Brett Farmiloe’s Autobiography
August 9, 2007 | by brett | Permalink
Yesterday I came across Whitney Johnson’s “Dare to Dream” blog. She had an interesting point on one of her posts that said, “for all your readers know, you may be daring them to dream, without having dreamt yourself.”
This quote frightened me. I’m scared that you, the reader, think that I, the author, am just some 22 year old kid telling you to follow your dreams. I am going to share with you how, and why, I am pursuing the passion so you do not get the wrong impression of this site.
My Story:
I chose accounting when I was deciding what my major should be in college. My step dad told me that accountants made the most money and had the most opportunity out of school, and since I was insecure and money driven at that point, I chose accounting.
I never planned on being accountant, but that was the path I was led down by default. All of my classmates either were continuing their accounting education by obtaining their masters degree, or were accepting offers at Big 4 firms for fifty thousand dollar salaries in the fall semester of 2005. I was stuck in the middle. I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life.
I had twenty interviews with potential employers that fall semester, and one thing became apparent. Not everyone had it figured out.
But that damn question of “what should I do with my life” lingered over the heads of everyone I talked to in the interview waiting rooms. Even after I accepted an offer with an accounting firm that fall, that question still remained on my mind.
In my very last interview, I got this funny feeling. I was overcome with fear that this would be my last interview. As I watched my interviewer ramble on and on about how much she loved her job, I realized that I liked interviews. I discovered that I liked interviews because I liked people. And what I enjoyed most about people was talking with them about their passion.
I went home that night and thought about what I would do during the summer between graduation day and my official start date in Corporate America. I got out a pen and paper and jotted down the things I wanted to do. I wanted to travel. I wanted to be close to sports. I wanted to better myself. Most of all, I wanted to continue having the feeling I had when I talked with people about their passion.
These desires that I wrote down is what you now see with Pursue the Passion. The RV came as a necessity because we had nowhere to stay, and I actually thought that when I bought Maggie Miracles (the first RV), that I was making a sound investment. Three hours into the first trip, broken down with green liquid spewing from the engine, I quickly realized that it had not been such a financial savvy decision.
That summer I interviewed 75 amazing people. I traveled 10,000 miles by RV, my mom’s 4Runner, plane, and train for 2 months. I went to places like Nike, Microsoft, Playboy, many sports stadiums, the homes of welcoming strangers, and cities I had only read about. It was the time of my life.
The summer also had an inadvertent effect on my Corporate America experience. It completely soured it before I even stepped in the door. I knew, that after being exposed to all different occupations and possibilities, that I had made the wrong choice to go into accounting. I was selling out by going into a secure, stable, well-paid position because it just wasn’t me. But because I was contractually obligated to show up on September 4th, I was going to show up on September 4th.
On August 23rd, two weeks before my anticipated start date, I reported to a “real job.” The corporate lifestyle benefits came throughout the week, ranging from extravagant lunches to all types of corporate goodies. I temporarily forgot about all that I had gained and gleaned during the summer.
But as the months passed, I began to revisit the advice that was given to me. I began to write a book about the pursuit of a passion, despite not working with a passion myself. This was troublesome to me, and even more so as I continued to receive emails from people around the world who were inspired by this site.
I felt not only like a corporate sellout, but also a hypocrite. I thought to myself, “how can I have a site that says to pursue your passion when I’m not pursuing it myself?”
I guess that was my “aha” moment where I said to hell with this. I started to get by on a PB & J diet, sacrificed Saturday nights, and saved up so I could go on a second PTP tour. I sent out over twenty carefully crafted sponsorship proposals to corporations, schools, and small businesses to see if they’d be interested in sponsoring the tour. No luck.
One day I received an email from the boss saying that she wanted to see me. I made the decision that it was now or never for me. It was time to quit the job I despised.
I walked into the office belonging to my boss at the scheduled time on the scheduled date with my heart pounding and my roommate’s co-worker’s resume. My boss was seated on the other side of the desk with two envelopes. Much like a classic western gunfight, I drew first. I quit. BAM!
I left the two envelopes on the table, one containing a raise, the other a bonus, and said goodbye to steady paychecks and corporate security.
With no paycheck, I scrambled to get by. I hired my friend Jay, who graduated in December with a college degree and is now on the tour, and paid him minimum wage to help me get things in line with the Pursue the Passion tour. He crashed on my couch, and we ate free Hot Pockets and Stouffer’s products, given to us by Nestle, until we couldn’t take the taste anymore.
