Well, let’s see. If we’re talking about my very, very, very first job – that was regularly scheduled, met minimum wage requirements, and didn’t consist of a list left on the counter by my mom – I’d have to say it was at “Drug Emporium” in Lincoln.
What is Drug Emporium, you ask? It was basically a failed version of CVS and, actually, was located right where the CVS at 48th and Van Dorn is now. The “emporium” nature of the drugs that it sold consisted almost entirely of Tylenol, Ben-Gay, Advil, and Icy Hot. Bit of a let down, right? Yeah, I know, it was for me, too. The lessons I learned from this job were simple and to the point – be nice, get used to the fact that Big Brother is always watching, as well as the ever daunting task of always knowing which makeup would look best on any given individual at any given time. Did I forget to mention that I spent the majority of my time staffing the cosmetics counter? That’s right – my sophomore through senior years of high school were spent dabbling in low-end makeup and perfumes. However, I don’t consider this to be my first “real job”.
The next job that I had was a bit higher up on the “cool” factor (at least in my opinion), and was as a research assistant in one of the many Food Chemistry laboratories on UNL’s East Campus. This job introduced me to an alternate universe – one where my life revolved around whatever experiment I had “running” at the time. I learned that, if I really, REALLY wanted that particular job to be my career, I’d basically have to move a cot into my office so that I could sleep there (as many of the grad students and junior researchers did) and that, aside from research, my life would also revolve around writing proposals requesting equipment that was insanely expensive AND writing papers for journals. While a few of my papers did get published (which was super cool), the prospect of spending the rest of my 20’s sleeping in a cramped office was in no way enticing or appealing. I enjoy sunlight – and socializing – way too much. And, for a multitude of reasons, I don’t really consider this job to be my first “real” job, either.
However, the job that DOES fall into the category of “real” had some very inauspicious beginnings. I was 21, done for school (for the time being), had just gotten married, and had ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA what I wanted to do in life. I submitted my resume to pretty much everyone who was hiring, crossed my fingers, and hoped for the best. I wound up going on a lot of interviews and received several job offers but, for whatever reason, the job I wound up taking was as a secretary at a company called Allison Leasing. It was a local business, owned by a husband and wife. There were only three other employees besides myself and, going in, I thought it would be a piece of cake.
I was SO wrong.
This particular job involved so very much more than I ever thought it would, which was the making of my first lesson – YOUR CLIENTS ARE YOUR LIFEBLOOD. This particular company focused primarily on agricultural leasing – they were the broker, if you will, between the farmers and the banks. One of the MANY reasons they were so successful is because they weren’t just a business – they were a family and treated everyone as such. Traveling far and wide to meet with customers and connect with other businesses was a regular occurrence and the business – and well as its employees – were known for always being personable, approachable, accessible, reliable, and dependable. The needs of our clients were paramount, which meant that the days didn’t necessarily start at 8am or end at 5pm. We could accomplish things that other, similar (and, often times, bigger), companies were never able to because they simply didn’t share in the same mindset.
I also learned that, in a small business, EVERYONE PITCHES IN WITH EVERYTHING. Since the business primarily dealt with agriculture, there were certain times of the year where things were really S-L-O-W for us, like during planting seasons and harvest time. So, when those times inevitably rolled around, what did we do? Busted out the elbow grease and went to work. I can honestly say I’ve never been more shocked by an employer than the day I walked into the office and found my boss down on the floor, scrubbing baseboards. One year, I think I probably spent close to a week performing the mind numbing task of cleaning all the fake Ficus trees that existed around the office (there were 13)…leaf by leaf. I’m pretty sure I was pregnant at the time, which is how I got tree duty, as opposed to baseboard duty or being tasked to move desks so that the floors could be deep cleaned.
One of the other things that those slow times taught me was that TIME IS MONEY. If you didn’t have something to do, you found something to do and, once all those back burner tasks that could possibly be done were taken care of, you went home. There was no milking the clock. EVER.
Along those same lines, every penny was always accounted for and nothing went to waste. When it was time to go shopping for office supplies, only the minimum was purchased – that way nothing could ever go bad or expire (did you know that White Out expires?) prior to its use. BEING A GOOD STEWARD OF COMPANY RESOURCES was huge – after all, I got my paycheck regardless of if my employers did or not, and I know for a fact that there were times that they took home nothing but the clothes on their back. That’s a humbling realization.
And, finally, I learned that, IN A SMALL BUSINESS, YOUR COWORKERS BECOME PART OF YOUR FAMILY. Everyone always had everyone else’s backs, no matter what. Jann, one of the co-owners, was like a mom to me, which was an amazing Godsend – my own mother had passed away while I was in high school and, while I had been gifted with both a fantastic mother-in-law and step-mom, Jann was kind of like the icing on the cake. She taught me so much – not only about business (which was A LOT!) but also about things that can never be put into words. She was one of the most caring, giving, faith-filled, hard working individuals I’ve ever met, and I consider it a huge privilege to have been given the opportunity to work alongside her.
My time at Allison Leasing could not have ended on a better note; I’d just had my first child and had decided that being home with him was where my heart was…and Jann and her husband, Gary, were both fully supportive of my decision. Around that same time they were able to bring their son-in-law into the business, which I know was a blessing for them as well, and everything worked out beautifully.
It’s now 12 years later and, guess what? I’m back in a small, thriving, family owned business! Everything I learned back then has stuck with me and I couldn’t have been more fortunate than to have had the teacher – and lessons – that I did.