We asked some brilliant entrepreneurs, artists and creatives to reflect on lessons they’ve learned at prior jobs. We’ve shared highlights below.
Pam Huber
I’ve actually only had one other job in my field, but it was a doozy. Read more>>
Leah Frank
In my prior careers I was managed by many toxic people and cutting myself out of that experience along with taking a risky road for my creative well-being greatly helped my happiness and mental stability Read more>>
Sara Bryki
I am a creative by nature and my business was built initially on jewelry design (it has evolved greatly over the years!). Creative people tend to have a ton of drive, passion and skill when it comes to creating their specialized product, service, space, etc. However, the business side of being self-employed or owning a company can be extremely challenging. Read more>>
Saint Bricc
To sum it up we were asked to drive “company vehicles” to a job site in Minnesota. We were told not to bring anything but clothes and shoes. There was supposed to be $100 a day per diem and a fully furnished air bnb for the living quarters. We were asked to leave immediately and told training would start after one rest day. Read more>>
Twyla Lambert Clark
Around 1996 I was Customer Service Mgr at a graphic arts service bureau. Clients sent in files and we output slides, color copies and film for printers to make plates for sheet feed presses. One afternoon a regular client came to the service counter to pick up his job and started carrying on very loudly, was visibly upset and causing quite a commotion., My staff knew I had a standing rule that I would handle any difficult customer as I did not want them verbally abused or upset so the staff backed away pretending to be busy elsewhere and I stepped up to stand opposite the client with the counter between us. Read more>>
Lakweshia Ewing
. One of the most important lessons that I had in a job that I feel helped me not just in professional capacity, but also personally, was the lesson that I had to learn when managing the general generational mix as a Gen X or I had the privilege to manage Baby Boomers, Gen Xers, Gen Y’s, millennials, all on the same team. And what I learned very quickly was that all these different generations did not see the same jobs even though they had similar similar roles or the same roles. Read more>>
Holly Trepka
My first job our of college was in real estate working for a new home builder. I will never forget a unique phrase taught in one of our trainings, MOPFI: Make Other People Feel Important. This is really a flashy way to remind a young sales person to start off strong by building rapport and giving a compliment to a potential customer. But to me, it was really about building a foundation to create a relationship with that potential buyer. Read more>>
Zakirah Archabl
The most important lesson and experience I had at my previous job was hard work doesn’t go unnoticed. I was an adult program director at my previous job for two outpatient clinics in Maryland. When I first came to my old job it was in 2017 I did quality assurance and quickly I learned making calls and sitting in an office all day wasn’t the work lifestyle I wanted. Read more>>
Nikki Harden
The Most Important lesson/experience I had in my job that has help me as a business owner? Read more>>
Jinlin Wang
The most important experience I had was during my last internship in a medical company. My peer advisor hand over me a project which was design the flow for an app to pair with our new product. I need to link and communicate with the professionals from different departments to get to know more about the features of this products and some constrains and requirements of pairing a device from the tech and secure perspectives. Read more>>
Aria Thome
For years, right out of college, I directed choirs. Working with voices gave me the unique opportunity to see directly how much the voice intimately relates to the person. What we carry within us is given expression through our voice, and at the same time, can be its greatest force for healing. Read more>>
Abby Riley
Curtain down! Lights up! “Thank you, 30 minutes to places!” I could hear my heart pounding as I tried to catch my breath, dry my last tear, and return my feet to the ground (both figuratively and literally). I think fondly of this memory as this was a defining moment in my love affair with performing and feeling seen and safe for the first time in my life. Read more>>
Haley Ottmann
When it comes to a contractor/designer to client relationship (as you can imagine) there is a lot of communication involved in the process of bringing a project to fruition. There are approximately 10 million decisions to be made, as well as hundreds of balls in various courts being tossed back and forth. Unless there is a synchronized process of communication, there is a great opportunity for failed communication and lop-sided relationships. Read more>>
Naomi Zwelling
Through my teaching jobs I realized that I absolutely love teaching, but I struggled deeply to be in an 8-4 position. I needed to teach, but I needed freedman. Through years of feeling that and navigating what that feeling meant, it pushed me to work very hard to be able to leave my full time job. Read more>>
Gene Masters
I am retired after about a fifty-year career as an engineer. I was always prudent with money, and, barring a major catastrophe, my wife Ruth and I are able to live comfortably. In short, I don’t have to worry about making money as a novelist – which is what I’ve become since I retired. Read more>>
Jaime Cronin
My first job was as a dishwasher for a cafe/restuarant when I was 14 years old. I am the younger of two siblings and as soon as my sister was out of the house with a job I wanted to do just that. Read more>>
Lino Rosado
I used to work in finance and some of my clients were what we would consider extraordinarily high net worth individuals. Some were very laid back, but some wanted to be treated in a specific manner. A lot of them worked very hard to where they were and felt being treated beyond how you would treat a normal person came along with their status, which I completely understood. Read more>>