Document text
Email Story to a Friend June 9, 2006 Mark Juliana, owner of Mark the Knife Sharpener, says there�s never a dull moment after giving up a high-tech career and a high-stress lifestyle for a livelihood sharpening knives and scissors at local growers� markets. (Mail Tribune / Roy Musitelli) Sharpening his wits By Greg Stiles Mail Tribune The relationship of the complex to simple isn't lost on Mark Juliana. He prefers the latter. For two decades, the 41-year-old Ashland resident pursued all the cutting-edge complexities the Silicon Valley could afford, rising and falling with start-ups and giving the best years of his life to companies with uncertain futures. Two years ago, he was a software quality assurance manager for publicly traded Netflix, an online movie rental subscription service provider in Los Gatos, Calif., with about 4.2 million subscribers and a library of approximately 55,000 film and television titles. Today, he's known as Mark the Knife Sharpener at growers' markets in Ashland and Medford, sharpening knives and scissors. So why leave the excitement and the top pay of the next great thing for the simple life? "They're great jobs, but with the high pay comes high stress," Juliana said. "When you're working for a Silicon Valley start-up, you're not working 40 hours a week, you're working 80 hours. You can expect getting called at 2 a.m. when the software being deployed isn't working and then driving in and start working." Advertisement Certainly, stock options are a nice carrot, he admits. But how many years does one spend in the pressure cooker to cash in? Juliana went to work in the computer field when he was 18, starting as an installer for RAC Computers. Then it was on to Computer Associates, where he began setting up networks for testing. Like many others in his industry, it wasn't long before he was high-stepping on the treadmill, moving from opportunity to opportunity. He got into software and signed on with a couple of start-ups that ultimately failed before catching on with Netflix. "In that area it's all about referrals," Juliana said. "Once you know people, they tell you about a job and one thing leads to another. Then you find yourself 20 years later having spent 20 years in high-tech without saying 'this is my goal in life.' It wasn't satisfying, I couldn't go home at the end of the day and say 'Gosh I loved what I did today.' I didn't wake up and say 'I'm really happy to go to the job this morning.' " Even so, it took two life-changing events — his father's death and a near-fatal auto accident — to bump the Klamath Falls native out of the fast lane. "My father had been at IBM for 35 years, working even while he was undergoing chemo treatments," Juliana said. "He continued working because the retirement benefits were so much better if he worked an extra five years. Then he retired and lived two more years and passed away. He would often say 'I don't enjoy what I'm doing because I have to keep learning about new parts, gizmos and gadgets.' In the end, what difference did it make? He could've had seven years in retirement and done what he loved." Anyone who has made the Santa Cruz to San Jose commute on Highway 17 knows how treacherous it can be, and Juliana nearly became a statistic one morning on his way to work in October 2001. "A car came over the median and plowed into me," he recalled. "I was driving a much smaller car and went over the embankment; the people who saw it said it was a miracle that I was alive." A broken femur and shattered ankle required four surgeries. He sustained permanent damage to his ankle and his pain is a constant reminder of the incident. "It really got me to think," he said. "Everyone thinks they have all the time in the world and are going to do the things they want to do down the road. But you better do what you love now, because tomorrow is not for sure." Two years ago he left Netflix and began an apprenticeship in natural building methods. He followed up with a three-month furniture building course at the Rosewood Studio in Almonte, Ottawa. "I was really to looking to simplify my life, and I wanted to know what's involved in all the aspects of building a house sustainably," said Juliana, who has done a handful of jobs for other people since then. "Natural building in terms of being an owner-builder can be very cost-effective. But my experience is that if you're going to pay someone using natural building methods it's more expensive, and the market is a limited clientele of a few wealthy people with a green building sense." After traveling through North American and New Zealand, Juliana and his partner Anya settled in the Rogue Valley. Two years ago, Anya cut out a newspaper article about a former high-tech professional who had gone into the sharpening business. Juliana tracked down the man and discovered he himself already possessed the tools of the trade. "I've always done woodworking, and an integral part is sharpening your tools," he said. "I'm an avid sharpener and started getting into tools. I've been sharpening kitchen knives for friends and relatives for the past six or seven years for free." "Mark the Knife Sharpener" applied to join the local growers markets this spring. Using a solar-powered wheel, he sharpens small knives for $2 and large ones for $5. Small scissors cost $4.50 and large are $6.50. "I'm looking at it as incubating a business," he said. "I don't want to get into something that's capital intensive. I want to grow organically without going into debt." Reach reporter Greg Stiles at 776-4463 or at [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2006 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback www.bingo.com Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker Custom Build Computers Discount Hotel Reservations --> online casinos news Ashley Furniture HomeStore Send Flowers California Casinos GMAT Prep Windermere Van Vleet Sports Equipment Online Casino Reviews Entertainment Guide --> Online Casino Fundraisers Sudoku Online Casinos Canada Online Pharmacy Advertisements Advertisement