This week marks 7 years since leaving Cox Communications, after a 14-year run. For the longest time I thought it would be the same company I’d retire with. But it wasn’t meant to be. The year prior, I received a layoff notice from Cox, just 6 months into a promotion that I had worked towards for several years. It was a difficult blow at the time. To stay with Cox, I had to take a backwards career-step due to a major restructuring. I didn’t like my external opportunities, but I had been offered a few step-down positions internally to stay with the company. I saw this as a demotion. I ended up choosing the position I knew the least about in a department I had never worked in. The other opportunities were similar to prior positions so I decided to use this season to learn a new set of skills.

I stayed in that position for 7 months before finding my new career niche. Instead of being just a guy in a big pond, I went to a smaller pond in an entirely different industry in hospitality. By scope, my organizational chart was smaller than prior positions. But I wore many hats in this role and had more autonomy than any other time in my career. I had to be strategic and tactical, simultaneously. I started my new operation from the ground up and then lead it for several years. We were able to quadruple sales results within 3 years while reducing customer service issues by 59%. I used that time to reinvent myself and made VP within 18 months.

I would have never gained this experience if I stayed at Cox. But without getting laid off by Cox, I might not have ever left either. I gained a crucial set of skills during the 7 months of “taking a step backwards”. Those skills were essential to success in my new career and bolstered my capabilities as an operational leader. My experiences over the past 7 years have given me the abilities and more important, confidence that I can start my own company and become an entrepreneur. I don’t think I would have ever taken the risks or believed in myself without battling through those difficult times and taking on new challenges.

As Rocky Balboa said, “It ain’t about how hard you hit, it’s about how you can get hit and keep moving forward.” While I’m thankful for my time at Cox, I am equally thankful for growth opportunities that occured after receiving the pink slip.