What do you do for a living?

I’m basically in sales. My title is business development manager. I work for an integration firm where we do electronic security for large companies.

How would you describe your job to someone?

We take care of the electronic security for our clients’ facilities. I tell people I’ve got the coolest job of all jobs. I get to visit some of the coolest companies in the country. They show me what they do everyday, and obviously I’m looking for security weaknesses and vulnerabilities to identify where their risks would be. And then we devise solutions to mitigate that risk.

What does your work entail?

My company does everything from design, service, install, and maintaining high level security systems. Obviously I don’t do all of those things. My role is more of a customer service liaison.

What I really like about my job is that I get to deal with people 24/7. I really enjoy people. There are a number of people out there that don’t, they’re just not a people person by nature. But people amaze me, they intrigue me, in a positive way.

That’s really what a typical sales guy is going to do. Obviously, in the business development role, it is to define new customers that we can actually court and build a relationship with, and quickly identify is there a need for what we actually provide?

I also have to identify are they the one that would make the decision to purchase or take it to a committee and develop that long term strategy and relationship.

What does a typical workweek look like for you?

Obviously Monday through Friday, 8-5, and then a whole bunch more. When I say a whole bunch more, it’s feast and famine. I have had my fair share of 60-70 hour weeks, and I’ve had my fair share of 30 hour weeks.

Like any other person in my field[sales], I can stop to get my car washed, pick up my dry cleaning, or escort the kids back and forth from school.

But I attend tons meetings and teleconferences. I sit in on many web access meetings, and answer to clients that are in every country on the globe for the most part. So obviously, while it’s an 8-5 gig, it’s also one of those where when I’m talking to somebody in Paris I have to work my day around theirs. I may wake up at 4:00 in the morning to be on a conference call. Or I may finish my day at 9:00 PM on a conference call.

How did you get started in this career?

I started installing these systems back in 1982. So I learned the technology and moved into a customer service role, then moved into a sales role. I’ve been in the sales role for probably 14-15 years.

What do you like about what you do?

It’s always changing, never constant. Since a lot of our products are IT related there are always new products and new toys on the marketplace. So that’s both exciting and challenging at the same time.

What I really like about my job is that I get to deal with people 24/7. I really enjoy people. There are a number of people out there that don’t, they’re just not a people person by nature. But people amaze me, they intrigue me, in a positive way.

So I really enjoy that part of my job.

What do you dislike about this job?

Probably the pressures of hitting your business goals and revenue generation. And I wouldn’t say it’s really a pressure thing, but I wish I didn’t even have to keep score. I wish I could just go help these people and leave it at that.

And I’ve always passed my goals that the company sets out for me, and those are basically right in line with my personal goals, but if there’s anything I don’t like about this job it’s that there’s a lot of pressure to perform. Each year, where you have consistent success, they expect nothing less than success once again. So it’s like the bar continues to get raised, even when you think you can’t do it anymore, it still happens.

Another thing I don’t like is we obviously don’t win every single project. There are potentially folks out there, every once in awhile, that are a nickel less than we are, or didn’t like how I combed my hair, or didn’t like the fact I drive a Nissan, there’s all kinds of reasons people don’t buy. None of us like losing, it’s human nature not to like to lose.

How do you make money, or how are you compensated with this job?

I’ve got a base salary but then I’ve also get compensation based on sales commission. It’s about half base and half commission.

How much money do you make in security sales?

It’s about $220-250,000. But again, that’s not the norm. I think the norm for what I do is somewhere between $100-150,000.

How much money did you make starting out in this job?

Since I started out installing systems, I was making minimum wage, which at that time was $4.25 an hour. But that really wasn’t this job, if that makes sense, that was actually installing.

When I started selling, it was probably $50,000-ish in my first sales year. Incentive plus salary, it wasn’t a whole lot. But year after year, I learned a little bit more skill and picked up some additional education along the way as well.

Are there any perks associated with what you do?

I rarely ever buy my own lunch. I rarely ever buy my own dinner. I’m always expensing meals and taking potential clients out to eat trying to build relationships. When I want to travel, I’m traveling on someone else’s nickel. It doesn’t get any better than that. The hotels are a little bit nicer. The rental cars are a nicer. Those are perks that come with success in sales.

Then there are also other benefits that you don’t really think of. We get the employee discount at an auto manufacturer we work for. We do work with an ice cream company, so we get free ice cream. We get perks for the places where we do work, which is quite interesting. We obviously are selling them products and providing contract services but we’re treated almost like their employee.

I also get to see the inner workings of all types of businesses and companies. I love that show “How It’s Made” on Discovery and I get to do that live and in person without a camera.

What education or skills are needed to do this job?

When I first started in this I didn’t have my undergraduate degree. I picked that up later on, but my job doesn’t require a degree at all.  I’ve got my Master’s degree now but it’s not required, but I think that’s something that separates me from the rest of the pack that’s out there.

But a lot of folks who do what I do don’t even have a degree.

[The misconception is}That I do nothing but burglar alarms. The funny thing is I may do five burglar alarms a year, but that would be like a burglar alarm for a billionaire's home, those are a little bit different.

As far as skills, I think it’s all about attitude. Can someone be tenacious in a nice way and not be pushy?

