Ask Edmond: My first job was…
Erica Bollinger
President, The Mustard Seed Agency
My first job out of college was working at The Dallas Morning News as the sales assistant for the direct mail team. I was living my dream, wearing a black “power suit” to the office every day with big plans to climb the corporate ladder as quickly as I could! When I was overlooked for the first available promotion to “salesperson,” the blind courage I had from my inexperience and naivete sent me flying into the boss’s office to persuade him to promote ME! The big boss-man agreed to promote me to account executive on one condition… ”I’m not giving you any clients, you’ll have to get out there and prove yourself. Eat what you kill!” So, I drove from Dallas to Lewisville and every suburb in between, meeting with any and every business who would speak with me! Looking back, it feels like a scene from a movie where the smart savvy, businessman gives the young whippersnapper a chance at her big dream! I’m so grateful that he did!
Peter Sheetz
Professional Insurors Agency
I definitely was not a kid that said, “I want to be an insurance agent when I grow up.” My dream was to become a fly-fishing guide, but after living what I thought was my dream in Breckenridge, CO for a year, life thankfully guided me to pursue a degree at the University of Central Oklahoma. In May 2018, I graduated and began my career as a Commercial Insurance Agent with Professional Insurors. My dream job changed because I wanted to help other people’s dreams come true. Even though I’m not catching fish every day, helping business owners identify and manage risks that could hurt their source of income and life’s work makes up for it.
Patrick Hollingsworth, CPA
Owner, HSPG & Associates
During summer break while I was in College, I traveled to Catalina Island off the California coast and read the job postings in the Post Office. I picked a posting for a marina job position and wound up running the retail side of the business for 10 weeks during the summer. At the end of the summer, the owner stuffed a $100 bill in my shirt pocket and said, “See you next year,” and he did. I spent another 10 weeks working on the island the following summer. I made enough money in those two summers to not have to work during the school year and had a great time.
Lan McCabe
Owner, Sweets on the Side
My first job out of college was a hydrologist – studying the movement, quality and availability of water on and below the earth’s surface. I had been an intern with the U.S. Geological Survey while studying chemical engineering. The two combined areas armed me with the tools I needed to succeed in collecting, studying and testing our findings of Oklahoma’s continuous movement of water. I really enjoyed getting to travel around Oklahoma and in time, I also got the rare opportunity to help publish a book with the U.S. Geological Survey.
