Walking Through Doors That Open To The Touch: How Committing To a Career Helped Me Survive The Great Recession
In March of 2008 I was working in retail for Davidoff of Geneva, selling cigars and humidors, Cartier pens and S.T. DuPont lighters along with other luxurious accessories to the disposable income vacuum of Manhattan. Having a brief encounter with an alcoholic, toxic, and narcissistic general manager I decided to take a stand. What I didn’t know at the time was that standing up for myself would lead me to roughly fourteen jobless months without unemployment benefits.
Luckily I navigated my way through this incredibly difficult time, but it was not easy. There were plenty of tears, restless nights, and emotional release episodes at the expense of the pillows on my couch. Let me be clear about one thing: I’m not a victim. There are plenty of other people in this world that I truly feel sorry for and they seem to propel themselves even when everyone else has already counted them out.
It is important for me to be real about my experience, so I may bring hope to someone reading this who is enduring similar hardship. I made a conscience choice to hold my former employer accountable for an agreement we had in place when I first started working for the company, they rescinded the deal without notice, and I took exception to it. That is a decision I will have to live with.
Looking back I learned some vital life lessons, the most important being to have a solid job in place once you are ready to say goodbye, regardless of the state of the economy. Also, to save more for a rainy day or a monsoon, and take advantage of the people you come in contact with because someone will always be there to help you.
Going on job interview after job interview, several callbacks and reality TV show-like boardroom showdowns for some of the most pathetic sales jobs I realized I had to dig deeper and deeper to find out what I really wanted for myself. I was being guided and protected, but I couldn’t even see it.
One day I had a bit of a revelation: empower yourself to set your career in motion and believe that the right people will appear when you’re ready. Show up, do the footwork, and let go of the rest. My good friend Richard had shared with me his experience in Manhattan Real Estate and offered to mentor me in the business. After roughly six months of showing up to open houses in the same suit, pair of shoes, and dress shirt I began to really see myself as a successful real estate salesperson. So I took the exam, passed it, and decided to work for Coldwell Banker (the first and only company I interviewed with) in my hometown of Croton-on-Hudson.
It looks like the storm is clearing, with unemployment numbers dropping and real estate markets showing signs that buyers don’t want to lose a good deal. Just take a look at the 69% increase in Westchester home sales closed in Q2 of 2010 compared to last year. Walking into restaurants, cold calling home technology companies, repairing sailboats, refereeing youth flag football games, and supervising lifeguards helped boost my self-esteem and motivated me to expect more from myself. I learned how to deal with rejection, face reality, and become more resourceful. I have learned to appreciate what really matters and earning a living has taken on a new meaning. I earn by walking through the doorway of service, and service is based on bringing my best to people who can receive it. I am so excited to work in my own backyard, introducing families to their new homes and passing along the incredible resources that Coldwell Banker has to offer.
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