I’m eager to learn about my clients needs and I’m eager to help. But I tell my clients, I don’t care if you guys buy anything from me, there’s going to be enough folks out there buying stuff and my numbers are going to be met, but I’m here to help you guys.

But I think it’s a given that anyone in sales needs to understand human psychology and understand when they say ‘no’ that sometimes does mean ‘no’, and sometimes when they say no it doesn’t mean ‘no’. You have to know when you need to continue to explore or invest time or energy into an opportunity.

What would you say is most challenging about what you do?

It’s a little bit challenging trying to keep up with all of the technology as it continues to change, but that’s also one of the things that makes it attractive.

It’s also challenging in a tough economy. Some sectors have slowed down dramatically but there are other markets still buying. So you’ve got to be able to shift and be nimble as to where those opportunities are and where the market would take you based on who has money to spend.

What would you say is most rewarding about what you do?

Nice expense checks and great pay. But the most rewarding for me is being able to mentor. Taking young sales studs and teaching them the ropes and showing them how they can be successful as well. That’s more of a mental reward than it is a financial reward.

What advice would you offer someone considering this career?

It’s a great place to be and it’s not going away. We’ve been fighting this battle since the age of caveman. Someone stole somebody’s stuff. The industry continues to grow. It’s continued to get bigger with no decrease in size, revenue, etc.

The advice I guess, it’s a great place to be, it’s a growth industry, so it’s a good career vehicle for the long term.

How much time off do you get or take with this career or job?

The typical is two weeks every year up to five years, then you get three weeks. Then after ten years, you get four weeks. You get an extra week every five years or something like that. I get that but I don’t really keep track of my vacation if that makes sense. They don’t keep track of my vacation as well.

When you’re a big producer they don’t care what the hell you do for the most part. Obviously, if I wasn’t meeting the numbers, they’re probably going to cut you back and say, ‘don’t take more than two weeks you’re allotted’.

What is a common misconception people have about what you do?

That I do nothing but burglar alarms. The funny thing is I may do five burglar alarms a year, but that would be like a burglar alarm for a billionaire’s home, those are a little bit different.

We do a lot of biometrics, whether it’s voice, retinal, vascular – I was looking at some stuff the other day with a vascular reader which reads the blood patterns on the back of your hand, facial recognition. There’s a lot of stuff out there that’s like CSI and James Bond that’s real but it’s not mainstream because it’s so expensive.

And then while we could use that stuff to make a place secure as we got this problem about how fast can we get folks through this door so they can go to work? So checks and balance – we want to be as secure as we can, but still don’t want to slow our people down.

But yeah, the misconception is that I do burglar alarms.

What are your goals and dreams for the future in this career?

My ultimate goal is that I want to be able to teach. Besides trying to put kids through college, that’s the main reason I’m working my ass off and throwing some money back towards retirement so I can actually officially say, “ok I’m still going to work, but I’m not going to work in this career field”. I may still teach in the security, but teaching’s where my passion is.

I just love the thrill of being able to say here’s what I learned that I want to be able to pass down. Here’s some wisdom, here’s some mistakes that I made and I’ll tell you about them so you make sure you don’t do these cause they were painful. As well as I did these three things right, and this is the result of that, and it’s a huge dividend whether it was emotional, monetary, or whatever. Being able to pass along that knowledge and that information, as well as being able to motivate and get those folks moving the right direction is a passion of mine.

What else would you like people to know about what you do?

I’m out there helping folks solve problems. We’re not there to sell them anything, we’re there to help but the result ends in a sale.

What do you do for a living?

I work for a company called Heartland Payment Systems and do credit card processing, payroll, sales, gift card sales. They have a couple of different items that they sell but credit cards and payrolls are sort of the bread and butter.

How would you describe what you do?

I go from business to business and I sell the services of accepting credit cards. If you’re going to pay for your meal at a restaurant or if your company has payroll they have to pay their employees, we do that. You outsource that service to us.

What’s a typical work week look like for you?

So specifically what I do is I do either phone calls or drop-ins on merchants and try to persuade them to change their services over to us. So it’s a lot of driving and phone calls.

I’ve been doing this several years now and I’ve sort of fined tuned everything. On Monday I set up all my appointments and figure out where I’m going to go that week. So I’m in the office Monday all day making calls. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday just depends on where I have appointments. I’ll follow that up during that day by driving around other businesses or making phone calls to businesses in the area.

How did you get started on this career?

I got started by a friend of mine whose parents were in the business. The business has grown from what’s called a sales organization into one of the actual direct processors and a direct processors is the entity that actual takes the money out of my account if I go eat lunch at a pizza place. And there’s only really a handful of those players out there so I decided to get into the business.

What do you like about what you do?

Freedom and flexibility, and just the ability to do what I want to that day. It’s full commission so it’s basically what you kill is what you get to eat. So, I’m my own boss. I set my own rules and I succeed if I want to succeed.

Nothing that I don’t set. I mean you have to—if you’re not out prospecting, you’re not out making calls and doing the job, then you’re not going to see any results and it’s sort of evident. It’s a real rewarding business but it’s a sink or swim type deal. The business has a lot of high turnover because it takes a different cut of people to succeed in it.

What do you dislike about the job?

