Transcript
Hey, everybody, I hope you’re off to a great summer. I’m going to take you back to my first job. So I was 14 years old the summer in between my 9th and 10th grade high school years, and I was earning an allowance and doing odd jobs around the house and the neighborhood.
And I asked my parents if I could get a job working for a real store or a real business. And they said yes, as long as I could get to and from work on my own and it didn’t inhibit any homework when school started or I could take care of all my other responsibilities.
So I pulled out a map. I took a look at where I could get to by bus or on my bike. And I went knocking door to door at several strip malls that were near my home. And I came across a small, privately owned store furniture store called the Storehouse, and they sold tabletops and bases and furniture.
And I went in to the owners, and I had a real brief conversation and asked if they needed any help.
I could feel in the first couple of minutes of that conversation there was quite a bit of hesitancy. Of course, then I didn’t know if it was because of my age or maybe they had never hired a young person or they really didn’t need part time work.
But I made them a proposal, and this is how I landed my first job. I asked him if I could work for the organization for two weeks at no cost to them. And if I didn’t provide any value at the end of the two weeks, they could send me home, no risk to them. But if I did provide value and they like the work that I did, I asked them to pay me for the two weeks and then put me on somewhat of a regular schedule.
And that’s exactly what happened. I have very fond memories of that first job, and quite frankly, I consider that my first sale because I actually had to sell myself into that position.
Take care, and I wish you well.
