That made my day. In fact, for the rest of the day, all I could think about is that woman. I imagined she went home to the birthday party, where all friends and family were gathered, everyone is smiling and singing the birthday song when my cake, my creation was brought into the room. It was a centerpiece of an amazing event that helped to make that little boy’s birthday truly special.

What changed my live is the realization that none of this was true. This story, all of it, was just a figment of my imagination. Well, almost all of it. The four words “She really liked it”, were actually true. But I made hundreds of cakes and all those stories are forever lost. No one will ever hear or share them, not my friends, not my family, my co-workers, my employers, my customers, or even myself.

I kept thinking about it and wondered what if I could capture some of those stories. And then it hit me. I could create an app for cake decorators where they could create their profiles and people would order cakes from them and then leave their feedback – those very stories that I so desperately wanted to capture. I got very excited, learned how to build an app and showed it to people. Everyone loved it, but the company I worked for was very bureaucratic and these types of innovations were almost impossible to get through. So, unfortunately, it didn’t go anywhere.

On the bright side, I learned a great new skill and soon after I was offered a better job. But, then again, I remember sitting home, updating my resume. After I was done, I saw a small paragraph that I wrote for myself about myself and then realized that after eight years working for a company, this is all I’m taking with me. This is all I can show for it.

How about you, my dear reader? How about your past and current jobs? If you walked out today, what would you take with you? I realized that most of us are in the exact same situation. We work hard for a company, we affect people’s lives, and what we walk out the door with is this pathetic piece of paper with a paragraph in it. And then we’re off to interviews, trying to impress complete strangers and prove that we’re worth something.

I was on a mission. It wasn’t just cake decorators, it’s all of us! We had to figure out a way for all of us to build a legacy instead of a resume, personal network, or interview skills. Something we can be proud of and own for the rest of our lives and beyond no matter what the sign above the door of our company is.