The email arrived on a Tuesday, eight months after rejection #1000:
David, we'd like to offer you the position of VP of Innovation. Your approach to risk-taking and failure has transformed our culture. The board unanimously agrees you're ready for executive leadership. Can we discuss?
I stared at the screen. The same company where I'd hidden in middle management for years, too afraid to stand out, was now offering me a role I'd never even dreamed of pursuing.
The journey from rejection-phobic employee to executive had been anything but linear.
The First Breakthrough: The Raise That Changed Everything
Three months after completing the experiment, I walked into my annual review with a different energy. Previous years, I'd accepted whatever small increase they offered with gratitude. This year, I had data.
"I've documented my contributions," I said, sliding a folder across the table. "Based on market rates and my specific value-add, I'm requesting a 40% increase."
My boss blinked. "That's... aggressive."
"It's accurate. Page three shows how my initiatives generated 3.2 million in new revenue. Page five details the two clients I saved from leaving. Page eight—"
"I get it," he interrupted. "But 40% is unprecedented."
"So was the value I created."
The negotiation took three meetings. They countered at 15%. I held firm at 40%. We settled at 32% – still the largest raise in company history.
But the money wasn't the real victory. It was the mindset shift. I'd asked for what I was worth and backed it up with evidence. The sky didn't fall. If anything, my stock rose.
The Side Business Born from Rejection
Rejection Resilience Inc., the company I'd created for rejection #1000, had started as a joke. But the Morrison Industries pilot program was real, and word spread.
Within three months, I had inquiries from twelve companies wanting similar training. The magazine column had built an audience. Speaking requests multiplied.
I faced a choice: stay safe in corporate life or build something from my experience.
Pre-experiment David would have chosen safety. Post-experiment David chose growth.
I negotiated with my employer to go to 80% time, using Fridays to build the business. They agreed, seeing the value in having an entrepreneurial mindset in their leadership.
The business model was simple: - Corporate workshops on rejection resilience - Individual coaching for leaders afraid of failure - Speaking engagements on transforming fear into fuel - Digital courses for those wanting self-guided transformation
Year one revenue: $238,000 Year two projection: $650,000
But revenue wasn't the real measure. Lives transformed was.
Client Story 1: The CEO Who Learned to Fail
Margaret ran a 500-person company but was paralyzed by perfectionism. Her fear of failure was creating a culture where nobody took risks.
I designed a 30-day challenge for her leadership team: each person had to fail at something publicly and share the lessons learned.
Margaret went first, pitching a terrible idea at the board meeting on purpose. When the board rejected it, she said, "Great! Let's analyze why this failed and apply those lessons to our real initiatives."
The culture shifted overnight. Innovation increased 40%. Employee satisfaction jumped 23%. All because leadership modeled that failure wasn't fatal.
Client Story 2: The Sales Team That Embraced No
A tech startup hired me when their sales team's fear of rejection was killing growth. Close rates were high, but call volumes were abysmal – they only pursued "sure things."
I implemented "Rejection Fridays" – the team competed to get the most creative rejections. Prizes for spectacular failures. Celebrations for bold attempts.
Within six weeks: - Call volume increased 300% - Close rate dropped from 32% to 28% - Total sales increased 240%
The paradox: accepting more rejection led to more success.
The Speaking Circuit: From Fear to Stage
Public speaking had been my second biggest fear after rejection. The experiment cured both simultaneously.
My first paid speaking engagement came through rejection #487 – I'd asked to speak at a major conference, they said no, but forwarded my info to a smaller event.
That 20-minute talk about embracing rejection led to: - 15 speaking engagements in year one - Keynote spots at three Fortune 500 companies - A TEDx talk (rejection #923 had been asking for main stage TED) - Speaking fees that matched my corporate salary
But the real payment was impact. After every talk, people approached with tears, sharing how fear of rejection had limited their lives. Watching them commit to their own experiments was worth more than any fee.
The Corporate Evolution: From Hider to Leader
Back at my day job, the rejection experiment effects compound. I became known as the executive who: - Pitched wild ideas without attachment - Gave honest feedback without fear - Took on impossible projects others avoided - Failed fast and extracted lessons faster
When the VP position opened, I initially wasn't considered. Wrong department, insufficient seniority, lack of traditional trajectory.
So I did what I'd learned: I asked anyway.
"I'd like to be considered for the VP role," I told the CEO.
"You're not qualified on paper."
"I know. But I'm qualified in practice. Give me 15 minutes to explain why traditional qualifications matter less than transformation capability."
Those 15 minutes turned into two hours. I got the job.
The Business Philosophy That Emerged:
1. Rejection Is Market Research Every "no" contains information about what the market doesn't want. Collect enough no's, patterns emerge.
2. Failure Velocity Beats Success Theater Better to fail at ten experiments than succeed at one safe bet.
3. Vulnerable Leaders Create Innovative Cultures When leaders admit failures, teams take more intelligent risks.
4. The Ask Is the Asset Most people never ask for what they want. Those who do have massive competitive advantage.
5. No Is Negotiable First no is rarely final. It's usually the start of a conversation.
The Financial Transformation:
- Pre-experiment salary: $75,000 - Post-experiment corporate salary: $142,000 - Business revenue year 1: $238,000 - Combined income: $380,000 - Increase: 406%
But money was just a marker. The real wealth was: - Loving Monday mornings - Choosing clients who aligned with values - Building something from nothing - Helping others transform fear into fuel
The Pivot That Almost Didn't Happen:
A year into building Rejection Resilience Inc., a competitor offered to buy the business for $1.2 million. Pre-experiment David would have jumped at the security.
Instead, I asked myself: "What would I do if I wasn't afraid?"
The answer: Scale bigger. Go global. Transform more lives.
I rejected the offer and doubled down: - Hired two facilitators to deliver workshops - Created online certification program for coaches - Launched podcast on rejection resilience - Wrote the book proposal publishers had been requesting
Each expansion required risking rejection. Each risk led to growth.
Lessons from the Journey:
My journal entry from the two-year mark:
Sometimes I can't believe this is my life. The scared middle manager who couldn't send an email now runs workshops for CEOs. The guy who accepted whatever salary they offered now negotiates everything. The person who hid from failure now teaches others to embrace it.
The career breakthroughs weren't about becoming fearless. They were about functioning despite fear. Every big ask still triggers the old anxiety. The difference is I now see anxiety as a signal that I'm playing at my edge rather than a stop sign.
Met with Tom (my replacement in old role) today. He asked how I "got so lucky." Told him about the 1000 rejections. He looked at me like I was crazy. Maybe I am. But it's a profitable, purposeful kind of crazy.
The rejection cure transformed my career by changing my relationship with risk. When you're not afraid of hearing no, you can: - Ask for what you're worth - Pitch impossible ideas - Build without permission - Lead with vulnerability - Fail toward success
The business breakthroughs weren't despite the rejections – they were because of them. Each no had been a lesson, a connection, a redirection toward something better.
Two years post-experiment, I had the career I'd never dared dream of. Not because I'd become exceptional, but because I'd become willing to risk rejection in pursuit of exception.
The cure wasn't just personal healing. It was professional transformation. And it was available to anyone willing to collect enough no's to find their yes.