If you don’t understand the play on the title of this post, I’m going to need you to stop right there, go to Netflix and watch To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before. It has nothing to do with jobs or your career path, but Noah Centineo is in it and that’s all you need to know.

This is the first of a mini career series of where I’ve been, where I am and the decisions I’ve made to get here. This is part one.

I’ve had kind of a lot of jobs. I’ve been working since I was fifteen, before I could even drive. My parents would take me to and from work at the mall until I got my driver’s license. I’d like to say that I really have learned the value of a dollar and how to provide for myself throughout the eight different jobs over the last ten years of my life. Even though I’m still struggling with the art of saving money since it practically BURNS a hole in my pocket (as my entire family would describe). Here are the jobs I’ve had starting somewhere around 2009-2010 up until now:

1. Aldo Shoes – Sales Associate
2. Abercrombie – Sales Associate
3. Nordstrom – Sales Associate
4. Peppino’s Restaurant – Hostess turned Server
5. Plumbrook Golf Course – Beverage Cart Girl (hated that, so became a Server)
6. Bagger Dave’s – Server (I had to wear an awful apron that made me look like a train conductor)
7. Michigan Association of CPA’s – Meeting Assistant Coordinator
8. Healthcare Information & Management Systems Society – Meeting Services Coordinator

While selling shoes and serving people burgers and pizza isn’t glamorous and it doesn’t directly correlate with what I do now (event planning), it taught me so many other things.

• Patience – 99% of these people out here are idiots. But a lot of people just need help and guess what, it was my job at the time to help them shop, or serve them food or drinks. So when silly or what seemed to be OBVIOUS questions were asked of me, I took a deep breath, and I answered 🙂
• Responsibility – Did I call in sick when sometimes I was hungover? NO, NEVER ,I’M A GOOD PERSON YOU GUYS. THANK YOU, NEXT. (okay once or twice or three times)
• Team work – or lack thereof, there are so many different types of people in this world and I’m telling you, you meet every single one of them in a restaurant or at a mall.
• To work my way up – I feel like a lot of people miss this one. I’m going to say in almost every field, you work your way up or you at least pay your dues. You don’t waltz in a place and demand you own it. It’s a respect thing in my mind.
• To hold my own – Going off of the previous bullet point, be respectful, but don’t let people walk all over you. People can be down right mean. I’ve had jobs before where all of the girls I worked with hated me. They talked about me behind my back because I was new and I didn’t know anyone and who knows why else. I wanted to quit so badly, but my dad actually told me something that stuck with me. He told me, that’s what they want Byanca, they want you to leave, because then, they’ve won. So I stayed, because I wanted to stick up for myself and because I got an employee discount and could shop OKAY.

I truly believe every job I’ve ever had, despite how small or stupid I thought my role was, brought me to where I am today. Which is a corporate event coordinator at a healthcare/IT association in downtown Chicago. I’m still learning and I’m still growing and I hope to only keep moving up from here.

Something I am proud of throughout all of these jobs is, I’ve never had to use someone else to get a job. I never knew someone, who knew someone, who could tell the hiring manager about me (if this is you, you’re so fortunate). So to me, it’s important that I am solely responsible for where I am right now, and that is a good ass feeling.

So, even if you’re not exactly where you want to be right now, keep your end goal in mind and keep going and keep learning.

xx B