Author: Mike Urgo
What is going on?
What is Intellectual Nebula?
I am confused.
Well, I am here to clear the air and pull back the curtain a little as I begin a new chapter, personally and with Intellectual Nebula. To start, I founded Intellectual Nebula LLC in 2019 to book business that I was performing outside of my full-time job in IT as a freelance photographer, graphic designer and professional consultant.
From 2019 to 2024 I focused on growing a photography presence as well as starting to blog and practice writing. Most of the blogs were satirical and fun, meant as a way to decompress from the week. But, when I was informed that my position was going to be eliminated at my current employer in October, I saw it as an opportunity.
I knew the job market was tough and I also knew that landing a job through November and December was going to be difficult. I also did not want to sit at home applying for jobs and then staring at a screen waiting for something to happen.
I needed to work on something.
This is the first real phase of evolution when it came to changing Intellectual Nebula to meet my needs. When I was reading about the best way to find a new job in this job market, one single bit of feedback was consistent. Networking is key. My ego is / was still to big and sensitive to just change my LinkedIn profile green and say “PLEASE – someone help me get a job.”. NOTE: I will be writing a future blog on what I learned while job searching, but for now, the biggest thing was to swallow my pride and ask for help. People are always willing to make connections and keep you in mind for future openings, but they can’t if you’re not upfront with your situation.
So, instead I announced that I was evolving Intellectual Nebula to be a consultative company and set out looking to land some Fractional IT Leadership roles. For those unfamiliar with fractional roles, they have become increasingly popular as smaller to mid-size companies are cutting FTEs, but still need the guidance and leadership of executive level management. So rather than pay for a full-time CIO or CTO, they will purchase banks of hours or deliver based consultants or “fractional” resources.
While I was able to work with some smaller organizations on some small endeavors, nothing was materializing in a way that I was going to be able to survive without finding a full-time job. But I was growing my network and getting some referrals to full-time opportunities. After New Years, I knew I had to make a change. In one of my networking meetings, I was introduced to someone who suggested adding a video / podcast aspect to my weekly newsletters. He agreed that the newsletters were helpful in advertising myself and establishing a brand. But he added that practicing speaking on camera is another skill that could be honed and another way for people to connect with me.
On January 16th, a new evolution began. I was now writing the newsletter on Tuesday, recording it on Wednesday and posting it Thursdays as I continued to tactfully network and apply for new full-time positions. For the next five months, I applied to over 150 jobs and attended over 10 first interviews and 8 second interviews. Based on all the feedback I was receiving, I just had to be patient for the right role to come around.
So, Intellectual Nebula is evolving again.
If you visit the website over the next couple of months, you will see it change over time. I will no longer be offering any technology consulting services. Instead, in my time outside of my full-time job, I will continue to offer professional coaching and mentorship. I have two clients right now and can take on a few more, if you want to learn more about that, just send me a message at mjurgo@intellectualnebula.com.
I will also be continuing to post my photography and videography as I am able to get out and about on weekend and evenings to capture images. I am also available for freelance work when it comes to graphic design and leadership courses as well. Prior to my position being eliminated, I had started writing a book meant to help people as they grow into the corporate world. I am looking forward to getting back to that as well.
Fast forward to this past Tuesday, June 10th, and I have successfully started a new full-time job at ePlus as a Client Services Executive. I am excited for the opportunity and am looking forward to digging into the role and contributing to the team and overall organization’s success.
But, what about Intellectual Nebula? What’s the next step in evolution?
I think it’s important in life to think of two things when looking at things that you spend time on in life.
- Are you getting value out of the activity?
- Are you providing value to others through the activity?
As I have been preparing to start this new role, I knew this: I look forward to writing and recording these episodes each week and I didn’t want to stop. Recently, I have also had people reach out and share that they also look forward to reading and or watching each week’s episode. Now, I know I want to continue to do them, but I want to make sure I am focusing on topics I am passionate about, while also making sure I am not putting myself in any conflicts of interest with my new employer.
So, what’s this week’s message?
In short, be open and excited to evolve. Whether it’s in your career, or the way you’re searching for a job, or the way you lead; I believe that staying stagnant is a negative. Much like building muscle, you’re never really maintaining, you’re either building or losing. I think it’s the same way in other aspects of our lives and it is important to keep growing, keep learning and keep evolving!
How?
Self-awareness and knowing if and when it’s time to grow is important. It’s also important to listen to feedback from others. Feedback can be tricky though, because ten different people could have ten different opinions so it’s important to think back to those two questions above to ask yourself. Are you getting value out of the change? Will it have a positive impact on others as well?
Sometimes the impact on others won’t be direct. For example, one activity I love to do is build Legos. If you watch the episodes, you can see them behind me. While this doesn’t have a direct positive impact on others, it does allow me time to decompress and escape from some of the stress and anxiety of life. When I can decompress and spend some quiet time building Legos, I am more patient and a better parent and husband, which is an indirect result of that activity.
Now you have a little bit more of an idea of what has been going on with me and at Intellectual Nebula. I am so excited for my new full-time role at ePlus, and I am thrilled to be able to continue to bring new and exciting content to you from Intellectual Nebula! So as you wrap up this week, think about how you can continue to evolve.
Are you looking for a professional coach to help you grow as a leader and maintain a great culture?
Send me a message to hear about how I can help!
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The ability to take the time to understand you, your people, your processes, and your needs and develop a plan for success is what makes Intellectual Nebula so effective!
