I'm sitting in my cubicle when my boss calls me into her office. It's January 2010, I'm 25 years old, and I'm finishing up my first consulting project for Avanade in Tampa. My stomach tightens. When this project ends, I'll be unemployed. I was hired into a $30/hour position which, for a 25 year old, felt like winning the career lottery without even buying a ticket.

My boss, a pale-skinned woman in her forties with a jet-black perm that could cut glass, gestures for me to sit. The grip on my stomach tightens like a seatbelt before turbulence. She tells me there’s a new project opening up and she needs a Ruby on Rails developer.

"You've done good work so far, Chris - is this something you can do?"

I have never in my life heard of Ruby on Rails. I don’t know if it’s a programming language, a trendy gemstone, or a new commuter line in Atlanta. Panic sets in. I look her in the eye and say:

"Absolutely."

That night, I drive straight to Barnes & Noble like a man on a mission, buy a book on Ruby on Rails, grab takeout from Bahama Breeze, and lock myself in my hotel room. My book becomes my co-pilot, my laptop the cockpit. I repeat this for weeks - book open, laptop glowing, takeout containers piling up like trophies of survival. Eventually, I knock that project out of the park.

When it ends, Avanade HR calls to tell me I’m now a full-time, salaried employee. I hang up and exhale like I just landed a plane I didn’t know how to fly.

I often think about that moment. What if I’d said “no”? Or “I’ve never done that, but I could figure it out”? Neither might have been enough. I might’ve missed the door entirely, left wondering why opportunity never knocked.

Richard Branson once said, “If someone offers you an amazing opportunity and you're not sure you can do it, say YES - then learn how to do it later.”

That moment taught me that opportunity rarely comes clearly labeled. It knocks quietly - sometimes disguised as a programming language you’ve never heard of - and you have to be brave enough to answer. That mindset became a cornerstone of my career, leading to keynote stages, AI innovation, and mentoring the next generation of technologists.

Because my boss wasn’t asking if I could code Ruby on Rails in her office - she wanted to know if I could rise to the challenge.

You're damn right I can.