This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Eric Carrell, a 35-year-old link-building business owner from Missouri. It’s been edited for length and clarity.
I was working as a link-builder for a company I loved when I was offered a job for double my salary at the time. Blinded by the number, I said yes.
For the next six months, I worked for a company that hardly communicated with me and used debatably unethical business practices. Then, I got fired.
I don’t regret getting poached, but I learned that work culture will always trump a paycheck. Now, I’ve built my own seven-figure link-building agency and hire exclusively based on culture fit.
I loved my first company, but the pay wasn’t the best
In 2016, I started working as a link-building manager for a tech company. My job was to boost SEO by generating more backlinks to our website. I was living a nomadic lifestyle at the time, bouncing between hostels in South America, so I loved the flexibility of my fully remote job.
We were a small, scrappy team of five people and I was given the opportunity to run the link-building department. I had concerns about the $35,000 salary and limited earning potential, but it was manageable with my current lifestyle and I loved my team. I was young and enjoying life, so leaving the company wasn’t even on my mind.
I received a job offer for double the salary
I spent my hours outside work posting career content on link-building forums and establishing a personal brand as an industry expert. My reputation landed me a feature in a link-building expert round-up. A man who stumbled upon the article messaged me with an offer to double my salary if I jumped ship to work for his company.
I hopped on a call with him to hear a bit more about the role and the rest of the correspondence happened over email. I’m not going to lie; I knew I’d take the offer the second I heard the pay. I didn’t consider how I’d mesh with the company culture or if we’d see eye-to-eye on strategy. I was given a number and I chased it. It was a huge mistake.
I don’t regret jumping ship, but I regret how I handled it.
I called my boss and tried to be completely transparent about the competing offer. He asked if I would accept any salary below that number to stay with the company, but I said no.
I offered to stick around for the next two weeks to tie up loose ends, but he rejected the offer. I could feel his animosity through the phone and felt enmeshed in guilt.
Looking back, I don’t feel guilty about taking the job because it led me to where I am today. However, I feel guilty about leaving a great company so abruptly. I wish I had been open with my boss earlier about my salary concerns so that I could’ve potentially stayed around.
The red flags at my new job started right away
I jumped right into my new job as the head of the link-building department. I felt like I received very little feedback or guidance from my superiors, which made me insecure in my work output.
I also didn’t agree with some of their business practices which I believed to be unethical. I reluctantly did as instructed, but I wish I asked about their tactics before accepting the offer.
I got fired after six months on the job
Six months into the job, my manager called me up and fired me. He told me they weren’t seeing enough growth on the site and needed to shift focus. The firing felt vague and confusing, and I still don’t know why I was let go.
But getting poached and then fired was ultimately the best thing that could’ve happened to me. I realized that choosing a salary over a positive work culture wouldn’t leave me feeling fulfilled or secure in my job.
I knew that I never wanted to sacrifice my values in pursuit of a number. I also didn’t want to return to a company where someone else determined my salary and could take my job away.
I started my own link-building business
As soon as I was fired, I leveraged the personal brand I built online to land freelance gigs and wanted to build upon it. I never saw myself as someone who possessed the skills to own a business, but I knew that I’d have to take a chance on myself if I wanted to have the security and freedom to build the life I wanted.
I came to a friend with the idea of joining forces to bootstrap our own link-building agency. We divided the labor so that I’d manage the marketing, sales, and orders, while he’d focus on accounting and business logistics. From 2017 to 2019, it was just us on the team, and we were hustling, taking on as many clients as we could.
Company culture is my biggest priority at my company
Two years into the company, we brought on a core team of 17 plus a small group of virtual assistants and fractional team members. We hired based on a three-step interview process that tested for culture fit, personality, and ability to self-manage. I didn’t care if applicants had SEO experience as long as they matched our company values of open communication, ethical link-building, and hard work.
My employees are completely remote and we don’t track anybody’s hours. As long as the work is getting done, they have autonomy over their work-life balance. So far, it hasn’t been a problem and we have extremely low turnover rates.
My cofounder and I also go to therapy and offer therapy for any employee who’d like it through BetterHelp. I feel like it fosters open communication and trust within the company.
My business partner and I have grown our business into a multimillion-dollar company with a team of really good people. My experience getting poached and fired constantly reminds me of the importance of creating a collaborative, communicative team that feels secure in their job.
Editor’s note: The company where Carrell previously worked, which was verified by Business Insider, declined to comment on this story.
If you’ve been poached for a job and would like to tell your story, please email Tess Martinelli at tmartinelli@businessinsider.com
