Some people have never been in a limo before… I, on the other hand, have spent countless hours in the back of the stretch cards. However, I was never in a ball gown or greeted with a red carpet… it was more like windex and a vacuum. Most kids first jobs include: babysitting, being the fry guy at McDonalds, or working at the local grocery store… if you know me, I run in the opposite direction of normal. I was a limousine cleaner. At the ripe age of 15 and after a few nannying gigs, I wanted a real job… what happened next was anything but planned. There was a local limo company and my best friend just happened to work there, well, truth be told it is about who you know and pretty quickly we were bumping to tunes in the back of a Hummer limo. Sure, this wasn’t the average job but it sure had it’s perks… we got mood lighting and good bass, endless champagne glasses (to clean) and the fortune of spending countless hours in limousines (pretending we were famous, in the garage.)
One thing my parents instilled in me is a strong work ethic: whether you are cleaning dishes or helping elders, you must always do your best. Sure, I knew that the limo gig wouldn’t be a lifetime career, however, I took great pride in my work and used my Windex well. I worked my way up through the years and became a manager, helped with finances, and created the schedule on top of the cleaning. (It’s ironic that I used to detail cars because if you saw the current state of my car, you wouldn’t know it.) The thing about life is that you only get to live it once, so you might as well do your best, have some fun, and learn about yourself.
I had a slew of jobs leading me through college and paying for my education, from folding clothes at Abercrombie to working in the pro shop at the local country club, hostessing at a local restaurant and guiding tours at the paper mill… I always did things whole heartedly. (Yes, I gave killer paper mill tours, I’m sure you are wishing you could have experienced that magic.) In reality, each and every job I ever had taught me something about myself and what I wanted to do with my life. You better believe that learning hospitality helped me with my business and selling golf clubs in the shop helped me pitch new ideas. Truth be told, everyday is the chance to do something great whether you are working at a diner or taking care of the elderly. Regardless if you have your dream job or you loathe the idea of going to work, the way you choose to go about your day is a reflection of who you are at the center of your being. We all have the same amount of time in a day, choose to spend yours working towards something bigger than yourself. The limo cleaning? Yeah, I blame my epic dance moves on the hours spent windexing in the back of a stretch limousines.
Don’t you dare leave me now, there’s so much fun happening on this very blog:
