Connect The Dots Of The Past For Insight Into The Future

Only 5 more days until you can enter to win a $50 gift card to Target. Click here for more information on the BRAVE-LY Back At It Giveaway!

Today the #blog4biz challenge has me thinking about my past jobs. What were the good parts of all the jobs I have ever had that I would like to incorporate into my business?

This is going to be a nice trip down memory lane...for me at least. I hope you like it too. You'll get to see all the things I did through out my life and follow the twisty road to where I am today.

Job 1: I got my first job when I was 17. My mom wouldn't let me work while I went to high school but the summer before I left for college was open season. I got a job with United Vision Sales as a kiosk salesperson for Magic Pens. I would stand at my kiosk and demonstrate the pens. They were really markers. They would write one color and when you went over that writing with the white pen, it would "magically" change colors. Something happened and the person who hired me, left and I was "promoted" to manage of that kiosk. As manager, I had to attend the manager training in New York City.

Best part: The best part of that job was the company sponsored traveling. I got to visit NYC for the first time as the youngest manager the company ever had.

Job 2:   After spending several month trying to find a job after I graduated college, I took a job at Ann Taylor Loft. It was my favorite store but I couldn't afford to shop there with no job. It seemed like a perfect fit. I started as a sales associate. 

Best Part: The best part of that job was the sales philosophy I learned during my sales training. The approach to sales was soft, not hard. They emphasized that our job was  to "help her buy". Since the customer came in for a reason, it was our job as sales associates to engage her as a person, not a sale, to discover what information she needed from us and give it her. That is the essence of helping her buy. 

Job 3: My first job in the training and development field was the best. I had spent a long time trying to break in to that field. So when I finally landed a job, it was a great. Perfect 10 Corporate Cultures is owned by mentor and good friend. She was the best boss in the world because she equally cared about her trainers and her clients. She introduced me to interpersonal communication skills training.

Best Part: The best part of that job was that it revealed to me my passion. When you can combine your passion and your work, you unlock internal motivation and no one has to tell you to go the extra mile. Add to that the best boss in the world and I could have stayed there forever. Maybe God knew that. I could have stayed there, perfectly content, and miss the other growth opportunities he had for me. 

Job 4: A job I created has to go on this list. I was working part time as a fitness instructor at a YMCA. I noticed a problem. I can up with a position to meet that problem. My boss accepted my proposal and I got that job.

Best Part: The best part of that job was that I used a deficiency in communication skills to make the case for the position. It was the first time I thought like an owner and not an employee.

Conclusion:

There you have it. Four jobs that I will never forget. As I think about my business today, I strive to incorporate the best parts of all of them into BRAVE Communication.

I would like to travel to new cities and places for work. I know those who travel for your job often are over it. I have been on a few business trips for my work and I loved it. I didn't like the delayed flights or the lost luggage. But I loved that my work could take me to many places...and other people would pay my way!

I am not a natural born salesperson. I have to constantly work on my techniques, but I learned from my job at Ann Taylor Loft was that all sales doesn't look a like. I can find a sales technique that is effective and natural for me and apply it. "Helping her buy" training helped me break down the resistance I had to "asking for the sale". I become the best sales associate at that store because I could sell in a way that  was comfortable to me and put the client first. 

I cannot imagine a life where I am not  crusading for or advocating for improving interpersonal communication.That is my passion in life and I will find every means I can to promote it.

I learned that I don't have to wait for opportunities. I can create my own. I am a self starter. 

I have had many other jobs in my life. I think these four stuck out in my mind because they all had to do with shaping the person I am today. I see how they connect. Steve Jobs once said 

"Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn't really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That's because they were able to connect experiences they've had and synthesize new things."

That is how I am living my life and my business...connecting things!

Word Count 938

During July, I accepted the #Blog4Biz daily business blogging challenge. This post is a part of that challenge. If you want to join the challenge, click here.