Why I choose to spend my life in the corporate world

There's no calm corporate moment. Problems don't respect a calendar, don't arrive at a good time, and rarely come alone. Some come from outside, from what we don't control. Some come from inside, from people — who are, at the same time, the best and the most complex variable of any company.

So the question is fair: why would anyone choose to spend a good part of their life in this kind of environment?

My answer, after more than twenty years in it, isn't "because I like a challenge" — that line says nothing. It's more concrete. I choose it because few places teach so fast: you're confronted every day with real decisions, of real consequence, and you discover who you are by how you react when the plan falls apart. You can't outsource that.

I also choose it because what we build here doesn't stay only in the company. An operation that grows creates jobs, brings service to those who didn't have it, supports families, moves small towns no one was looking at. There's a practical effect on people's lives that's hard to reach anywhere else — and that matters to me more than the number on paper.

And I choose it because friction is part of it. Well-handled conflict isn't a sign that something's wrong; often it's where the best decision is born, in the honest clash of different points of view. The environment is hard, yes. But it's in that same hard place that the greatest possibilities lie — to do, to change, to build something that lasts.

It's not a world for everyone. For me, all weights considered, it's still very much worth it.