You stand there shocked silent. Memories flood your brain, because you know how inaccurate this statement is:
You remember working in hospitals, nursing homes as Case Manager, Social Work Director, Social Worker. Your job was literally managing the lives of others, from walking them through legal issues, medicaid applications and appeals, advocating for them, teaching life and emotions management skills for healthy living. You volunteered as an EMT, coordinated fundraising events. You created your own Murder Mystery Company, trained your actors, choreographed, scripted, designed and printed all the media and wrote the contracts.
Your second year on the road, 2007, you became a Manager for a soda and gaming company. Hired specifically to overhaul the games for fairness, restructure so customer satisfaction and employee performance and retention improved. That employer trusted your judgement, the second year working for him, he followed your recommendation and decreased crew size by over half, hiring quality managers who selected strong employees and paid everyone higher. And the issues the company had constantly struggled with in the past? Gone. Sales went up. Customer satisfaction went up. Trustworthy employees sought work with us. I worked with that company when I had openings in my schedule through 2016, and I also was asked to design more games and entertainment for patrons to be drawn to the business to watch or participate in while they got their refreshments.Those were equally successful. Piper's Pub wasn't a nickel and dime business. In a weekend we could easily do asuch business as a brick and mortar store in a month, so long as we did it right.
I managed for Bows of the Risen Son, teaching archery and selling bows at events around the Country for a fantastic Boyer from 2008 through 2018, as my schedule allowed. I researched more events and venues for sales opportunities.
I managed a walking stick and metal carving business for Staffs by Gust, a clothing and costume rental booth where the Owner hired me because she needed a strong Manager who would run her business with integrity, because she admitted she could not. I changed the displays based on networking with peers who had worked with clothing. I posted prices clearly. Created sets with prices marked. Hired two excellent employees with different skill sets, and the three of us took the average day from 2k to 6-8 K.
Stage and stretch entertaining, also not a walk in the Park. Design your own website, negotiate contracts, do public promotional appearances, merchandising.
To work at special events you have to be adept with socialedia, Microsoft programs, Google programs, Mac programs, spreadsheets, invoices, inventory, shipping and receiving. You have to be flexible and resourceful, withstand weather conditions with a smile, know how to interact with large crowds and sometimes say the same thing over and over with a smile, like it isn't the thousandth time you've said it that hour.
You located week work painting handmade wooden shields, painting sometimes 30+ in a day, you handmade flower garlands.
You spent seven years, sometimes working full time reviewing college admissions teams on their performance on contract by their executives. Evaluating their presentation, looking for issues within the locations, doing written reports and audio recordings for their employers. Estimating travel expenses, tracking expenses and turning in receipts, invoicing and creating the fictional characters you portrayed well enough to do neutral evaluations.
You stepped into Management at the Castle of Muskogee. You worked 70 hours a week. You painted shops, repaired holes in roofs. You set up displays, researched product lines, set KPIs with the owner and reviewed them weekly during events, you handled all the ordering, receiving, inventory, hiring, training, every aspect of running six distinct businesses. You handled their online sales and created an inventory database. You organized their warehouses. You created a new shop in five days before opening weekend, and it turned a profit in its first season.
You moved on to Blue Sun Soda Shop. You created a team of employees who were soda specialists, describing the flavors rather than "good or bad." You did the hiring, training, signage, handled all special events, tours, ran a 1950s soda fountain, managed the retail floor, in store distribution, warehouse and when the company switched their inventory program you created the database for the new one. You worked with Shopventory's IT team to help them create programming to allow batching to turn single items into cases or packs and vice versa. Because the program didn't have that function and the store needed it. You handled internet issues. Troubleshooting with Square, even handled the whole system crashing Labor Day weekend with a level head.
During COVID you created a safe, soothing environment, and continued to make sales and seek out customers. You made sound business recommendations to the Owner, that heeding them, increased distribution, put a solid employee in as head of distribution, and the Store grew into a multiplication chain. Your redesigned tours won best tour in the state 2021, you listened to teVyers and the Lead Bottler when you redesigned it. Your team and store won Bronze in Best Family Fun Attraction in MN Best 2021: and you were a retail store that beat out every theme park and special event venues, coming in after two excellent Zoos.
You have years of experience in Management. You have years of experience in Customer Service. You have years of experience problem solving and networking, resolving challenges and overcoming difficult situations.
And you realize, this person you're talking to doesn't understand or realize any of that. They don't know that you once had a guy stand on your shoulders and held a piece of plywood up so he could screw a wall in place. He doesn't realize you spent weeks digging ditches for drainage and lining them with rocks your crew hauled, coordinating them and keeping morale up.
He doesn't realize you had to watch costs and set prices. You had to research and learn every product and product line. You had to become an expert at fireworks, soda, candy, entertainment, college admissions, social work, discharge planning, medical treatment and end of life care, emergency situations, conflict resolution, budgeting, scheduling, evaluating performance, hiring, archery, sword fighting, axe throwing, staff carving, trauma counseling, floral arrangements, graphic and website design, and all the various computer programs.
Because all they see is the happy go lucky tour guide/artist, and the assumptions drown out the reality of all the real, hard work and achievements.
And if all you see is a happy go lucky guide, working as a Guide, it means I've done my job so well that you've missed that there's more to this Storyteller than just a handful of stories.
