September 10, 2016 – “What do you do?”

          A couple of weeks ago I meet someone and they asked me, “What do you do” trying to get a handle on where I was coming from.  I started to answer, “Currently I am a . . . ..” and I hesitated and then shrugged my shoulders saying,  “forget it, it . . . doesn’t matter.” 

          Looking back, the split second I started to answer the original query above I realized that I cannot be defined by what I do.  You are NOT your current job.

If you are unemployed or underemployed, you are not ‘that person’.  If you have taken any job you can find to pay the bills, put food on the table, or gas in your car, you are really not that ‘job title’ either because you have more skills than you are utilizing for that job.  In this ultra-tight job market you may just happen to be working at that job at this moment in time, but it is NOT who you are.

Life used to be simpler back when I started my first job as “secretary”. Back then people knew that meant taking shorthand and then typing those letters for the boss, along with answering the phone and making appointments.   They would glean from that job title, she dresses in business clothes and probably has 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. hours Monday through Friday hours.   Back then it was simple, you could at least get a handle by asking “what do you do” and someone’s job title gave you an idea of what a person’s life was like.

          From secretary I rose in the ranks to office manager, sales coordinator to Kelly Girl [Services] and then an opportunity to be the older college student on campus followed by paralegal, title agent and entrepreneur.   And, during that same time frame I was also known as the “plant manager’s wife”.  Many of those job titles gave people an instant recognition to some of my skills or personality, but didn’t really tell them who I really was.

          BUT, when you are asked “What do you do?” and you are the entrepreneur of your own company and also are the CEO and the only employee it becomes more difficult who you are.  You ARE the company.  You are the main advertisement for your company, and as the entrepreneur you wear all the hats.  You almost want to say – “what don’t I do?”

          However, I soon got it down to a fun line when asked, “What do you do”:  I would answer, “I am an entrepreneur who is self –employed.   It is fun as I am a GREAT boss to myself – the only employee.”  Often they were stunned by my aplomb until they got the tongue-in-check humor of what I had just said. Then I told them about the business services I offered.

I had that company for 10 years and when the last three years turned it unprofitable due to modern technology and new banking rules created difficult mandates,  I had to sit back and think – what is next.

The hardest thing I have ever done as a CEO of my own company is to fire my only employee – ME.  The second hardest thing I had to do was advise my good clients I was closing, dissolve the company, and pack up the office and store it. 

At that time I had to find a new career.  I took my soft skills and transferred them all to the new “GIG”

Think of me as re-cycled, or re-purposed.

In August 2015, I took bartending classes and got my certificate.  I also enrolled myself in the Hospitality & Tourism classes at the Polk County, ICC campus and passed that including obtaining the Guest Services Gold pin that is recognized internationally. 

Bartender is the latest job title in my life-long career path.  Bartending is what I do for cash flow.  It is fun, but it is not what is in my heart; that is WRITER. 

Let me share with you the working draft of my new business card:

Superwoman, known to leap tall buildings, IF she wants to;

Jill of all trades, master of none.

Writer, bartender, daughter, wife, friend.

Renaissance woman [been there-done-that-got-two-T shirts]

I am a writer and Blogger who is having a great time!

          Might I suggest that we change the phrase, “What do you do?” to “Tell me about yourself?”  Then you might actually get a reasonable answer from me instead of “forget it . . . it doesn’t matter.”