It’s fast paced and I don’t like that it’s really a never ending gig. As soon as you finish a job or do a deal, you have to go on to the next. It’s not one of those products that you can take time off and somebody else can do it for you. Again, if you’re going to succeed it’s all about you and getting up and working your normal days.  I say 8 to 5 but sometimes it’s weekends, sometimes it’s nights. It just depends on what’s going on. And I’d say that’s probably the thing that I don’t like about it.

How do you make money or how are you compensated?

It’s a full commission job. Like I said, if you don’t kill something, you don’t eat type deal.  Once you sign a deal up they pay you 50% of whatever the company is going to make on it on that merchant for that year and then they pay you a 15% residual each month if that person continues to process with you as long as they process with you.

In the beginning, it’s a full commission job and so you’re starting off with nothing in the beginning but once you do make some business, you do have residual income but they expect for you to continue to meet a certain sales numbers going forward even if you have a big residual check coming in.

How much money do you make credit card salesman?

It really depends. Heartland says the average sales representative makes about $90,000. The first year is lower than that, 40 – 45 maybe. And then for me, it’s been average the last couple of years. It’s been $90,000 something. But I had a buy out where they either force you or you can decide to sell part of your portfolio so that year might have been $120,000 – $130,000.

We had a girl in St. Louis that was just amazing and I think she made like $250,000 in a year.

How much money do you make starting out?

It’s about $45,000.

Would you say if there are any perks associated with this job?

They do trips maybe every six months or quarter. Each of them are different. You just never know but I’ve been to Hawaii, the Bahamas, Las Vegas, Dallas Cowboy Stadium, all on Heartland’s dime or they pay for the majority of it and they send you out there to do company stuff. So they do have other programs where you can win gifts and prices and stuff like that on top of it.

But the biggest thing, the best incentive is the residual that you make, after you produce or you get up to $2,000 in residual, you own the residual and so you can cash that in for 30 times whatever it averages out to be. And so basically a lump sum that you can get just for working at the business.

It’s just like a cash bonus that if you ever need cash or you want to do something with it or just pull it out. They have some requirements on it. You have to meet certain standards of production and attrition which is you can’t lose too many clients but I pulled out $30,000 a year or two ago and it was just a bonus.

What education or skills are needed to do this job?

Really it’s more determination than anything. A lot of people saying they’re providing the same service that you are and so the biggest thing is getting in somebody’s door, get them sitting down and talking to you. So you don’t need a formal degree or anything like that. It’s just good work ethic and being willing and able to be rejected. Those are the two biggest things.

I mean I would say the ratio is maybe for every 10 hired, probably 6 of it don’t make it.

It’s a hundred percent commission. You’ve got to be willing to hit the ground running and put a lot of work in, and not everyone is willing to do that.

What is the most challenging about what you do?

Just getting up every day and doing the same thing and ‘making it rain’. It’s all on you. It’s sort of like owning your own business because you eat depending on what you produce. And it’s very rewarding but discouraging too sometimes where you have days where you have a big deal that was going to be a monster and just two or three things happened and it just slipped through your fingers type thing. It’s the up and down, and that may be sales in general but with this gig because it’s hundred percent commission, it’s a little bit different.

What is the most rewarding about what you do?

That I set my own schedule and that I see results from what I produce. It is not just, “Hey, I landed a big client.” You don’t really get a bonus if you work for some sales company. Its ‘I landed this big client and that’s why I’m getting this big bonus’ because I put in the work and I kept on going and that’s what I needed to. Like I said, it’s close as you can get to doing your own thing without having payroll and having to deal with employees and that kind of stuff.

What advice would you offer someone considering this career?

I would say that if you’re going to do it, you need to jump in whole heartedly and be fully committed to spend nights, weekends, a lot of time in the beginning. And it’s snowballed since then where I now have people calling me where I can use referrals to make my life a lot easier and I’d say anywhere from 25 to 50 percent of my production each month is either from existing businesses or people changing ownership that I can rewrite their business type deal.

How much time off do you get or take?

Each month you have a set goal and depending on if I’ve already got that goal locked up for that month, I may take a couple of extra days off during the week. And I take at least three weeks or maybe a month off normal vacation time.

What is the common misconception people have about what you do?

That all credit card processors are equal. There’s a lot of shady companies out there that will screw the businesses that they process the credit cards for and just as likely they’ll screw their employees.

When you’re looking at companies that do this, there are only a few that are true players in the industry that actually don’t jack you around and price you fairly. And the same sort of goes for the payroll side of it is that there’s really like a couple real players in there that I compete against so just make sure if you’re looking at a business that does this to check references and verify that stuff.

What are your goals and dreams for the future in this job?

This job has given me the ability to go out there on my own a little more and reach out there and make a little more money. The concern of this job is just to keep building my portfolio up. But someday I want to do my own thing so this is why it’s a good job for me because I make good money but at the same time I’m learning skills necessary to succeed when I eventually decide to do my own thing.

What else would you like people to know about what you do?

Just make sure whatever you do is something you enjoy and keep pushing forward. And if you’re not happy with whatever position you’re in, find something else to do because life is too short.

What do you do for a living?

Primarily I’m a cattle farmer. But as with most farming operations I end up being an investor in land almost as much as anything.

How would you describe what you do?

