I know – a lot of people are out of work, and a lot of people hate their work.

I have work, and love my work.  So if a “I love my job” post is going to irritate you, you should probably leave now

25 years ago I though I was a Neonatal Respiratory Therapist – and that I would be for life.

20 years ago I thought I was a Sales guy – and that I would be for life.

10 years ago I thought I was a Developer – and would be for life.

5 years ago I thought I was an independent consultant (and that I would be for life).

Then a vendor of mine hired me.  And I thought I was a “Development Manager”.  Not for life – but I figured for a few years – that lasted less than 6 months.  It just wasn’t me.  Not in a company that loved customers as much as I love customers.  I was better at loving customers than managing developers.  It was more natural to me, and a better value proposition for my employer.

I went to work as the Director of Software Development for Rackspace Cloud (then Mosso) in June of 2008.  I loved the people and the company, but the company and I made a mistake.  I was the right guy in the wrong place – and we both knew that.  It took some time for us to both admit it at the same time.  And then find what really worked for us both.

About a year ago, during SXSW, we announced that Robert Scoble and Rocky Barbanica had joined Rackspace.  We did this from a hotel room at the Hilton in Austin – on Gillmor Gang (then hosted on Leo Laporte’s channel, and now hosted on building43.com).

Who would have known back then that Robert and Rocky would end up working for me – and that we would build http://building43.com, where Gillmor Gang – the very show that announced them joining our company, would now be hosted and sponsored by us.  Not me.

I DID recommend to Rackspace that we hire Robert and Rocky.  But I never imagined they would work for me.

So it has been just about a year since I went almost overnight from being a “dev guy” to working more in corporate communications, PR, and Marketing.  I’ve sponsored over two dozen events, and we have shot and published 99 HD videos as of today.

It’s been an amazing amount of work.  And very rewarding.  And confusing, and educational.  And challenging.

So I get to run building43, meet some amazing people, enjoy being with Robert and Rocky  – and I still spend most of my time talking to customers.  Which is what I love most of all.

I get paid to talk to people.  Which I love to do.

I work more hours in a week than most people are awake in a week.  Because I truly love what I do – and what I am allowed to do.

And I love the company I work for because they are bright enough to see the value in someone that thinks differently – and is passionate enough that it sometimes gets him into trouble

Figure out what you love, then figure out how to get paid for it.

Life is really grand once you do!

Rob