I've pulled anchor on my PwC dream job to launch my own Rowboat. Here's why.

Today I'm in a secure, challenging and rewarding job surrounded by talented people, working for PwC, one of the most powerful brands on the planet worth billions of dollars. 

Tomorrow I'm Bec Lloyd, founder and owner of a business called Rowboat that nobody has heard of, worth - $2,457. 

This is how it happened.

1: I joined a large corporate accounting firm

7 years ago, wearing a skirt suit I'd had made in Thailand weeks before, I wheeled my suitcase up to the PwC office in London on day one. I really wasn't sure that my Psychology degree and I would 'fit in' and I was worried they'd 'find out' I knew nothing about business. I wasn't sure I'd last.

Ashley Unwin, Head of Consulting, stood up and told the 20 new joiners that we were the future of PwC and we were shipped off to a hotel in Buckinghamshire for 6 weeks to learn how to be real-life consultants. I was strangely hooked. 

Of course an organisation like PwC opens up a giant ocean of opportunities (huge variety of clients, range of work and global travel) but it also opened up a world of amazingly talented people. Everyone I met was so willing to help me navigate and make the most of these opportunities. Put it another way, if I'd had to spend my own cash on all the coaching (and counselling at times!) I wouldn't have had much left in my bank account each month!

2: I made the most of every opportunity

It wasn't always easy, it wasn't always fun but I learned new things every day and slowly found out what I was good at and what I really sucked at!

I took every chance I could to facilitate groups, to attend interesting training, to get on planes, to inspire myself and to say yes to projects that sounded difficult and sometimes scary!

3: I found my thing

I enjoyed working in my team and the day-to-day problem solving with clients but I hadn't found my 'thing'. I looked around and saw a lot of people bumbling along but the people I were most inspired by had their 'thing' and they would talk to anyone who would listen about it. Change management via spreadsheets wasn't floating my boat any more.

So I sat down with my most colourful pens to have a long hard think about what I was truly energised by, all the little shiny bits from the 30 or so client projects I'd been a part of. Of course being true to my consulting training this ended up being a Venn diagram.

The Venn intersected at 'Strategy', 'Experience' and 'People'. I coloured the bit in the middle yellow and didn't label it. I didn't think this collection of what I loved doing had a name but I carried around this scrappy piece of card in my bag for months. 

4: I Just Did It

Here's where the 'dream job' bit comes in. I went in search of a yellow splodge life and found two other yellow splodges at PwC and realised that's all you need! PwC fully supported us to set up a Human-Centred Design team (turns out there was a name!) within the People & Organisation Consulting team. Work stopped feeling like work, clients loved the different approach we took to helping them solve their biggest problems and Officeworks nearly ran out of post-it notes!

5: Today, I'm putting my oar in the water

I’m grateful to PwC for the last 7+ years, but grateful isn’t enough to keep me jumping out of bed in the mornings. At the very centre of my yellow splodge is owning my own business, an opportunity to practice what I preach, to take all the risk on my shoulders for something I absolutely believe in, to inspire others and to create an organisation free from hierarchy and process.

So I'm stepping off the cruise ship to build a rowboat.

Sometimes organisations need to stand on the main deck of a big cruise ship that takes them to the place they need to go. But there are also times when it’s better to be holding onto the oars of a rowboat.

I want to create and be part of a crew, where we're all mucking in to move the rowboat forwards with the water splashing on our faces. The rowboat gives us the freedom to explore islands we can't see when we set out, and, together, discover new lands to inhabit and work in. 

Am I scared by this journey into the unknown? No, I'm desperately excited. I know it won't be easy, making and living this decision has already taken me on a rollercoaster of emotions but if this all goes wrong... I guess I'll find out if I'm any good at swimming!

If I paddle by myself, I'll end up going round in circles! I'm looking for like-minded people (and organisations!) who'd love to grab an oar and work with me to ignite the human spirit using Human-Centred Design, to disrupt the traditional 'top down' functional HR model to create amazing experiences for people. It's a no-brainer.

Want to know when wearerowboat.com is ready to launch? Just let me know and I'll send you a message when I'm out on the water.