Riding the Great Wave: Lessons in Purpose, Perseverance, and Teamwork
How one painting, a career at H2O, and life’s storms taught me to find meaning in the big waves
“Working at H2O is like that Japanese painting of the tsunami wave. Do you know it?”
I scanned through my memory and said, “You mean The Great Wave off Kanagawa?”
“Yes, that’s the one,” he replied.
I paused and thought, Is this guy trying to persuade me not to join H2O? I stammered, “So… working at H2O feels like you’re about to drown?”
Winded is the sailor
Drifting by the storm
Wounded is the organ
He left all bloodied on the shore
“No,” he laughed. “Look at the sailors in the boat. They’re all paddling for dear life in one direction. They have one purpose—moving forward against all obstacles. That’s H2O in a nutshell.”
It was 7 a.m. in a hotel room somewhere in Virginia. I made a coffee with the K-cup machine and opened my laptop. I clicked on Slack to check if my coworker was online; he was.
I messaged him to run through another set of tests. I had an H2O & Snowflake demo scheduled for 11 a.m. and wanted to ensure the instance was running. He ran the tests, and everything came back green—we were good to go.
“Did you let Engineering know not to make any upgrades this morning?” he asked.
“Yes,” I replied. “I told them on Friday about today’s demo, and they agreed not to push any changes.”
“Great. Let me know if you need anything. I’m not traveling and will be around.”
I closed the Slack huddle and spun up my demo instance. After running through my checks again, I felt confident. Everything was a go. I practiced my presentation in front of the hotel room mirror, adjusting as needed.
Gorgeous was his saviour, sees her
Drowning in his wake
River, taste the salt of her tears but
Can't blame fate, yeah
My ride was coming at 9 AM, so I packed and cleaned up. My colleague, an Account Executive (AE), and I planned to grab breakfast at a coffee shop near the site. The drive would take about an hour.
At the coffee shop, I logged into the VPN to run my checks one last time. I’m glad I did.
When I clicked the demo link, it led to a blank screen. That’s odd, I thought, refreshing the page. Then a 404 error popped up.
“Oh no,” I muttered as my blood pressure spiked.
The AE looked up from his Zoom call, alarmed by my expression. “Is everything okay?” he mouthed. I shook my head.
Someone had pushed an upgrade to the API and broken my entire demo. I called my colleague, who confirmed the issue with a grim, “Oh shit.”
With 45 minutes until the on-site demo, I had to decide: reschedule or rebuild? I chose to rebuild—fast.
I called my boss and explained the situation. Rallying the team, he quickly got everyone to work.
Little secrets, tremors
Turned to quake
The smallest oceans still get
Big, big waves
In 35 minutes, with the help of my teammates, we pulled together a working demo. I typed the final lines of code as we vaulted out of the coffee shop. I closed my laptop in the car, phone jammed between my head and shoulder.
We made it to the site just in time. The presentation impressed the client, and a wave of relief washed over me. I had dodged another Kanagawa Wave. I couldn’t have done it without my teammates—all paddling together, just like the sailors in the painting did.
I believe there is honor in honest, productive, and good work. I’ve seen men and women, of all colors and backgrounds, come together and achieve a great many things. The best part? I got to work with them.
During my first or second week at H2O, we had a Sales Kick Off (SKO) in the headquarters. I was hired as one of a handful of new Sales Engineers and technical folks to find and close deals. We had training that started at 8 AM and lasted till 8 PM for the entire week.
Ransom paid the devil
He whispers pleasing words
Triumphant are the angels if they can
Get there first
Our SKO team got to meet many of the Kaggle Grandmasters (KGMs) who helped build the new AutoML product, the one we were selling. I remember this one KGM that came in to talk about what makes our product different from the competitors - the feature engineering engine.
We sat there for two hours, now almost 9 PM, having our minds blown. After we couldn’t take it anymore, we went to a local brew pub to build camaraderie and decompress. My only thought was, “What a lucky fucker I am. I get to work and learn from these giants.”
A week later, back in New Jersey, I rolled up my sleeves and joined my new team. I got dirty by coding, demoing, and doing everything a Sales Engineer does - and more. I aligned my hands, mind, and heart to help sail our boat to unknown ports and brave future storms.
Little secrets, tremors
Turned to quake
The smallest oceans still get
Big, big waves
Six years later, I often think about The Great Wave off Kanagawa, its latent meaning, and the purpose it symbolizes. In life, we face many storms filled with big waves.
I'll decide
Take the dive
Take my time
Not my life
Wait for signs
Believe in lies
To get by
It's divine, whoa
Oh you know what it's like
I think about the big waves in my life, about the tsunami that nearly drowned me when Father passed away suddenly. I think about the storm that raged in my life when my Aunts and Uncles passed away one after the other over the last few years. I saw the blazes of lighting in the howling wind when my dear college friend passed away from cancer this February.
Turns the bow back, tows and
Drops the line
Puts his faith in love and tremor christ
Unfortunately, we must weather many storms to appreciate the good weather and good times. I think back to my last day at H2O and realize that our colleagues, our friends, and our family are our purpose in life. In the depths of any storm—shared or personal—they lift their hands to help you paddle forward.
Except this time, the wave crashed down over our boat and we capsized. In an instant, all of us were flung into the raging dark water. We all slipped under, rolled by the current, and came up for air - gasping. We clung to whatever debris was floating next to us and called out to one another through the howl of the wind.
We clung onto our flotsam and jetsam life rafts until the storm passed and the clouds lifted. In the light of the moon, we saw one another and paddled to each other. Soon, we found everyone who was flung overboard and banded together. Our small life rafts became a new boat, one in which we paddled together to the next port—to safety and a new adventure.
Once we arrive at port, I know that many of my dear colleagues and friends will join new crews on new ships. I will miss them dearly and wish them well, but before we say our goodbyes, you can find us in a tavern down by the docks, raising a drink in honor of the good work we have done together.
“To new friends, to old friends! To missing friends, and to friends we miss! Cheers!”
Thank You
Thank you to all my readers and paid supporters, you are the best. The song lyrics interspersed are from Pearl Jam’s “Tremor Christ.”
Wishing you all a Happy Holiday Season and a Joyous New Year. See you in 2025.
BTW: Love the voice recording! Good job!
This is so beautifully written and I know so relatable for so many. The hardest part about leaving my last job was leaving my colleagues. They had become my family. I'd hoped we'd keep our bonds strong, but it just didn't happen. (The pandemic didn't help.) I miss them all so much. But we are blessed to have these experiences.