I started working at 13 years old. My very first job was at Astro Skate (our local skating rink) and I did a little bit of everything. But what changed my world and got me money hungry was when I was working a party as the drinks and food hostess. It was a big party with about 40 kids running all over the place. I had done this in the past so I was able to handle the party like a pro. When it came time to check out, the mother wanted to know if the price included a tip for all my hard work in helping to make her sons party a success. I said no, I don’t like to ask for tips. She laughed and told me “Honey you did an amazing job. But you still need to ask for what you deserve.” She ended up giving me a $60 tip. I was in such shock that I barely was able to get a thank you out while ringing her up.  This was a huge amount of money when my paycheck was around $100 every two weeks.
This changed my life. I always knew that I wanted to have a job that I made good money so that I could buy whatever I wanted. But even being only 13 I knew that I would most likely have to work for a large company to make the kind of money that I wanted. I wanted a house, kids, an amazing husband and lots of books and clothing. This, I knew, was not going to be cheap.  I also learned early on that working at a place like Astro Skate or Burger King was not going to get me where I wanted to be. I wanted money and I wanted it fast.
While in high school I was able to leave working at Burger King and my other low paying jobs and get an entry level job at a doctor’s office making $10 an hour. It was great because I could work about 20 hours a week while in school using our work/ class program. The best part was that I had stable hours and didn’t go home smelling like fast food every night. I was hooked. But once I graduated I realized that this place was not a job that I could stay at long term. I didn’t fit in with most of the other coworkers and I had bigger dreams that a $10 an hour job could support. I also knew that my boyfriend (now husband) and I wanted to get married and move out. There was no way in hell we could afford to live on the little bit of money I was bringing along with his pay. I needed to step up my game.  So I went to the internet and applied like a madwoman to find a better paying job that I could use my current medical skills at.  It ended up taking about 4 months to get a solid interview. I ended up getting my first corporate job working at CCS Medical as a customer service representative for $12 an hour.
I loved it and loved the fact that I was making about a $2 an hour jump with each job. This job along my husbands and our saving enabled us to buy a house completely on our own, and putting 20% down when we turned 20.  This was about six months after we got married. From there, I was able to snow ball my way into bigger and bigger companies like United Health Care and Well Care before taking my first Software job at 23.
In all of these jobs I was either the youngest person in the company or within a small group of 5 people that were about the same age as me. I knew that if I wanted to continue to make more money I needed better jobs regardless of my age.
Keys to my success…
- I would spend hours and hours running through mock interviews with husband before any job interview. I still do that for all my job interviews. That way any question they threw at me felt normal and I could tweak my responses to sound professional and give great explanations for what I could bring to the position. I didn’t want to be nervous and sound my age. I wanted to have my new employer see that I had the skills they needed and to want to hire me. Not see me as a young kid that was climbing the corporate ladder.  It took a TON of practice to get good at professional business speaking and getting hired in an environment that I was likely the youngest person there. (Most people thought I was in my late 20’s until I told them my age. After I was hired of course)
- You need to look the part. I also need to make sure that I went in looking like the educated adult that I was.  This along with having a sensible outfit of black slacks, white button up long sleeve shirt, light makeup and a portfolio with my resume in it helped me look the part.  I would even practice the hellos and handshakes so that I was making the right impression from the start. I watched YouTube videos of women CEO’s giving interviews and see how they hold themselves, what mannerisms they use and how they act over all. (Handshakes, posture, when they smile, their makeup, etc.) It makes a world of a difference to be so polished (along with the crap ton of practice) that my employers couldn’t tell how young I was.
These two tips have gotten me to where I am today. A Successful woman that has worked in two different Fortune 500 companies before I was 25.  If  you have any questions or comments post them in the comments below. I love helping young women get the jobs they want to help them bring in more money for their family.
