The Adaptive Times For Me

Hi there,

I haven't sent out this newsletter since last November. It's been a while indeed. Back then I talked about the hard year I went through personally with losing my dad (go read it if curious).

And I was also promising “I’m baaaack” and stuff. Well, I wasn’t, as it seems now. 😂 So, let me catch you up and take it from here on what’s next…

In case you don't know, it's been a bit over a month since I left my job at Google. I also left partly London for a bit.

If you follow me on LinkedIn, you've seen bits and pieces. But I wanted to bring it all together here, so we can hit restart.

After 7.5 incredible years, I left. I never thought I'd leave unless it was time to retire. I used to say "I'll retire from here."

Writing my goodbye post felt like I was talking about someone else. I hovered over 'post' for hours. The struggle was real 😅

Because my time at Google shaped me as a professional. And mostly, it shaped who I am as a person. The people. The leadership lessons. The learning and impact. When I lost my dad last year, Google gave me the space to be with my family for months. No pressure, no guilt. That's the culture people shout about, and the policies are built around this culture to be people-first.

(Btw if you ask me, I think it’s one of the worst times to leave Google, I truly believe they will be winners of the long run AI game, and I also massively miss my Enterprise access to all the awesome tools.)

I didn't leave Google for another job. I left for a different life.

Losing my dad came like a shock to me (and kicked off an identity crisis). A healthy and fairly young person, that got sick out of nowhere & passed away in a span of 4 months.

This experience shook me like no other has in the past. And made me realise three things:

𝟭. 𝗜 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗺𝘆 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀. I'd like to hang out more. I've thought about moving back to Greece for years but kept postponing because I liked my job. Now I only have one parent left. The calling for location flexibility got louder.

𝟮. 𝗟𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗹𝗮𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿. Lately, I didn't have those in London. My dad's last advice? "𝘚𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘰𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬." Ironic, coming from a career man. But people reconsider priorities in their final moments. I'd rather act on it before mine.

𝟯. 𝗜'𝗺 𝗱𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁-𝗶𝗳𝘀. "What if I take a career break?" "What if I start my own thing?" Life is short. You don't know what you'll wake up to tomorrow. I'm done wondering while I'm healthy.

So, I'm spending my time between Athens and London for the foreseeable. Location flexibility. And mental space to figure out what I want to prioritise next.

When I started telling people I'd be leaving, the responses were interesting.

The most common response I got from Googlers was: "𝗬𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗼 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝘃𝗲."

The most common response I got from Xooglers (or people that have left their great jobs): "𝗬𝗼𝘂'𝗹𝗹 𝘄𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝘀𝗼𝗼𝗻𝗲𝗿."

I'm not on the latter one yet.

But I don't understand the "brave" reaction. For me it was such a strong calling for a break to do the things I enjoy and spend family time, which felt like the only choice. No brainer. I couldn't see any other way.

I guess it's brave leaving a safe choice from the outside. From the inside, often it’s a voice so loud you cannot ignore. Unless I run out of savings before I find my next path, in which case I’ll probably think it was indeed brave!

I'm excited to announce I've accepted a new position... at The Adaptive Times podcast!

One that is unpaid, I'm the boss, but also the entire team. Producer. Host. Editor. Social media manager. The list goes on. It demands overtime. And the boss? Ruthless perfectionist. (aka yours, truly)

It still counts as a new job announcement, doesn't it? I’m telling you, it’s a full time job!

Watch on YouTube or listen on Spotify, and don’t forget to subscribe please 🙏🏻

Outside of that, I’m also exploring experiments around my other strengths such as sales coaching to sales team, events & panels moderation, and marketing advisory.

My goal during this career break is to try different things and figure out “what I want to do when I grow up” as I jokingly saying and feeling like I’m 18 again.

Week 5 of unemployment to enjoy freedom and I already have a packed calendar. The irony. I left Google and a structured calendar. And immediately built myself a new one.

I thought it was because I cannot sit still. But nope. It's because I'm in a creative frenzy. (Yes, leaving a 9-5 structure can do that to you.)

A "break" for me means choosing how to spend my day when I wake up. Doing only what I feel like. Admin day? Creative day? Nothing day?

Who knows really. I might realise I miss corporate and go back. I might go bold and build my own thing. I might try something I'd never thought of.

That's the exciting part: Blank page 🤓

But one thing I know for sure is that I'm back here. More newsletters coming (but I’m not committing to frequency yet). More podcast episodes. More sharing what I'm learning along the way.

Thank you for being here with me.

Stay curious. Stay adaptive.

Angeliki x

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𝘗𝘚. 𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘥𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘵, 𝘩𝘪𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘭𝘺.