Experience is often valued because of the lessons prior jobs have theoretically provided us with. While hearing about those lessons isn’t a replacement for actually experiencing it, we thought it would be very helpful to create a space where sharp and generous members of the community can come together to share stories and lessons learned at prior jobs for the benefit of others.

M.K. Harris

The biggest lesson I learned from my previous career was to set boundaries. I was working in finance for a non-profit 5 years prior to launching Peace of Cake. My sole job was to to make sure the money wasn’t “funny” but it turned out to be a lot more than I should have been doing. I was running personal errands for my boss, grabbing lunch for the staff almost daily, taking calls at 10pm and so much more. Read more>>

Joshua Munn

One of the best lessons I’ve learned to date has been to under promise & over deliver on everything. Coming from a background in sales I saw that most sellers would say just about anything to close a sale and make a commission. Most of the time that would result in the customer being disappointed as a result of over-promising. Some customers may even interpret that the failure to deliver upon a promise was in some way a “bait & switch”. Once this is perceived by a customer/client there is no way to undo it. Their perception is their reality. Read more>>

Deanna Mackey

The most important lesson that I learned at a job was to always advocate for yourself and document appropriately. I discuss this topic in my self-help / autobiography book, “Nursing At Its Finest.” The nursing field is already a challenging career in itself. It becomes even more daunting when you don’t always have the support that you think you are going to have. You feel like you’ve made it into a special “club” so to speak and that seasoned nurses will be helpful along the way. Unfortunately, that isn’t always true. Read more>>

Travis Grace

The biggest lesson learned on a previous job was my military career. I think above all it taught me to grind from sun up to sun down, not expecting help or handouts from anything. With that approach and mentality i learn to depend on me and trust the process. I literally became the team. Read more>>

Anna Skates

My entrepreneurial journey started about 5 years ago when I left a steady job to start a non-profit with a friend. The vision was beautiful but after a couple of years, my own dreams and life’s mission grew beyond the bounds of that organization. Even though I loved that work, I knew it was time to go. I learned in that process to follow my own intuition, even if it meant leaving good things behind. Read more>>

Alissa Bankowski

When I sat down to write this, it took me far too long to see a clear answer. I was trying to be insightful and was hoping for this “aha” moment to tell you all about. But honestly, it doesn’t happen that way. You don’t just one day wake up and say “wow, I get it”. It’s years of hard work, breakdowns, fear of failure, and constantly questioning yourself that gets you through to the next stage. And when we’re in it, we don’t realize it. But when we’re past it, it often takes something else just as tough to force you to look back and realize just how far you’ve come. Read more>>

Sean Badock

Over the years I have had many different jobs. Some I enjoyed others that I did not. And ultimately I came to the same conclusion, that I wanted to work for myself doing things that I enjoy. I do enjoy working for other people and helping other people especially. I still do handy work because I like to work with my hands and I enjoy learning practical things and helping people (I also make some money doing it and saves me money knowing how to do things myself). At some previous jobs I realized I did not align with what the company or owners believed or did. Read more>>

Kelley Finley-Urbania .

Have a conversation to gather more information and build rapport. For many years I worked in retail management. I always believed that if I was looking to just make a sale I ultimately would end up with an unhappy client. It’s important to be a good listener, be honest, and make recommendations based on their needs. I learned the importance of listening and asking key questions, were they looking for value, to save time, was it a gift and other questions to illicit descriptive responses. Read more>>

Amari Worthy

One of the first jobs I had was at Ritters Frozen Custard. One of the Vaules that stuck with me from this job. was the customer Service we had to give. Everything was about making the customer smile and enjoying their visit with us. I learned that great customer interactions and relationships are the key to business. Not only will those customer become returning customers they will refer frIends and family. who will now do the same. When helping clients make their vision come to life and enjoy their night I make sure to go above and beyond. Custom cups and napkins, personalize drink straws and more. Make sure to give them a night to remember Read more>>

Aubrie Simpson-Gotham

Prior to founding Fostering Connections, I was an educator for three years in preschool and elementary school classrooms. Through my work as teacher, I learned the importance of building relationships and having a positive work environment to achieve success for your organization. As a beginning teacher, I had the challenge of teaching at schools that placed a great emphasis on student test scores and a minimal focus on building relationships with other teachers, students , and parents. Read more>>

Rita Avant

Before I started making cakes full time I worked in customer service. It was in a call center setting so I was speaking to different people constantly. I’d like to think that the time I’ve spent there has helped me in understanding how to deal with different personalities while showing great customer service and maneuvering in difficult situations. Read more>>

Olivia Herrick.