Every day I would rise at 5am, wake Jay up at 8am, and we’d work until 9pm or 10pm. Then we’d bounce back the next day, looking for sponsors, passionate people to interview, and couches to crash on.
It wasn’t until I focused all my time on Pursue the Passion did I start to see results. After all those hours of writing sponsorship proposals, we found a sponsor in Jobing.com right in our own backyard. We went from having four people visit the site a day to an average of two hundred people per day. We made a pact not to eat Hot Pockets again.
Things started to click and hit full stride come July 1st, the official start of the second Pursue the Passion tour.
We’ve been on the road for over a month now, pursuing our passion, and the question that I frequently receive is “so, are you any closer to finding out what you want to do yet? What you going to do after this?”
People don’t realize that I am a passion pursuer and a crazy entrepreneur that will not stop until the bank account says zero. My goal is to turn this website into a resource that will help people who are in the same situations I found myself in as a student, and in the working world.
I am whole heartedly and no longer hypocritically pursuing my passion, and I invite you to join the journey as well.
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THERE ARE 10 RESPONSES TO THIS INTERVIEW
Pursue the Passion gets it right « On the Water Says:
August 9th, 2007
[…] I couldn’t have been further from the truth. Brett Farmiloe, the twenty-something behind the tour, had held a corporate job in accounting before deciding it was not what he wanted to do. After eating free Hot Pockets and PB & J’s for months, Brett was able to get his idea off the ground and find a corporate sponsor. I’m not going to go into too much detail since it’s better to read Brett’s version here. […]
Kelly G Says:
August 9th, 2007
What you have done Brett is very courageous. You took a chance and have fiercefully and fearlessly pursued your passion. The rewards are showing themselves not only in your journey, but in those that you reach daily through your interviews and posts to your web-site. You certainly do deserve the title given you . . . “The Passion King”!
Whitney Johnson Says:
August 9th, 2007
This is REALLY great. Thank you for sharing!
Stephen Hopson Says:
August 13th, 2007
Brett:
This brought tears to my eyes this morning and fired me up like crazy. Thanks for sharing your personal story with those of us lucky enough to find out about you.
I wrote a piece over at Adversity University about your blog, bus tour and the story by that guy who followed his passion for having breakfast with his family on 9/11. It is here: http://adversityuniversity.blogspot.com/2007/08/how-having-passion-can-save-your-life.html
I hope you guys will come through Ohio!
Stephen Hopson
brett Says:
August 13th, 2007
Thanks Stephen, Whitney, Mom for the encouragement…
terry Says:
August 16th, 2007
Brett,
You are walking the walk and talking the talk. You are doing what so many of us thought we would/could/should do when we were able to (younger). Instead of “settling” for a type of job in order to pay PGE, Macy’s, etc., you are courageous and inventive enough to see your dream and act upon it. Your tenacity is rewarding you not only spiritually, but you are making a living. Thank you for sharing everything you are learning.
Jay Whiting Says:
August 21st, 2007
Only you can gauge passion…and prevent forest fires.
Pursue the Passion gets it right « On the Ocean Says:
September 5th, 2007
[…] I couldn’t have been further from the truth. Brett Farmiloe, the twenty-something behind the tour, had held a corporate job in accounting before deciding it was not what he wanted to do. After eating free Hot Pockets and PB & J’s for months, Brett was able to get his idea off the ground and find a corporate sponsor. I’m not going to go into too much detail since it’s better to read Brett’s version here. […]
Barbara Says:
September 8th, 2007
Brett, the fact that Whitney would mention you name and mine in the same sentence has just blown me away. I am at the far end of the road and did finally do what I needed to do with the talent I posessed. But like you when I completed college I found I was missing the one thing I needed to actually do what I needed to do. The one thing was maturity. After raising three children, doing what was necessary to support my husbands career and working part time at a dozen things, I became the teacher I should have been all my life. For five years I spent every waking moment thinking, eating and sleeping my job and I loved to more than life itself. I think this just goes to show that it is never to late to pursue the dream…never.
b
Pursue the Passion: The Journey » Blog Archive » Where is the Love? Says:
April 8th, 2008
[…] is easy to pursue money out of school. Lots of us do this. I did it. Maricela Campos of Gateway High School writes that you should love your […]
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