Mike’s Only Blog

“When you step out of your comfort zone, you are stepping into your greatness.” - Cynthia Chiam

We all want an adventurous life. We all want a life built in a world where every day brings new and exciting things and we’re never stuck in monotonous situations. It’s hard to build a life of excitement when comfort is so… well… comfortable. 

My comfort zone happened to be a small town in Ohio. It’s a town I grew up and lived in until I was 23 years old. I went to the same school with the same people and kept the same friends my entire life. It was comfortable and familiar. It was my home. 

Until November of 2013 when I packed up and said goodbye to everything and everyone I had ever known. I moved 1,200 miles away to Orlando, Florida in search of something new and exciting. Little did I know, I wasn’t ready for all the excitement I was about to have. I found a job working at an equipment rental house and was fired three months after I started. It wasn’t such a great start to my exciting new life in Florida. 

I spent the next five months working freelance videography and photography jobs. It was five months of constant anxiety pouring over the internet to find anything that would pay next week’s bill. It was five months of no sleep and less than glorious travel conditions just to make ends meet. 

Then I met Bill, Shaunessey, and Danny. Three people who would unknowingly change my life forever. They didn’t just treat me like an employee or coworker… They treated me like family. They gave me knowledge that far surpassed everything I learned in college. Knowledge that I will take with me for the rest of my career and the rest of my life. They gave me moments that I will cherish forever because somehow they managed to make all the anxiety of my beginning months seem more than worth it. Three people who made my overly exciting new life comfortable and adventurous at the same time. 

It’s a bitter day today. It’s hard to say goodbye to people who have been an integral part of my life for so long. It’s hard to say goodbye to people who have helped flush out the person I’ve become and help me realize the person I want to be. 

Due to circumstances I have to, once again, step outside my comfort zone. I can only hope that I can find a place in life as comfortable and exciting as it has been here at StudioPeck. Nevertheless, I look forward to theirs and my future. I can’t wait to see everything they accomplish and I look forward to the day we work together again.

As Danny once said, “StudioPeck 4 lyfe!”

- Mike