Kwame Boler, CEO and Co-founder at Neu

1. What were you doing before you quit your job?

I worked as an Electrical/Systems Engineer for the Boeing company where I automated detailed test procedures, analyzed systems, and did fault isolation.

2. When did you realize you wanted to quit your job?

From the very beginning, I realized that corporate wasn’t for me. My initial game plan was to venture into entrepreneurship after touring several companies for 10 years to build by network and domain expertise. In reality, I wasn’t that patient.

3. What initial hesitations did you have about quitting your job and how did you overcome them?

Initially, I wasn’t too concerned with quitting my day job. As neu began to pick up speed, the traction was too distracting and it was difficult to focus at work. Eventually, I felt that every day that I walked into the office, I was lying to myself and to my team. As a person who strongly believes in speaking things into existence, my wife (or fiancé at the time) discussed these feelings extensively and came to the same conclusion: we put a date on our calendars and July 13, 2017 was officially my last day at work.

4. Can you remember the day you put in your notice?  What was it like, what was going through your mind, how did your manager take it?

Yes and it was definitely an interesting story.

About a month before I terminated my employment, I was called into a private room by my manager to discuss my recent performance.

At the time, Boeing was laying off a significant number of employees and my manager had made it clear that although historically I was a strong performer, I seemed disinterested, that he didn’t think I was in the right place, and that a change would need to occur. He offered me an opportunity to transfer to a different group with more interesting work coupled with a raise and noted that declining his offer would result in my termination. To him my decision was a no-brainer but to his surprise, I didn’t immediately accept and asked to have the room. I called family, friends, and my wife to get their opinions: they all affirmed that leaving Boeing was the right move and in my heart, I knew what was the right decision.

Shortly after, I called my manager back in and declined the offer.

He smiled and then told me that I reminded him of his son and that I should look into startups. I agreed. Later that day, I shared this with my team who celebrated my decision and shortly afterward, gave my official notice.

On July 14, 2017, I was no longer a Boeing employee.

5. What are you doing now?

I am one of the co-founders and CEO of neu, a reliable platform that provides quality cleans, on-demand. We’re working tirelessly to bring cleaning into the 21st century and with the help of a phenomenal team, make high quality, on-demand cleaning a pain of the past.

6. Looking back on your experience of founding a company, what do you know now that you wish you knew before?  Are you happy with your decision?

Absolutely! Extremely satisfied with and would happily repeat my decision.

7. Any other advice you can share for others contemplating a similar path?

Three things. 1. Plan, plan, and plan some more. I think the Venture Out community is an excellent resource for professionals to become more educated about what to expect with being a founder or leaving your day job but it’s paramount that you have a strong idea of your goals and how you’ll be spending your time.

2. Save $$$ (seriously). I strongly recommend having (at minimum of) 6 months of personal runway saved in the bank coupled with a secondary source of passive income. You should also adjust your lifestyle, become more conservative, and find ways to mitigate or reduce your expenses. For example, my wife and I downsized from our new construction home to a rental nearby and then turned our home into a rental just to get an additional passive income source. Househacking, Airbnb, or finding a roommate can be great alternatives as well.

3. Love what you do. Leaving your day job is a huge decision that will have a tremendous impact on your life and those around you.

Everyone sees themselves in a Geekwire or TechCrunch post with a writeup talking about them being (or building) the next big thing but there’s a looooooooong road ahead of you, it’s not all that glamorous, and can be quite capricious at times.  Odds are you’ll fail, pivot and face problems and pressure non-stop all while facing personal challenges as life doesn’t stop because you decided to join a startup.

However, if you love what you do and work with others who feel the same level of passion, you’ll remain motivated, disciplined and determined to succeed but most importantly, you’ll enjoy the journey and find the sacrifices worthwhile.