We run 8,000-9,000 head of cattle a year and they come in as small calves weighing 300 pounds and we grow them up to about 1300 pounds and then sell them to a packing plant.

What does your work entail?

Well, I’ve got about the equivalent of 8-9 full time employees and then some additional part time workers.  I manage them and then there’s a fair amount of routines that I do myself on a daily basis. We do a fair amount of our own construction work since it’s a large operation.  So sometimes I’ll lead crews on that, then also there is the routine stuff like caring for the cattle, doctoring them, feeding them, etc.

And I’d say that I probably used to probably put in a total of 80-90 hours a week and now as I have gotten older, I try to do it at about 60-70 hours.

How did you get started?

I went through college with a chemical engineering degree and then a law degree.  I worked out in the law industry for four years and my dad hit me up again to come back to the farm. Growing up I would have never thought I’d do this in my life but I did and it has turned out great.  I came back in 1979, in 1979, that date may not sound important to you, but in that year 1979-1980, that was end of the boom in agriculture in terms of livestock prices, grain prices, land prices, just rocketed upward and it looked like it would go on forever.

And then about 1980, boy we had a tremendous not only a recession, but a depression in agriculture and where our commodity prices collapsed and in our area.  Land prices from about 1980-85 reduced over by more than half and we barely made it through it. We made it through it and in hindsight, I still do not know how we did it. We were able to fight through the tough times and even acquire and buy more land as people went under during the hard times.

When I had come back we typically ran 2,000 head of cattle and over a number of years I doubled that from 2,000 to 4,000 and then I doubled again from 4,000 to 8,000.

What do you like about what you do?

I like not having any boss other than the marketplace.  There’s no one I report to other than the marketplace.  And that’s really the ‘hub’ of what I do, which is to combine land, capital, and resources to produce cattle for market at a significantly cheaper cost than the marketplace average.  And, so you have to use your business and economic skills to find ways to combine all those things to bring your product to the market in the most efficient way possible.  And I really enjoy that aspect of it and challenge.  If we do that right then we can set money back and expand our operations.

What do you dislike?

Until recently, there was a fair amount of risk since we were expanding and borrowing a lot of money.  So there were a few sleepless nights when you might have an economic reversal in the market.

Having employees is probably the greatest joy and the greatest headache in life and that can be somewhat difficult.  But I’ve been doing this for almost 30 years now and you learn mechanisms of how to deal with managing employees, so it becomes easier to deal with over time.  But I think in this business that labor issues in general are probably one of the biggest headaches that people will have.

How do you make money/or how are you compensated?

If we sell our cattle for more than what our expenses are we make money.   And the secondary way is just the long term appreciation of your real estate.  And so, those are probably the two, the realized profits and the unrealized profits.

How much money do you make as a cattle farmer?

Well, I hate to go there, but given that we’re a capital intensive operation we might net $200,000-$300,000 would probably be typical at this point after costs.

What education or skills are needed to do this?

One, they would need to spend quite a bit of time in an apprenticeship with an existing operation for a period of years to figure out what works and what does not and I was fortunate enough to have my dad for that.  There are so many nuances you have to pick up on; whats going to be the most cost effective way to do it this year, working around weather, economics, people, and the contractors. I’d say if somebody was going to do this that they would clearly need to spend a number of years with somebody on the inside to get a good understanding of what’s going on.

There have been many, many cases where a wealthy person that has made money, inherited money, or made money in another industry decided to step into agriculture and most of the time they literally get their head handed to them and and lose a lot of money.  They think farming is simpler and easier than it is and they can apply knowledge from another industry and do it better than a lot of the cattlemen already out there.  But the majority of the time they lose their shirts.  And it’s because they don’t know the nuances of the business.  So, I would say it’s very important to get an apprenticeship and work in this business for a while to really understand what all goes into it.

What is most challenging about what you do?
Managing employees where they can work together, be productive, and have a similar vision of what we’re trying to accomplish.  That’s probably the biggest challenge requires the most of my ‘higher level thinking’, if you will.

What is most rewarding?
Clearly the fact that everything is so visible. Your crops, you can see if things have gone well or gone poorly. With the livestock, you can both see in the animals and you can see in the financial returns if things are going well or going poorly.  Or if a piece of farm equipment breaks down and you can see it get repaired.  You’re dealing with physical, tangible things.

Also, being outside is rewarding.   I bet most of my employees, one of the reasons they’re here rather than a higher paying job in town is that they’d rather be outside even though it’s often too hot or too cold, or raining and the wind blowing, we’re just kind of the type of people that don’t like being cooped up I guess.

What advice would you offer someone considering this career?

To work with an existing operation to gain the experience.  That is first and foremost.  And then, if you’re wanting to get into the business, try looking for an existing operation that has shut down, or gone under financially etc.  Because the infrastructure, feed lots, facilities, etc. can be so expensive, you really need to get a good deal on those things to get started.  And so, your physical facilities would already be set up and ready to go instead of having to start with raw land from sratch.

But I can’t stress enough about having experience in the business.  Go work on a farm somewhere because boy, trying to jump in without the experience, you could have a Ph.D. in agronomy and livestock, and the chance of success would be about as strong as doing brain surgery on yourself, the chance of success is going to be pretty remote.

