NWjobs | NWautos | NWhomes | NWsource | Free Classifieds | seattletimes.com
|
Current position: Branch manager for U.S. Bank, Tukwila Trading Co. (formerly Larry's Market) branch.
First job: Flipping burgers at a local burger joint in Selah (north of Yakima) was my first job. It's amazing what this job can teach you in the real world, dealing with unusual customers, cleaning up messes that you didn't make, among many other things. When I left this job back in 1998 (to start a banking career) I remember the owner telling me, you will never be successful in this business world. This has been my motivation for years to prove that person wrong. Next door to the burger place was a bank where I went in on my 16th birthday to apply for a teller position.
What I learned: Age doesn't mean as much as people think; if you have the drive and ambition to succeed you will be successful, As I look back at working at the bottom it has taught me to clean up after myself at a restaurant, but most importantly, learning that you have to start at the bottom of whatever you do. You can never just walk in and be a manager off the street. Most successful managers I know have been at the bottom and worked up; being on the same level at one time can help to have more successful coaching and employee development because you have been there and have experienced their problems at one time.
