Thursday Thirteen--Jobs

Bachman Turner Overdrive
Takin' Care of Business! 1974---Woo!!!

Hello! It's time for another Thursday Thirteen! As I watched my son leave for work this morning it dawned on me that a good list for today would be "Jobs that I have had". I'm not sure if there are thirteen but let's go! Oh by the way....seeing him leave wearing a crisp bright white button up shirt and black pants.....yeowza! I think he may have landed a good job this time. Hopefully he can knock off his college loans quickly!

1. At age 13 or 14 ..oh a little sidebar here....that's when the video was made.... I was a waitress at a little restaurant called the "Swiss Hat" in Sugarcreek otherwise known as the Little Switzerland of Ohio. I made lots of mistakes and had nightmares about making more mistakes like asking if they wanted dessert even before I brought the meal....not a good experience and it lasted just a short time.

2. AVON! I started in 1981 and am still selling it! I love it! Refuse to pay full price for the stuff so they're stuck with me!

3. I did telemarketing for our local newspaper. You may have heard this story before but I decided that a telemarketing job would be the only way to "get over" my stuttering. So I looked at the script and saw all the "M's", "L'S" and "W's" and I nearly gave up. As it turned out I had the best percent of sales of the staff of maybe 10 people. They got rid of nearly everyone else and allowed me to stay the longest!

4. I did telemarketing for a coupon book. I did pretty good with this also. It was another temporary position though. The coupon book was too cool! Lots of great deals and I think they gave their staff a book for their own.

5. I went door to door selling movie channels when HBO and Showtime first entered our area. I did so good with job working just 4-5 hours a day was all I needed to make enough commission and to fill my quota. There was a strip of 10 homes outside of a nearby town and they were told that cable would NEVER come to them. Well, after they all bought their GINORMOUS satellite dishes...you know the ones from back in the '80's.....within two years the cable services was available. I was told not to even go to that area because they wouldn't be interested. Well.....me being the type of person I am refuse to take "their" word for it and sauntered up to that area. I got 10 for 10! And ya know what? The company didn't even give me a bonus! I got fired for showing my dismay of having my commission level reduced. I think I said something like "What's the problem? Am I making more then you? If so I'll reduce my hours to 2 per day instead of 4-5." I guess management didn't like that. Hmmmm what a cocky young thing I was!

6. I worked with one other person and put together a local coupon/sales type supplement for our daily newspaper. I was involved in putting in "canned" text as well as selling advertisements.

7. I was hired on full time for the daily newspaper and put into my own stomping grounds to sell ads. It was a underdeveloped region and I had a blast working it. Once I built it into a lucrative area they moved me to another region so completely different and I got very mad and subsequently got fired.

8. I worked for maybe a month selling services to worker's comp attorneys/insurance companies something like that. That one is all somewhat vague. I didn't do well and couldn't handle being inside on a computer all day. HAH! Imagine that!

9. I sold advertising for the Polk City directory locally and they wanted me to expand further and further from home. Once the travel demands were over 2 hours each way I signed out.

10. I worked for a short time for a landscaper. Working one of those 48" walk behind mowers....wow! And I'm just a little girl!

11. Another brief job was car detailing.

12. I sold chemicals to factories and schools and restaurants....pretty much any type of chemical needed for any application. Anywhere from 55 gallon drums on down to cases of aerosols. The company is/was nationwide and I was 2nd in sales across the nation for my first year with the company. The second year I started selling additional products which I bought from my boss to strengthen my position in the eyes of the consumer. Then I found that I could purchase these items much cheaper! So I started a little business on the side selling usables much like my boss did. My boss got mad and turned me over to corporate...the vice president AND the president called me and said that I wasn't allowed to have a business on the side. So of course I had to get my boss fired. That began a downward spiral for him..poor fella. His wife left him, he lost his house and turned into a real jerk.

13. So at that point I started my own chemical/paper product business. Did it for nearly ten years. Selling to 60-70 businesses within a 20 mile radius of my home. It was very involved....I sold to my customers, ordered the stuff, did all the paperwork and even delivered the products. Of course I didn't have 55 gallon drums available anymore but I did manage to keep nearly 80% of my customers when I went on my own.

WHOA! Fourteen jobs?

14. Now I run my Christian newspaper published monthly. I have over 100 churches involved in it and getting new advertisers every month. It's very rewarding and I'm lovin' it! I feel that it's what God wants me to be doing. I love being at home when I want to and selling over the phone as well as generating new business. Most businesses I go into are familiar with my publication since it's be around since June of 2005. Sure alot of people waited to see if it would make it..and it seems as though it has.

So there you have it! Time to take care of business now!

Hugs, Happiness and Harmony!
Julie