This weekend a good friend  relayed stories to me about her days as a sales rep for a very exclusive line of shoes.  She loved that job. Had a blast at it and made great money. But it wasn’t always beer and skittles for her (as my mom likes to say).  My friend told me that the first six months rep’ing   for one particular line of shoes, she did not make ONE sale. Not one. And she busted her sweet derriere researching who the “buyers” were at various stores, getting the correct spelling and address for their names, writing them short sweet letters introducing herself and then following up with them the next week with an in-store visit.  She wooed and wooed and wooed. For one particular very high-end retailer, she even offered to work for free during their high-traffic sales weekend.  She even worked for them for free twice!  And finally, after six months all of her hard efforts paid off.  She got a call from the buyer telling her that they wanted to buy her shoes. My friend was very happy but the buyer continued on and said, “oh I don’t think you understand, they want to buy your shoes in several sizes and in every color you have available”.  My friend’s sale was the biggest sale that the company she was working for had ever made.  She found out a bit later that her company was actually considering firing her because she had not made a sale in six months.

I know my friend and I know that whatever job/career she gets into she puts every single molecule of her being into what she is doing.  She investigates, researches, takes action, takes action, takes action, learns from her mistakes, recalibrates and continues forward. She is a winner.  I trust the investment of  her time and effort because history has proven that it will pay off big dividends in the end.

She reminds me a whole lot of me (of course we are both Aries!!) because when we want something we are persistent and tenacious as hell.  We also believe in the excellence of our performance no matter what we are doing.  Have we both had to reckon with the demons of workaholism?  You betcha and we still believe it is important to always do your very best.  Because of how we are, we also recognize excellence in others and make it a point to let those people know when we can.  People in the service industry especially stand out.  I’m a Starbuck’s aholic and frequent several of the SB’s in and around where I live.  I love so many of the baristas because they are all individuals, professional, polite and kind along with a little sprinkle of their own personalities mixed in.  A culture that creates individuals who thrive working in it like that is bound for success.  No matter who you are or what you do for a living, other people are watching you and making notes in their heads, albeit unconsciously sometimes.  You can make a difference just by being you and doing the best you can.

How has persistence worked for you?

Persistence of the Snails!