Yesterday was the day. A wild one that started with me telling my boss the news, and ended with me playing fantasy make-believe with five close friends.
I always get to the office early. With Wizards’ heavy meeting culture it made it easier to get work done and be productive in my peak morning hours. But for yesterday, I was there anxiously awaiting my boss’ arrival. I stalked him on Microsoft Teams, watching for his icon to turn green. When it did, I put on my big boy pants and walked over to his office.
And, honestly? He responded in possibly the best way a manager could. Like Adam’s comment on my other post, he’s proved himself to be a good boss.
I told him that I had accepted a job which elicited a big physical reaction of surprise before gathering himself. He first congratulated me and said he was happy for me. He had no doubt that it was something I was excited about because it would have to be if was drawing me away from working on Magic. Then he said that he was sorry to see me go, etc. I made sure to tell him that the recent staffing decisions had made it an easier decision, but that I was sorry to be leaving him in the middle of things and he stopped me and said that that was part of why he liked me, that even after it wasn’t my problem anymore, that I still cared. So, I left that convo really impressed by his reaction to the news.
I had really thought that conversation was going to be the emotional peak of the day. But I was wrong. So, having told Eric, I began the day of quick convos. At this point the people in the building who knew was: myself, Aideen, Annie, Chris, and Blake. And now Eric.
Chris – I wouldn’t have previously told him that I was going for this job. But it turns out he also applied for the job. And, because we share Liz as a mutual friend, who was the hiring manager on this we each got told that the other was going for this job. Liz basically told Chris that he wasn’t going to get the job because I was also going for it but that he should still apply to get his name in with folks so that when a role he would be suited for came up he would have an easier time getting it. And I got told because she told Chris. So, we ended up growing closer and being in regular contact about our progress.
Aideen – A very close friend, she is Irish and we’ve always had a forthright relationship, talking money etc. She was actually the first person I told (aside from Katie, obviously.) She has been excited for me but is also very sad to see me go.
Annie – Another dear friend, very much an adopted little sister. She came over for dinner a few weeks ago and that was when we looped her in. Annie is a bit dramatic at times and I had been worried she’d be very emotional. So I wanted to prep her if it happened and her response wasn’t panic or fear, it was more of utter excitement and support at wanting me to get it.
And then Blake has been my closest friend at Wizards since I hired him. And he is likely to shoulder a bit of the burden of things in my departure.
The recurring theme here is that they are all close friends. Next was Adam, who I handed the reins of Gathering Magic to when I first came to Wizards. And then I hired him into Wizards several years later. So, another longtime friend. Stybs is on the east coast and he now works on another team, so I grabbed him for a quick call and gave him the news. He took it in stride.
Then I grabbed the next person and the next person. I had a list of people to make sure I told in person before they would hear it from other people. And in each of these conversations I got basically the exact same flow of response:
1. Shock
2. Fear
3. Excitement for me
4. Fear
5. Excitement for me
6. Shock
It was uncanny how almost every conversation basically followed the same flow. It was really truly heartwarming and emotional for me at the outpouring of love and support. Obviously I knew it would be like this but it was still an emotional day.
Jon, who is one of our marketing leads, asked if I wanted him to organize a going away thing for me on my last day. Which is very kind of him. I normally don’t go to these things, so it’ll be odd to go to mine.
I waited until lunch to tell my team. Eric had asked me to wait to tell them the news until he connected with our HR person. I assume that was because he needed to confirm with her whether I was a “let them finish” or an immediate exit. I was 99% they wouldn’t cut me off, but I figured the conversation had to have taken place.
Once I had clearance to tell them, I pulled straight from the Corporate America playbook. At 12:30, I sent out a meeting invite for 12:45 titled “Quick Sync.” Textbook. It signals the “this is unusual and important news” and maximizes urgency but doesn’t give away the topic.
They can guess it is staffing related as that is the only sort of thing that has this sort of privacy guard around. So it preps them to expect it to be change that is somewhat negative, but they don’t really know to what level. If it was positive news it would just be posted in the chat. So this induces some anxiety, but only for a short time before the meeting, but it also softens the blow whenever it comes.
