Leaving the best job you’ve ever had.

In June of 2008, I was living in NYC and managing projects for Spaeth Design.  While on a trip to Chicago, I had a conversation with a friend about my plans to move to Colorado with my special lady.  This friend was named Jake and he happened to own a super-cool company called Threadless, which is based in Chicago.  I’d been a huge fan of Threadless since it’s inception in 2000 and when Jake said I should contact him about a possible position at Threadless Boulder, I was beyond excited at the prospect.

Fast-forward a few months.  The position that Jake and Jeffrey thought I’d be great for, I knew Mimi would be a better fit for.  They took one look at her resume/work history and agreed with me.  They also warned that Mimi and I didn’t have to work together, as it’s tough for some couples to work side-by-side.  I had faith and confidence in our ability to be co-workers.  Luckily, my confidence was well founded.

Fast-forward four years.  From Boulder, I’ve helped to create a retail store, national Airstream tour, multiple massive community meetups, an epic 10th anniversary bash, the Good Shirts collection, many of Threadless’s partners design challenges / Causes relationships and even built this sweet scoring game.  It’s been an incredible journey, and I’ve worn many hats.  Most of those hats I had no previous experience wearing, and that’s made all the difference in my personal and professional growth. 

Over the past year, Jake and Mimi have both left the Boulder office.  Jake and his family headed back to Chicago and Mimi began work for a small but mighty baby-pillow company called Boppy.  I ended up the last man standing in Boulder for Threadless, and I can honestly say that I suck terribly at being lone wolf.

I was approached by a friend and fellow Boulderite by the name of Michael, who co-founded a cloud-based storage company for photographs called Snapjoy.  It turns out that Snapjoy needed exactly the sort of experience that I had.  An offer was made and I accepted. 

I’m incredibly excited to join Snapjoy as the first hire and only non-technical staffer.  I’ll be handling a multitude of forward-facing activities and helping to refine the user experience.  If you know me well, you know that I love photography and I share photos online almost pathologically.  At Snapjoy, I have the opportunity to help build a company, community and product from launch.  It’s a massive undertaking, but once again I’m confident, and ready for the challenge.

Walking away from Threadless was tougher than I ever imagined.  The people are family now.  The mission statement could be my middle name.  I’m proud of the work I did there, but it’s time for a new chapter. 

Onward and upward! 

19 notes

  1. ir0cko said: best of luck, dustin!
  2. adammatthew said: Congrats!
  3. aledlewis said: Good luck in your new adventure, dude. You and Mimi were a brilliant addition to Threadless and I have no doubt you’ll be missed. This new project sounds right up your street. I hope our paths cross again. Until then, see you round on the internets!
  4. gblakeman said: you rock at what you do. can’t wait to see where you help take snapjoy!
  5. alicexz said: O____O
  6. dustinhenderlong posted this
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