Sea Salt Farms & White Picket Fences
Life Lessons learned Early
Right around the time I turned 10 (many many years ago) my parents decided that it was time for me to get a job. Being 10 and living in a small town I didn’t have too many options, but down the street I went in search of a job
I arrived a couple miles down the road at Sea Salt Farms
I pleaded my case and was told that I could begin the next day on painting all of their fences. It was a beautiful horse farm with miles and miles of fence that had faded to an unappealing grey. Very little of the original paint was left and large patches of the fence were chipping and even rotting away.
The owner told me she would supply the paint and pay me per fence completed. I was super excited the first day and then my enthusiasm quickly waned with each passing day. By day 5 I was slapping paint on in large quantities with little care for my work. The owner luckily for me didn't check on any of my work. She just glanced out at the fields and if it looked white it was good in her book.
| It was backbreaking work
I complained each night to my parents wishing they would just let me quit. These were the days before portable music, and so I had just my own ruminating thoughts to keep me company. I was hot, lonely, tired and grew to hate the color white by the end of that summer.
“My pants were so full of paint that they stood on their own.”
Finally it was time to go back to school. I had never been so excited! I counted up the fences that I had completed and brought the total to the owner of the farm. She wrote me a check for $200, patted me on the head, laughed at my pants and sent me on my way.
Their check bounced and my parents were too embarrassed for them to ask for payment. A few weeks later, they closed the farm and moved away for good.I never forgot the lessons I learned that summer. What work ethic means, why it's important to do the job you are given the right way, and the importance of being ethical and hones int everything you do.| They actually had the last laugh
As we launch Sales Guru I kept coming back to this first job and reminding myself that those lessons I learned many summers ago still hold true today. Worth ethic and passion lead to great success if done the right way.“Also, it's probably a good idea to get payment upfront!"
