after proving we can win against some big name agencies and we’re going to be going to market with a new focus on content-heavy, data-driven marketing practices. One of our flagship technology partners is making a big splash with its customer experience platform and we plan to make NLC a living, breathing case study for why this sort of thinking marks both a massive shift and a major opportunity for the enterprise space.

I feel really blessed to be part of a company that believes in me as much as I believe in it. And I’m so stoked to be in a position to help tell their story to the world.

I mean, really, this is just the manifestation of some long-apparent destiny anyway, right? Honestly, hands up if you haven’t looked at me and thought “man, that guy is one yummy mummy.”

Oh. Wow. That’s a lot of hands.

Jerks.

Anyway, with that self-indulgent bit of rambling out of the way, it is my incredible pleasure to announce that I have joined the cast of incredibly-talented bloggers at the Yummy Mummy Club.

Once a week or thereabouts I will be musing on parenting from the male perspective on one of Canada’s premier online parenting communities. Led by media icon Erica Ehm, YMC has assembled an amazing roster of writers providing advice and sharing experiences and I am incredibly excited to be joining their ranks.

And in case the idea of me as a yummy mummy hasn’t already sent you into a spiral of cognitive dissonance-ness, the name of my blog should do the trick:

The Naked Dad.

Don’t worry, it’s not what you think (pervert). My blog will be raw and honest. It will be a little bit absurd at times and it will leave me completely exposed to the world, flaws and all. It will be me, naked. No shame and no cover up.

And I can’t wait to let it all hang out for you to see.

This poster hangs in our entryway. I couldn’t agree more

10 years ago today I was a month into the first academic year in which I was not a student since I was a kid. I knew that journalism was not my calling – despite successfully completing my degree in the field – but I had no idea what was. I cobbled together a living as a musician and by picking up contracts and freelance work here and there but I was, for the most part, directionless.

I had spent my undergrad years and the few that followed convinced that I wasn’t cut out for the 9-5 world despite never really working in it. I’d convinced myself that I had some other calling but I didn’t know what.

Eight years ago today I was back in school, running the student paper and collecting the last few credits I’d need to make a run at teacher’s college, despite being only partly convinced it was the right decision and having no clue at all about how I’d pay for it.

Seven years ago today things were totally different. I was happily working a “regular” job, earning a regular paycheque and putting together the foundation of a career that I find rewarding and challenging to this day.

And five years ago today I married the woman who helped make it happen.

I don’t think it would surprise anyone who knows us if I went on at length about how insanely happy I am with Amy, or how totally head over heels in love with her I am. It’s a cliche to the nth degree but she absolutely is my best friend and I can’t imagine life without her.

What not everyone knows, though, is that without her I wouldn’t have the career, life or sense of contentment I have. When we met, I was a blue-haired mature student (in only the strictest sense) desperately trying to figure out what came next. I was happy but I was living for the moment, terrified of what I’d do when the ride ended.

Amy made me comfortable enough in my own skin to realize that what I wanted was a family, a life spent in the company of people who I adored. She made me realize that not only could I be happy working in the white collar world, I could thrive there. She made me realize who I was and who I wasn’t and that there is more that defines you than the work you do.

People I knew back then, back before we met, sometimes ask me if I miss being in a band; if I miss the whole lifestyle of going to shows, walking the streets at all hours and generally living moment to moment.

And sometimes I do.

But when I look around me now, at my wife and our beautiful daughter and my dog, or at our beautiful home and wonderful friends, I can’t think of anywhere I’d rather be.

Thank you, Amy, for making this all possible. Thank you for being the friend, partner, teammate and co-conspirator I need. Thank you for being the Bert to my Ernie and the Ernie to my Bert. Thank you for five amazing years and so many more to come.

Joe Boughner Enterprises is pleased to present Airport Bingo – the gaming sensation that’s sweeping the nation. Play alone or play with friends (actually, don’t play with friends, there’s only one card so it’ll be a tie every time) – just make sure you play. It makes travel fun!

Thought it might be of interest to others too. Just how DO you explain what a digital strategy consultant does

…..

Ok, put away the whole web/digital part of it for a second, since that tends to intimidate people who don’t consider themselves savvy.

Say you need to build a building. The parts of the process people are most cognizant of are the creation of blueprints, the construction of the house, and the decorating and design. Part of my job is to draw up the blueprints. I don’t pick colours or paints or anything and I certainly don’t wield a hammer, but I help craft the plans that serve as the foundation. Where does the washroom go in relation to the bedrooms? Should the kitchen have a clear path from the living room or is it more important that the dining room connect?

The real challenge is that’s only part of what I do.

The other part (and the more fun part, in my opinion) comes even before that. It’s about deciding what kind of building to build in the first place. What do other buildings in the area look like? What do people who have the same goals as you make their buildings look like? Moreover, what are your goals? Why are you building the building in the first place? What purpose does it serve? Who is it intended to be used by? What do they need from your building?

And how are you going to get people to the building in the first place? Do you need typical road access? Or would access to public transportation be enough? Where do you need to put your signs to get people to the building? How many are going to be there at any one time? Will the paths be clear or will your guests get lost and leave in frustration?

Then once it’s built, how will it be maintained? Is it the responsibility of the person in each room to keep the room clean? Or is someone centrally responsible for that?

So I am part urban planner, part architect and part … civil engineer, maybe? I don’t know, it’s not a perfect metaphor. But it underscores the point that while what you see is a contractor roll out a blue print and build the thing, and a landscaper finish the yard, and the painters put on a coat of paint, the reality is a lot more went into the planning of that building.

I do that planning.