Abby and Eason,

It seems like I had a lot of jobs in high school, but it really was more that each job had downtime. I learned to make the most of the downtime. I told you about the dance studio and my Friday cheer classes. Well, there was also summer. Because school was out, both of those jobs were less demanding in the summer. (I think I worked both jobs some hours throughout the summer but not nearly as many).

In the summers, I would increase my hours at the traditional gymnastics center, and I would teach cheerleading camps. The cheerleading camps I taught in high school were volunteer, but I was able to make a lot more money teaching private lessons at the gymnastics center so it all balanced. 

I loved the cheerleading camps so much. They were through a non-profit group whose big idea was to take sports camps into inner city places and reach children who might not otherwise get to go to camp.

We would spend a week or so deciding what we were going to teach the kids then we would do several camps throughout the summer. I loved the camps so much because of the kids. They had different experiences than the kids that I worked with during the school year. They hadn’t had lessons before and they wanted to learn so much. They also just loved attention, and I loved spending time with them.

For me, camp was all about the kids. I loved each of them so much and was so excited to see them have fun. 

I started by just leading a group at camp. Over time, I was able to move being a leader of the whole camp. The difference was pretty dramatic.

As a group leader, I got to know each of my kids really well. I helped them when they lacked confidence to do something. I celebrated with them when they learned a new thing. They learned to trust me, and I had the privilege to get to know them deeply. It was amazing.

But, my responsibility was limited to my 8 or so kids. And, I loved that because I got to know my people really well.

When I moved to leading the camp, things changed. I stood in front of the whole camp – teaching, giving instruction, setting an energetic pace, and making sure the camp was operating as planned. I was never the big boss, there were people who were not in high school paid for those roles. But I was in a place where everyone looked at me for guidance. Leading the camp ment I didn’t have the direct connection to the kids that I had had as a group leader. My role was more about encouraging the group leaders and setting the pace for the whole camp.

I learned good lessons in leadership in both roles. I learned how different leadership can look as you take on different roles in a business.

Some of the key lessons I learned in this job were about:

  1. Motivation and connection – Because I had two different roles, I saw how different it was motivating children from a place of direct connection versus a place of setting a pace for the group but not having the moment to moment direct connection. Both were good, but very different.
  2. Investment in people – When I first moved to leading the camp, I missed being with my kids. It took me a little while to figure out that my new responsibility was to invest in the group leaders. My investment in them would encourage them as they invested in their kids.
  3. Planning and preparation – We didn’t have that many camps each summer, so planning was critical. We needed to get schedules and really plan our outputs. What did we want the kids to leave camp remembering. We had to make that be most important in our camp. Otherwise, time would escape us and the kids wouldn’t leave with that as their memory.

Like all of the other jobs, of course there were other things I learned, but those are 3 big ones. 

Your early jobs can be great opportunities to learn skills that you won’t fully develop until much later. At the camp, I invested deeply in my kids. Doing a good job there gave me the opportunity to learn to lead a camp. In later life, it is like being a manager versus being a manager of managers. I had no idea about that concept then, but I learned skills that would help me when, much later, I was given similar responsibility in corporate America.

Think about how you can invest 100% into the job you have as a teenager. What can you learn about doing a job well? What can you learn about serving your customer well? What can you do to make the places you work stronger? 

I love you so much!

Mom

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