 The second I started, I wanted out. I knew big consulting wasn't right. On my first project, I got there and I studied for the LSAT, like under our work papers. Day to day, I was so tired that I was relying on stimulants to stay awake and stay focused. I think a lot of the people were. And by year four, I was so burnt out that I went to Europe for three weeks just to find myself again. It was the hardest, loneliest, most ex-essentially dreadful period of my life. Not even close. But 10 years after leaving that world, I found myself strongly recommending big consulting to a senior in college, Uncle Sam. And I'd recommend it to everyone else, graduate in college, you should do it. I know it's crazy, but where else are you gonna learn how to be good on email and to be helpful in meetings and to fit into company culture? Like yeah, you could do that at any job, but like to get all the at-bats in all the different companies, where else are you gonna get so much experience traveling for work? And where else are you gonna get at-bats, this many at-bats, learning how to play the game, not that the game should be played and is important? Where else are you gonna go through a journey and experience? Start your first job with a whole bunch of other kids, fresh out of college, working for the first time, traveling alone for the first time, getting paid for the first time, some of your best friends in life are your elementary school and high school friends, then your college friends, then your first work friends. Those are gonna be some of your best friends for life. And the stories that you're gonna tell, you're gonna bring to interviews of business use cases, but then also the stories that you're gonna tell and that you're gonna hold from after work, stuff that's just gonna make you smile that you'll be able to laugh about. And well, you're gonna see some boring, awful towns. You might get stuck in the middle of Arkansas, but you also might get lucky and you might get assigned to a project in Denver and get to go skiing. You might get placed in Cleveland and get to hang out in that city. How about Miami? That'd be kind of fun. And then after four years, you'll be done. You'll go work for one of your clients or you'll start a thing. Well, without big consulting, there's no way I could do any of this stuff. Life is no yolk. Whatever it is that we do with Vitamix, none of it. How hard it is to work for someone and then to gain the appreciation for how amazing it is to work for yourself. But beyond all that, you're gonna have savings. You're gonna make some good money and you're gonna have that savings to fall back on. And you're gonna have that job on your resume to fall back on and you're gonna have those stories and those clients to fall back on. And now the salary that you made is where you've established your time to be worth. You're not gonna make less than that. Maybe like a little, but you might take a pay cut to do something that you love and to have something more fitting of your lifestyle. But you've eliminated your chance of floundering after undergrad and thinking about going back to school. Maybe finding someone to travel with for a year. Good to know, buddy. Mess it around at a startup. Your feet are on solid ground. Look, if college taught you how to learn, big consulting is gonna teach you how to work. But to get the very most out of this experience, and that's all this really is, you need to learn boundaries. They're not gonna teach you boundaries. It's not in their best interest, but you need to know, you don't have to go out to dinner with the team. You don't have to go out to drinks with the team. You don't have to work past 5 p.m. You don't have to be on call in the middle of the night. You can say no. Saying no is hard. So try and do what we do. You know, instead of just saying no, just say, yeah, I can tomorrow. And the trick is like, raising your voice at the end a little bit. Like, I can do it tomorrow? It's not a hard no. You must hold the line. Do not give in. Do not let someone push you past the boundaries that you've established. Here's why. Because the more that you respect yourself and take care of yourself and value your time, the more they will. Good luck and oh, one more thing. To ensure you get a job at one of these big consulting firms, tell them the following. My goal is to work at and then fill in the blank with them and their four biggest competitors. So like if you're applying to Deloitte, say I'm applying to PWC, Ernst & Young, Accenture, blah, blah, blah. And my plan is to be a billable consulting resource for four years. That's the truth. And you know what? That is enormously valuable. Most people can't stick it out for more than a couple of years. Maybe one. Write those words down. My plan, billable consulting resource, four years. They will fight for you and you will get to pick which firm you work at, whichever one's the best fit for you. Okay, go. Go be a consultant for four years and then get the heck out. Bye. See you next week.