Abby and Eason,

After my husband left, I needed to have a better work plan. Yes, I needed to make more money but more than that I suddenly realized my entire life status had changed. I was now a single ADULT. Gulp! 

I decided I needed to have a plan and clearly didn’t have one one. After I made a plan, my first action was to get a 9-5 job. This was before internet days. I took a copy of the newspaper, circled jobs I was interested in, and faxed my resume to the jobs. 

I honestly had no vision for what I wanted to do. I applied for jobs from being an adoption worker to sales jobs. Getting a job seemed like the plan. What the job was… I had no idea.

I ended up with several job offers. The one I took was for Dell, Inc. They had an opening for a mid-level sales person, and I was selected. 

I arrived at work the first day. My boss pulled me aside and explained that the position I was filling had been open for two weeks due to the previous employee being fired for lack of performance; and, because of that, I would not be put through training. I would be full time on the job in 48 hours. Until then, I could do my HR paperwork and watch other employees.

What I heard… “The last guy failed. I hope you’re better than him because if you’re not, you will not survive here. And, you’re not going to be put through training.” Not the most optimistic view point to have when you are starting a new job.

The early days were hard. I embraced my new status as a single adult by working insane hours. It wasn’t uncommon to see me working 14-18 hours per day. I got very little sleep, but I was convinced I would do everything I was told to do. That way, if I failed, at least I would know I tried. But, I was also new, so doing everything took an insane amount of time.

One morning I arrived at work, after having very little sleep, and noticed a jar of money on the desk of the guy who sat behind me. I should have known better than to ask, but I asked. “What are we betting on?” His answer, “The date that you will quit.” I glanced at him and said, “That is a bet I will win since only I know. And none of you will be here to see it.” 

Then I went outside to cry. The truth is I wanted to quit, every single day. But, I had learned enough in life to know that I had to try. I had to give my best effort and let the pieces fall where they may.

So, I did. Everyday, I got up. Everyday, I tired. I had no idea what I was doing, but I held myself accountable to doing everything my boss said to do every single day.

After I had worked at Dell for just over 60 days, my boss came to my desk. She seemed to have something on her mind. She asked me if I had looked at the stack ranking. I hadn’t, but I knew what it was. A stack ranking was the national level ranks of how you were performing against all of the other sales people in the company. She showed me. I was #1 in the nation. I stared at it in disbelief. 

She asked me how I had become #1 so fast. I said that I honestly had no idea. I told her that I just did what she told me to do every single day. The guys who sat near me (the ones who had made bets when I would quit) stared in disbelief. My boss looked at them and said “maybe you guys should listen to what you are told to do.” They didn’t like me much at that moment. 

I remained in that role for 8 months. The requirement was that you be in a role for 12 months before you could be promoted, but they made an exception for me because I never moved out of the #1 position after I was able to get it. I just did what I knew was right every single day and committed to working hard. 

This probably wasn’t my favorite role at Dell, but it was important. I proved to myself that I could survive in corporate America. I proved that I would make the commitment to do a good job even when it wasn’t easy. And, over time, I even learned how to do my job well. I still did what I was told to do, but I also learned how to do even more to make my customers even more happy.

You guys aren’t quite old enough for adult life yet (thankfully). But, know this… you will be great. Yes, sometimes it is hard. Sometimes you need to cry. But you will make it. 

I love you both very much!

Mom

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