The opportunity was that a position was coming available and he thought I should consider applying for it. A creative director position. At Nike. In Beaverton, Oregon. Nike.

Of course I was flattered and intrigued and interested, so I asked "well what do I do then?" He told me to send my portfolio for him to shop around to his higher-ups and we would go from there.

(Some background: 3 years before this fellow had seen my portfolio when he worked at Landor, so he was familiar with some of my work.)

Well, it took me over a week to slap together a new portfolio (as I rely too heavily on the internet these days and had not updated my book since the last time I sent it to him). It was a bit much and a bit overdone, but clearly indicative of the work I like to do.

And then there was nothing.

Two months of nary a peep. Occasionally I would get an email from my contact "Sit tight - it's really busy here" but mostly nothing. I left plenty of messages. Even going so far as to encourage him not to be afraid to be the bearer of bad news. Even if he had to say "I'm embarrassed because I lost your portfolio and they gave ME the job." Still nothing.

Then yesterday we discovered a message from him on our home phone (probably from the day before) to give him a call.

I called right away. He had bad news. While he thought I was very talented, "they" (his higher ups?) were concerned I would not be a good fit for creative director of the Nike Women brand (I am no woman). They also were concerned that I might have trouble 'adjusting' to an 'in-house' creative director role. I guess I do too much different work for too many clients? Maybe.

I took it well. I never had my hopes that high, but I did want to get to the "let's talk a little bit more" stage. The "why don't you fly out here and meet us?" stage. That's all. Was it too much to hope for?

So: I didn't even make it into the "you should apply" stage. Kind of like never even getting asked to the prom. Never mind a second or third choice asking me, no ask at all. Sigh.

So what now? I kind of liked the mysterious possibility of "what if?" that I had for 2 months before the verdict was delivered.

Hmm...