I worked full-time for six years before I started my studio and I learned so many valuable lessons. But I think when I look back what has stuck with me the most is that when you have colleagues, it is really easy for people to just constantly default to being negative. There are a lot of perpetually dissatisfied people. I sometimes say “the complainer role is already taken” – my goal was always to go against the grain, be positive, and get my job done. It is amazing how far that alone will get you! Read more>>

Kimberly Arreola.

During cosmetology school, I knew I wanted to work for a salon that would offer continued education to allow me to further my knowledge in my career. While attending the Aveda Institute, they had a career day where several salons came to set up booths which allowed us to introduce ourselves to their teams and learn about what their salon had to offer. On a separate day, we were taken around town to different salons to tour and get a feel for the real salon environment. So out of those two days and of all the salons that I got to meet with, my heart was set on Toni & Guy! Read more>>

Danel Legatt

My situation is a little more unique then most business owners in our industry. Instead of building a business from the ground up, I was presented the opportunity to take over an already thriving business. I was working with this company for several years before taking over ownership and prior to that I had about 5 years in the industry working with other companies and clients. Having that previous experience has taught me so many important lessons that I feel will help continue to make me a better business owner. Read more>>

Camille Kashaka.

Exploitation is exploitation, regardless of whether or not you are exploiting someone “a little less” than a counterpart. The conversation around internships and unpaid work in the guise of “education” or “experience” has gotten louder and louder over the years, and I’m glad to see that many organizations are taking the hint that you can’t give “interns” the job of an otherwise paid employee and … not pay them. In a former organization, I saw interns receive some incredible benefits, and very little pay, but they were expected to do the work, and sacrifice the time, of full time employees. Read more>>

Angela Jacob.

My most important lesson I have ever had was actually when I was in my third year of college. I was working at my local community hospital back home when I was transporting patients. I worked as a radiology aide after my college classes. One day I was transporting a very pleasant patient down to CT for a scan. During our walk down to the radiology department, we talked about many things and shared a few laughs. After her scan I walked her back up to her hospital room to await her results. Read more>>

Alexander Ruwe

Prior to taking the leap to make music full time, I worked in management in the healthcare and tech industries. I gained tremendous professional experience in both spaces, and could write a book on all that I learned and still apply today. Under my supervisor in healthcare, I learned to better manage and organize my time. We were a startup organization and startups demand employees wear more hats than a more mature business, due to the lack of structure, resources, and manpower. Read more>>

Kyle Kirshner

I was pretty lucky from how I ran into my success as a seven figure amazon seller. When I was 15 years old I got my first job at a local warehouse in orange county california where I grew up. While working for that job I had no idea until I started to get trained that I was actually working for a company that did 20 million. a year in sales on amazon with their own private label electronics brand. I was so intrigued , I had no idea that the stuff that I bought on AMAZON came from actual people / small businesses and not AMAZON itself. Read more>>

Tate Ellington.

I work at my gallery and the retail shop up front and I’ve learned so much, not only with the sales part but also the community aspect of it and strong relationships between the artists and the patrons. People who have purchased a piece from the gallery before will always come back and will ask for new works from that same artist. I’ve also become more of an admirer of the work verses making it myself, it’s just fun to learn from other creatives in the community, get inspired and also learning the backbone of a gallery. Read more>>

Qynne Callahan

Before I was a hairstylist I did over 8 years as Active Duty Air Force. I was in the medical field for that entire time. Leaving for the military a couple moths after turning 18 forced me to grow up quick. It gave me structure and taught me discipline. The high-strung and tense environment took me out of my comfort zone and taught me how to adapt. I credit my ability to face uncomfortable life decisions and hard times to those lessens. I learned how to meet new people and be okay with putting myself out there. Read more>>

Lindsay Collins.

Each time you create an item or provide an experience for a customer, it must be cultivated with love and joy to make it magical. I spent nearly 18 years as the sole proprietor for my small business as a hair stylist. When I first began that career, I quickly realized there was an opportunity for a more meaningful path in what I provided for my clients. Yes, I was providing a service but I had been given the chance to make it a more special interaction. Read more>>