How much time off do you get/take?

Typically with family vacations, a week or ten days.  But also there will be some agricultural events or such that I will take off for and I really enjoy.

But I don’t really take that much vacation.  As they say ‘work is only work if there’s something else you would rather be doing’.

When things are going well if I was offered to have a limo pick me up and a leer jet take me to the Super Bowl and then bring me back, I’d say, “No, I want to stay out here with my Track-ho and keep digging.” Or whatever job I’m working on.

And so, vacation only works if there’s something else you would rather be doing and in many cases, I probably get more joy out of this than normal people would.  It’s one of those jobs, if you didn’t love it, you’d hate it.  Fortunately I love it.

What is a common misconception people have about what you do?

One, that agriculture today is mainly the family farm with the husband, the wife and the kid doing all the labor.  The most successful farming operations are much larger and would almost be considered businesses or industry.

Another one is that the economics are fairly easy, when in fact, the economics keep knocking people out of agriculture.  There is a relatively small number that go ahead and prosper.

What else would you like people to know about what you do?

I think in all of life, farming or whatever you do, what achieves and determines success is how well one is able to interact with other people.

Where you’re able to reach common goals, resolve conflicts, achieve win-win solutions, and have everybody on the same page.  Employers, suppliers, people I sell to, that is probably the most neglected item and it is clearly the most important.

You’ve got to foster relationships in this business, and in any business, and focus on how you and the people you do business with can grow together.  All too often I’ve seen people worry about how much the other guy is making, or how much some supplier of theirs is making, instead of looking at whether the relationship is mutually beneficial or not.

People who have done well in this business did not put together a big fortune by going out and screwing other people, or nickel and diming people, they did it by making others successful.

What do you do for a living?

I am a Financial Advisor at a local finance group.

How would you describe what you do?

We work with individuals and business’ to create and or maintain wealth and financial independence

What does a typical work week look like?

This job doesn’t have a typical schedule, I am at the office everyday from 8-5.  Some days I have to be here at 6:45 and don’t leave until 7.  You have to be very flexible in this business, because clients can’t always meet you between 8-5.

How did you get started in this career?

I got started my senior year of college and enjoyed it, so I decided to pursue a full time career in this field.

What do you like about what you do?

The best part of my job is getting to meet new people and hear their life stories.  It is amazing to me the many different ways my clients have built their wealth.

What do you dislike?

The overreaching regulations and compliance due to a few unethical and unscrupulous individuals.

How do you make money or how are you compensated as a financial advisor?

I am compensated by a percentage of the assets that I manage.  I get 1% of the total assets I manage.

How much money do you make as a financial advisor?

The money I make can vary from year to year.  You start out making $0, but the sky is the limit.  Young advisors are doing very well to make $50,000 in the first few years.  I’making about $60,000 right now.

What education or skills are needed to do this?

You need a college degree and your Series 7 and Series 66.  These allow you to buy individual stocks, mutual funds, bonds, REITS.

What is most rewarding about what you do?

The most rewarding part of this industry is when you get a referral from a current client.  It means they truly appreciate what you have done for them.

What is most challenging about what you do?

It is a tough industry and it has its ups and downs.  It takes perseverance and a lot of TIME to build a book of business.

How much time off do you get or take?

Two Weeks on average.

What is a common misconception about what you do?

That is it easy to make a ton of money being a financial advisor.

What are your goals and dreams for the future in this career?

My goals are to keep growing my business by staying on the cutting edge of the financial industry.

What else would you like people to know about what you do?

I would like to people to know that it is a very rewarding job, but it is not a walk in the park.

What do you do for a living?

I sell medical devices and drugs to hospitals in this area.

How would you describe what you do to someone?

I pick a product and find a need in the hospital to fill. Then I go through the process of educating physicians, pharmacy, operating room personnel, case management and then administration. So it’s pretty complex and you’ve got multiple decision-makers that have to be satisfied before the sale ever takes place.

What does your work entail?

Lots of time on the road. I figured the other day I probably have close to 1,000 different customers within the hospitals that are kind of touch points for me. So I can’t be there all the time with them. I try to dedicate at least one day a week to some of these hospitals and then spend a lot of time on the phone, lots of time emailing back and forth.

Network as much as possible….because you’re not going to see these jobs on Monster

What’s a typical work week look like for you?

I start at the crack of dawn. My typical day starts at 5:00 or 5:30 in the morning. The first hour or hour and a half is usually spent looking at reports, being on the computer, taking care some administrative stuff. I’m usually out of the house by seven o’clock or 7:30 and just continue to make my rounds. Depending on what account I’m working on, I’ll spend most of the day there, working with customers, making sure everything is going smoothly or selling a new product If I have a new product. And then I’m home by about 4:30 or 5:00 and continue to work out of my home office. So a lot of times it about six o’clock before I’m done. But because a hospital is open 24 hours a day, this job can be never ending. So you got to kind of be careful, I guess.

How did you get started in this?

I was in sales selling dictation equipment to medical offices and had a friend that I knew give me a call and said, “Hey, we’re expanding and we’re looking for a Rep in Longview, Texas are you interested in it?” And I had no idea what a pharmaceutical rep did, but it sounded good. And it sounded a little better than what I was doing as far as an income standpoint. So I interviewed for it and took it, and here we are 15 years later.

