Dave's Path to Amazon — And He Makes Fun of the Midwest
Dave's Path to Amazon — And He Makes Fun of the Midwest
My path to Amazon wasn't obvious, or all that intentional. But it changed my life forever.
Welcome to the Scarlet Ink newsletter. I'm Dave Anderson, an ex-Amazon Tech Director and GM. Each week I write a newsletter article on tech industry careers, and specific leadership advice.
One of the most pivotal moments in my life was getting my job at Amazon.
It stretched my abilities. It helped me (eventually) save 10x more per year than I was able to save before Amazon. I moved to the West coast, which it turns out is significantly better than the Midwest in all ways. (Fact.) I met my wife, met great friends, got into shape, picked up new hobbies, and so on.
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When people find out that I became FI (financially independent, which I wrote about here) in my early 40s, they immediately attribute it (correctly in some ways) to working at Amazon.
“Oh, yeah, you were able to save a ton. But that’s because you worked at Amazon. I work in the Midwest, and we aren’t paid nearly that well.”
That’s true, but I also started in the Midwest. So it feels a bit funny to use my similar background as an explanation for different results.
My background.
I’ll digress a bit, because it’s fun.
I maxed out at an out of shape 225 lbs before coming to Seattle to work at Amazon. Fast-forward 6 - 12 months, and I was 175 and had some muscles.
I distinctly remember the first time someone used me as a counter example to their diet challenges, “People like you don’t know the challenges of being overweight.” Which made me have two simultaneous internal reactions. One was defensive, “Wait a second! I totally know the challenges.” and the other was shocked pride, “Oh wow! I’m one of the fit people now?!”
Since I’m not famous for losing weight, I don’t get many questions about “How did you get in shape, Dave?” I guess the answer (if anyone was curious) was moving to Seattle. Which might be the most drastic weight loss method I could imagine. I mean, uprooting yourself certainly can elicit change. I ate 99% less deep dish pizza, and ate more Thai and Chinese food. And instead of playing video games as my primary hobby, I picked up CrossFit and (indoor) rock climbing. FYI, outdoor rock climbing is frightening and a bad idea (why would you purposefully climb high where falling would create death?), but indoor rock climbing is great fun.
I wasn’t consciously out to change myself, but because I ended up with new habits, and a new social group. My new social group prioritized healthier activities.
But trying to keep myself on topic, I do regularly get questions about “How did you end up at Amazon?” Which is a personally impactful, and fun story.