I have four people under me: Lexie, Jordan, Angelina and Erminia. It turns out Erminia, who is remote in Sacramento, was actually away during lunch so she didn’t see the meeting invite. All for it and nothing against her for it, I just hadn’t expected it today. I did get Erminia a little bit later once she was back online.
Once the other three were in the meeting, I gave them the news. Generally, they took it well. There were emotions and fear, but also they were all keenly aware of me not getting promoted and other staffing changes so ultimately they’re all happy for me. I’m going to do my best to set them up for success after I leave.
During a lull in the day of these conversations, my actual official offer letter arrived. I had to grab one of the smaller rooms to be able to read it and review it, but I did and with everything looking correct I signed on the dotted line. Also, I can only chuckle at myself for how it almost felt wrong for me to sign it on Wizards’ laptop.
I shouldn’t have jumped the gun and told folks the way I did without that letter. But, given that I knew Liz was 100% on board with hiring me and she wouldn’t let the rug get swept out from underneath me, I felt confident enough to do it this time.
There’s only really two people left who I plan to really seek out and tell in person when I go back into the office on Thursday. My first boss, who hired me into Wizards, Mark. And Brian, who was my first close friend at Wizards. Mark is now the Chief of Staff to the President of Wizards, and Brian is a VP. They’re both good people and I want to tell them personally if I get the chance. And then, once I talk to them, I’ll send one of those emails to the next ring out of people to give them the news.
I don’t know when I’m going to post the news on social media. I’m not the “celebrity” I used to be within the Magic sphere, but I am well known by some of Magic’s biggest creators. If I was leaving gaming altogether, I’d probably just sort of make an Irish Goodbye. But since I’m not, and that my new role will probably bring me back to a more forward facing role and I expect a fair number of Magic players to be interested in Riftbound, I think I’ll get a buoy in terms of social media following etc. It’s likely to get a Reddit thread especially when it breaks not only that I am leaving Wizards, but that I’m going to one of its new competitors. Or maybe not. Who knows.
All that to say I probably won’t do it until the 11th itself. Though it may leak before that. I have to tell some of those creators the news because we’re actively working on projects with them. I don’t think it will? I hope?
But yeah, it feels like a weight off my shoulders that this is finally done and happening. It’s crazy. I kept referencing Shawshank Redemption about how the prisoners who are in for too long don’t want to leave, etc. Katie pointed out my last day, the 11th, is exactly 1 month short of me hitting 14 years at Wizards.
Another recurring topic in my conversations today was what this meant for me financially. Everyone assumes that it means more money for me, but also refer to the “401M” as part of our retirement plans. Wizards gives us product for every release, but we aren’t allowed to sell it while we work for Wizards. So it’s like its own mini-retirement fund. Over the years I’ve acquired a bunch of stuff. And as a player of the game I’ll keep a lot of it, but also – money. So I’ll definitely be selling stuff, including some very expensive cards that I expect to get several thousands of dollars for.
Which has added another layer to the financial discussions Katie and I have been having about money given this job change.
So as all of this is happening, we also have D&D on Tuesday nights.
But not just any D&D night, the climactic battle against the big bad villain. Which meant it ended up being an almost fully in-person session which is awesome. Add to that my job news and we had a great time. The group’s energy was very goofy and jovial, that sort of peak tired late Friday energy, but it was only Tuesday.
Annie and Lexie have already been introduced. Then there’s Sean, who is another long time Wizards guy, and we’ve grown closer over the years. Sam, used to work at Wizards, and now works for EA. And then Peter, who is an ex-Wizard and now works for Epic on Fortnite. So Peter and Sam both got the news about my job change today too.
It’s a great bunch and we just had a really fun time last night. Ordered Chinese food, drank some scotch, and played D&D.
Then Katie and I finally got to do a full debrief on the day and she’s just so happy for me. She had grown very frustrated with Wizards over the years. We watched some TV and then crawled into bed.