What do you like about what you do?

I like the autonomy to be able to go create my day, every day. I’ve got a product that I have to sell that nobody really tells me how to get from point A to point B. I have to go create that every day. And so I like the challenge of going out and doing the detective work and figuring out what the problem is and where my solution fits in. And then when it comes to fruition and the product gets used and sales start coming in, obviously, that’s very rewarding. Also, most of the products that our company carries really are kind of life-changing products. And knowing that those patients are getting the best product that’s making a difference in their life really is personally satisfying as well.

What do you dislike about this job?

Some of the red tape in regards to entertaining is tough. It used to be we had free range to do whatever. We could take customers to go play golf. We could go have dinner with somebody and all of that is gone. Anything we do now has to be within the laws of the hospital. It’s got to be documented. People have to sign in. It has gotten real red tapey, for a lack of a better word. We wait for products longer than we used to. It seems like seven or eight or nine years ago there was a product every year that comes out. I think the FDA has kind of slowed down its approval process. So you see a lag as to when new products may come to market. So kind of sitting around waiting on the new latest and greatest product to sell gets to be old.

How do you make money or how are you compensated in this career?

I’m compensated with a salary and, of course, car and gas etc.  And then I have a commission plan that goes along with the products that I sell. It’s paid quarterly.

And how much money do you make as a pharmaceutical sales rep?

Last year I made $163,000.

How much did you make starting out?

Starting out base salary was $32,000. I think I made about $50,000 my first year.

What education or skills would you say are needed to do this?

Four-year college degree is mandatory. What I see now on some of their postings is 1 to 2 years of either prior sales experience or Pharma experience before they are hired by us.
You need to be a great communicator too that can listen and figure out solutions. Also, like I said before, you kind of on your own out here, and if you can’t pull that off every day you’re not going to last very long.

What is most challenging about what you do?

Probably the most challenging is getting the product in the hospital and getting it moving for the first time because of all the different touch points and different personalities and opinions. Sometimes everyone doesn’t align. So when you have one person that is against it, it’s only one versus 10 but they have so much political capital in that hospital, they can stop the process from taking place. That’s very frustrating.

What is most rewarding?

The most rewarding is seeing it get put on hospital formulary, get used, and getting my competitor removed from that hospital.

What advice would you offer someone considering this career?

Network as much as possible. Get involved in many of the groups that are on LinkedIn. There are tons of different pharmaceutical professional organizations, medical device organizations that are listed on LinkedIn. Just get into some of those boards and start talking and networking and figure out what companies may be expanding in the future or hiring in the future. And then if you got two or three recruiters, continue to work with them because you’re not going to see these jobs on Monster. You’re not going to seek them in the classified ads. They are usually filled by word-of-mouth or recommendation from someone that’s already in the industry. And if you don’t know those people, you really don’t have a chance of getting in.

How much time off do you get to take?

Now I get four weeks vacation plus two holidays, two floating holidays. So I get 22 days off of just my own time and then, of course, they’re gracious with company holidays around Christmas and Fourth of July and Thanksgiving and that kind of stuff. So I don’t know what the total is, but it’s a good amount.

What’s a common misconception people have about what you do?

People seem to think that people in Pharmaceutical Sales, as a whole, work about 2 to 3 hours a day and make easy six-figure money for not a lot of work, and this is not true.

What are your goals and dreams for the future in this career?

If I spend another 16 years that will give me 31 years in the industry with a nice 401(k) and pension. I’ve done the projections. I will retire and be just fine. But as far as promoting or moving up to management or to the home office, I’m not interested. I’m a career hospital representative.

What else would you like people know about this career or what you do?

That it’s fun. And if you like sales and like people and enjoy the “windshield”, which you will see a lot of, it’s a great gig to have and the money is great. There is some flexibility but with that flexibility comes a lot of responsibility also. But it’s a very fun and rewarding career.

What do you do for a living?

Financial Representative with Northwestern Mutual Financial Network.

How would you describe what you do?

I meet people and  find out their financial goals on 7 issues:

1. How important is it to provide for you children’s education?
2. How important is funding a comfortable retirement?
3. How important is it to protect loved ones in the event of a premature death?
4.  How important is it to have an income if you were sick or disabled?
5.  How important is it for you to address long term care needs?
6.  How important is it to evaluate your investment portfolio?
7.  And how important is it to address estate tax issues?

Then I drill down to what they need to do and which was most important and offer the most tax efficient solutions with world class companies with proven track records.  Lastly, I stay in touch with my clients to address their ever changing needs.

What does your job entail?

Creating Personal Needs Analysis and client specific presentations in both risk management and investments tailored to my prospects needs and risk level.  Networking to meet new people, and very frankly being on the phone quite a bit.

What’s a typical work week like?

40 hour week.  Deal with underwriting/rollovers in process/emails first hour of the day.  9 o’clock to 10 just dialing and the rest of the day seeing people or fighting to see people.

How did you get started?

I started when I went to have a beer with a buddy and asked him how his day was.  He said he set up two kids college education investment accounts.  I was about to have to fire 13 people in Buffalo New York, and they didn’t know it yet, with my current employer at the time, so I knew I wanted a career that would have a positive impact on my community.

