“I brought you from a waitress in Anoka into a real career."

This is what a former boss told me when I gave him my two weeks. To be fair, he was upset and he probably just blurted it out unthinkingly. And yes, I was in a “real” career because he gave me an opportunity – and I will FOREVER be grateful. Opportunities are few and far between and if there’s one in front of me, you better believe I’m going to jump on it. The only reason I left the job in the first place was because of a new opportunity – it was nothing personal. He was a great boss. And the only reason I’m even writing this is because a similar situation happened to me again.  

Was I a waitress in my hometown of Anoka post college? Yes. Was it slightly embarrassing to serve my high school classmates beer and wings? Yes. But I had to survive. And because my 30+ interviews for a “real” job over nine months resulted in zilch, I had to get a job.

But I can tell you I worked damn hard to earn my Bachelors degree. I waited tables all through college, in addition to a variety of other part-time jobs, in addition to the series of unpaid internships I held at local media outlets. As a matter of fact, when I interned for the Minneapolis CBS affiliate I had to pay $8 a day to park for the internship. Oh and did I mention that summer I worked four days waiting tables in Wisconsin and drove to Minneapolis to participate in the internship for the remaining three days? It almost killed me. 

I can’t even explain how much I appreciate opportunities, mentors, advice, education, training, learning, etc. – it’s completely invaluable. 

But please, don’t tell me I am successful strictly because of you. It hurts my feelings and it downplays my effort, my talent and my passion.   

I work my tail off. And I am proud of that.