it’s my last day at @ForTheWin, by far the best and most rewarding job i’ve ever had, and I want to talk about it for a minute if you’ll let me.
i joined FTW in july 2021 after a year of freelancing that kept me afloat after the sb nation cuts. i didn’t know if i’d work full-time in media again, especially not in sports culture, so to land a job at a site i loved and to be that site’s managing editor was unthinkable.
It’s hard to stand in front of people who don’t know you and tell them we’re here to make great stuff and have fun doing it. no one in this business can ever fully lean into that because we’re scared of what this business has done to us and so many of our colleagues.
but i was lucky to have a staff that did lean into it and the belief that you can tell great stories, no matter the subject, whether you’re eviscerating brett favre or ranking cereals or writing this spectacular headline (s/o to @marycclarke)
shortly after i started the job, my mom was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. i had to start traveling to md anderson on a regular basis for her appointments and wanted to make things seem as normal as possible for the staff by downplaying how difficult that time was.
their response was to ignore me (smart) and send food delivery gift cards and venmos for coffee and just the most beautiful, encouraging words that i clung to on the darkest days. i was floored.
it was the same when she died, an incredible outpouring of love from people who owed me nothing. i’ll never have the words for what their support meant to me.