What do you like about what you do?

I feel good know that probably without me my clients wouldn’t have saved money using the market, or wouldn’t have done as well.  Seeing a 529 college plan build up over the years and seeing that child knowing I will have had an impact on his education is fulfilling.  What is most fulfilling to me is to come in and provide financial relief when families are hurting and need it most.

What do you dislike?

I love that I was able to make it in this business and help so many people.  I know that and have to remember that because here is the bad part.  This career is sales and full of heart ache, chasing people, getting stood up without the courtesy of a phone call,  dialing people who probably don’t know who I am, and don’t want to meet me every day.

How do you make money/or how are you compensated?

I get paid if I am able to provide benefit to my prospects and clients.  If I am able to sell an annuity, mutual fund, life insurance, disability insurance, long term care insurance, trust services, or group or individual health insurance products whichever company I sell pays me.

How much do you make as a life insurance salesman?

This is a tricky question and I will try and explain it the best I can.  Bare bones…I make 10 grand a month net.  However, I have a 6 figure residual base that continues to increase along with consistent annuity and mutual fund investments and trails that I get paid on every year.  So if I didn’t work at all next year, I would probably make almost 50k because I have completed 8 years of service, but starting out, I had none of that, and guys with 25 years of service walk in the door each year and make 100k before doing a thing.  I also have 2 fully funded retirement plans with Northwestern Mutual.

How much did you make starting out in this career?

I made almost the exact same starting out as I did in my previous job.  I was 24 years old in 2003 and made around 40ish.   Again I earned more money than that on a deferred basis, but that is what I took home.

Are there any perks associated with this career?

You have the freedom to make as much or little as you want by the effort you put in.   I have the support of my team, but don’t have to rely on them.  NML will pay for any additional education like CFP designations for me.  I also win a trip or two every year to an exotic location.

What education and skills are needed to do this?

Skills and education can vary, but I would generalize that a degree is needed.  Prior sales experience helps.  Knowing people in a community so you can introduce yourself helps too, but isn’t a requirement.  The skill set is to care about people even when they don’t care about you, and be persistent, resilient and don’t give up when you are down or had a bad paycheck.

What is most challenging about what you do?

Most Challenging for everybody in my business is to get introduced to more good people and make the calls out to those people.

What is most rewarding?

Easily the most rewarding has been paying benefits to my clients/ delivering the promise.  I have paid disability benefits to a family.  I have paid life insurance proceeds to 3 families.   They used this money to survive and one used it to help fund a nonprofit.  I have paid a long term care claim where my client never wrote a check for the 20 thousand plus they could have been on the hook for.    I talked a guy with 150k given to me not to sell in March 09, so his money is back to where it was, effectively saving him a year of his take home income.

What advice would you give someone considering this career?

I would help them on their training and sales language, but the biggest advice is to know you are doing good, and when someone rejects you, they are making the mistake, not you.

How much time off do you get/take?

I take a couple vacations and now that I have a decent base, maybe more time off than I should.  It is so flexible.  Old guys sometimes take months off at a time and some people can’t afford to take any vacation days.  Sorry to not give a straight answer, but it really is up to the person.

What is a common misconception people have about what you do?

I think the biggest misconception that people have is that some of the products I sell are rip-offs because of what they heard on the radio or from some other media outlet.  Not only are they dead wrong, it hurts my feelings for someone to call me a crook.

What are your goals and dreams for the future in this career?

This will sound weird because I am not in a corporate environment.  Meaning I am sure many people will want to move up the ladder for a promotion or a job of higher stature.  I aspire to do the exact same job as I do now for the rest of my life.   Most of what I do is out in the field, and because I want to give back to my organization, I do coaching/recruiting/development for new reps as well.  I want to impact more people, make more impact, (meaning bigger sales) and at least double my income in the next 10 years.

What else would you like people to know about what you do?

I would like people to know what I do is exactly the opposite of the movie “Boiler Room”   I am committed to help people achieve their goals.  So when someone calls from Northwestern Mutual, they are working, but they care.

What do you do for a living?

I’m a retail fashion buyer for a major American department store.

How would you describe what you do?

At the most basic level the buyer ensures that the correct merchandise is in a store at the correct time with the correct quantities to satisfy the customer. The success of a buyer is quantified by achievement of retail sales and gross margin goals.

What does your work entail?

A buyer’s in charge of a product category and you basically review the marketplace landscape per your particular customer bases or what particular customer base you may be looking to capture. Then you go out and you determine what the correct product is for your category. Then it involves lots of negotiations.

You find a vendor. You create a partnership that’s mutually beneficial and create an assortment with them, again to cater to your customer. You plan the financial aspect of the from top to bottom at a seasonal level and year level and plan your goals for the big picture.

You find the partner that you want to purchase the styles from. Then you purchase the styles. As a buyer you’re in charge of all the merchandising aspects, of choosing the merchandise, choosing what it looks like on the floor, and designing the floor landscape.

You’re in charge of all the product information that goes to the store and any and all communication to the store about your product.

Buyer’s are in charge of all the advertising and marketing too. Any promotional cadences, when you see a special on television, if they say that this is going to be $49.99 and it’s usually $79.99. The buyer’s the one that chose that. You have to do a financial forecast, understand the market and what’s happening when you have product category lists.

