If you haven’t already heard the news, well… We apologize! We tried to tell as many people in person as we could, but we ran out of time.
As of March 31, 2023 Aaron Clark, will be retiring from the firm and will no longer be available to answer customer questions and work on your NetSuite issues. All emails will be forwarded to our support desk, and the team will take care of any outstanding items that are still open as of that date.
Here are some Frequently Asked Questions (and maybe a few that people are too shy to ask) that Aaron has taken some time to answer:
- Q: What are you planning on doing?
A: I really like to ride bikes (both road and mountain) and so I’m planning on doing a lot more riding. I’ve got to keep my heart healthy and strong. I’ve also got a house and yard that could use some TLC, and so I plan on doing some gardening and home repairs. In addition, I may work on some other projects that I find interesting, most likely something to do with software. - Q: Who will be covering for you?
A: We’ve assembled a pretty talented team at Emerson Winchester. Each person in the group will pick up and run with what I’m leaving behind. I have full faith and confidence in the team. If I didn’t trust them, I wouldn’t be leaving. If you have specific questions about who’s got what, just reach out to sales@emersonwinchester.com or support@emersonwinchester.com. Most of the people who have been working directly with me have met the members of the team who will be covering for me after the 31st. - Q: The 31st of March… So this is all effective on April 1, right? Is this some sort of elaborate April Fools’ prank?
A: Definitely not. It was the end of the quarter, and seemed like a reasonable date. It’s also the anniversary of the last time that I worked for a company other than my own, and so it felt like a good day to make it all happen. - Q: Are you burned out? Is that what’s going on?
A: No. Not at all. It’s just time to do something different. Many years ago, I was assigned to read an article about entrepreneurship, and the thesis of the article was that there are two types of entrepreneurs: Buccaneers and Farmers. The farmers are the types who build a business so that they can continue to take care of their acreage and animals. The buccaneers are the types who like to get into new ventures all the time and who aren’t content unless things are a little messy and fighting some battles. On the spectrum from farmer to buccaneer, I am heavily weighted to the side of the buccaneer. It’s just time to get out the cutlass and compass, and start hunting for my next adventure. - Q: You’re retiring? But you’re only __ years old!
A: As of the date of this writing, I am 45 years old. It has always been a dream of mine to be able to retire earlier than normal, and now the time has come for me to make that dream a reality, in a manner of speaking. - Q: How is that even possible?
A: Well, I started saving and stashing money when I was 22 years old, and never really stopped saving. I learned a lot about investing along the way, and stuck with my principles through the ups and the downs. And in a lot of cases, I just plain got lucky. Some examples of dumb luck:- I started saving during a major stock market downturn (had no idea what I was doing), and the subsequent growth boosted our savings a lot.
- I married a fantastic woman, and we share similar goals and hopes. We’ve raised (and continue to raise) a great family, and I have great kids. She’s still with me, and I can’t imagine life without her. Divorce is expensive and takes a toll on finances.
- I’ve never been without a job for longer than a few weeks throughout my career. Not everyone can say that.
- I can afford health insurance, and so even though I have medical issues and pay a lot to stay healthy, I haven’t been bankrupted medically. Not everyone is as fortunate as I am.
- I learned early on in life that “keeping up with the Jones family” is a sucker’s game, and I learned to value having enough rather than having more. Comparison is the thief of joy.
- I have fantastic friends and mentors who continually encourage and challenge me to be better and stronger than I would be without them. I could not even begin to name all of them, but chances very, very high that if we’ve spent any significant amount of time together, I count you in the list.
- Q: But what if I want to talk to you about something personally?
A: Call me or text me if you need to talk sooner rather than later, or drop me a line on my personal email if you don’t mind waiting for a few days for a response. I’m happy to talk with you. If you don’t have my contact information, get it from me before the end of the month, or you can find me and connect with me on LinkedIn, and I’ll share my contact information there. Although I am retiring from Emerson Winchester, I am not going to quit working. I’m just going to focus on some other areas of interest, and see what other cool things I can do.
If you’ve got other questions that haven’t been addressed, please feel free to drop us a line, and we’ll do our best to answer your questions.
Emerson Winchester LLC 