(~1 min read)
This is a message for job seekers.
Attached is a note I received when I was a Crew Member at Trader Joe’s. I was almost fired for eating a banana out of the spoiled food cart.
Here’s the backstory:
When I was 31 I earned more money than I ever had before. By like 5x.
A company restructuring and subsequent poor professional choices led to challenges that my marriage and finances are still recovering from.
I found myself going from being the COO of a cool startup to unemployed with a mountain of debt.
I applied and applied. Nothing. I was arrogant. I thought I’d have a new job in weeks.
Over the next 4 years, I worked at Whole Foods, a ski resort, Lush at the mall, Trader Joe’s, and for a catering company at night, never making more than $12/hr.
Here’s my point:
Going from making well in the six figures to making $12/hr straight-up sucked. I thought I was too good for those jobs.
The truth is that I wasn’t. I needed to be humbled. I needed to be an f’n adult and make money any way that I could.
But I was embarrassed and scared. My friends and peers were well beyond me and I had put my family at risk.
I know this time is hard. And I can only speak through my experience.
But here’s what I know –
It will be ok.
And your way out is through the uncomfortable things.
Applause. Ups and downs are inevitable. It's how we respond that measures our success.