You have to really enjoy business management first and product second and understand that in your career, if you really are truly a good merchant, you should be able to buy widgets, gadgets, and designer clothing exactly the same. You should be as good a buyer buying staple guns for the Home Depot as you are buying Couture.

But the other thing as a buyer is you’re an executive in that corporation, especially as a department store buyer, you’re a top-level executive. Managing a large team is a huge part of your job. You routinely sit with other top level executives and report what your 2 to 3 years development goals are, who’s getting promoted when to what position on your team, etc.

How did you get started?

As a senior in high school I job shadowed a buyer at the local luxury department store and was very interested in the dynamics of the role. While majoring in retail merchandising (a combination business/fashion degree,) I took a job as a sales associate at a department store and took the role very seriously, working about 35 hours a week. My school required a formal internship junior year and the department store agreed to move me to New York to work in their flagship store for a semester as a store-line management intern. After showing strong performance results I was granted a second internship in the buying office the next summer. This buying office internship, in addition to 6 years of part-time retail experience, opened many doors. Upon college graduation, I was given offers in big-box, specialty and department store buying offices.

What do you like about what you do?

I like almost every aspect of my job but most importantly I like how dynamic it is. While there is certainly an “average” day, most days are filled with a variety of both analytical and creative work. I am regularly challenged to solve a problem that I have not come across before or develop a new business opportunity that I have identified. The ability to travel (to trade shows and visiting stores) keeps me connected to the “results” portion of my job. It is very satisfying to see a project that my team developed come to fruition in a store.

What do you dislike?

There is a lot of pressure that comes with buying for a large department store. Both internally and externally, there are a lot of relationships to manage and many people with high expectations. My decisions affect thousands of people around the world and can make a vendor’s company thrive or fail. I have an ethical obligation to carefully manage these relationships to ensure both parties benefit.

How do you make money/how are you compensated?

Annual salary and a bonus if sales margin and turn goals are achieved.

How much money do you make as a retail fashion buyer?

$130,000

How much money do you make starting out?

$42,000. The major “raises” in buying are the jumps from assistant buyer (3-4 years) to associate buyer (2 years)

What education or skill are needed to do this?

Minimum four year degree in business or retail merchandising is best. Dependent upon varied professional experience it is a role that can be worked into. I know a retail CEO that was a history major!

Required skill set includes strong analytical skills (both quantitative and qualitative,) leadership qualities, excellent relationship building talent and the ability to form and execute a business strategy.

What is most rewarding about this job?

Seeing my assortment vision fully executed in a store (and knowing the customer likes what I did because I’m making sales plan!)

In addition, I have the extraordinary luck to be working with amazing partners. The retail world is full of talented, eccentric, exciting people who work hard but have so much fun doing it!

What is most challenging?

“Change is life,” a term especially true in the retail world. The minute you are comfortable in your job and feel like you know what you are doing your company, role, team, location, etc will change! The second challenge of the field is the competitive nature of the industry. A lot of people want your job and are willing to do it for less you make! Finally, you have to enjoy working in a field that is 90percent women. This is a benefit and a drawback. It can be a very dynamic and supportive environment or a very dramatic and catty one.

What advice would you offer someone considering this career?

Think long and hard before you decide want to do this. I see girls that I mentor that are like “Oh, my god. I so want to be a fashion buyer. It will be so cool.”

You’ve got about five years before you ever touch product, before you ever see product.

To remember that maybe in your first year 70% of the job is analytical and execution. You have to really enjoy business management first and product second and understand that in your career, if you really are truly a good merchant, you should be able to buy widgets, gadgets, and designer clothing exactly the same. You should be as good a buyer buying staple guns for the Home Depot as you are buying Couture.

You really should love to buy nuts and bolts the same way you buy high fashion. You have to be able to understand any sort of product that comes along and learn business models first and learn product second.

How much time off do you get/take?

I have been with my company 5 years and therefore earn four weeks of vacation in addition to national holidays. When I started, I received two weeks vacation. It is difficult to take more then one full week off at a time because of management responsibilities. It should be noted that the day after thanksgiving is often a required work day in a buying office. One “perk” of the fashion industry in NYC is that most companies give half-day Fridays in the summer.

What’s a common misconception people have about what you do?

That it’s very glamorous. Maybe 5 out of 200 major style buyers in my company get to do anything remotely like cool, as far as meeting celebrities, going to fashions shows, unique product offering and whatnot. It happens, and it’s fun when it does, but it is not as often as people think.

What are your goals and dreams for the future?

I would like to move into a multinational buying role where I can utilize my skills as a department store buyer along with some of my passion for travel.

David Risley of www.davidrisley.com was nice enough to visit with us about his job as a professional blogger.

What do you do for a living?

I’m a blogger, which I know doesn’t really sound like a real job.  What I sometimes tell people is that I actually market things on the Internet, and that I just happen to do it using blogs.

How would you describe what you do?

Basically I write for online readers in order to provide them value to help them accomplish things that they want to accomplish.  So the purpose of these blogs is basically to attract readers’ attention, to help them, and then to ultimately form an ongoing relationship with them.

What does your work entail?

It entails a lot of things, obviously writing is one of them.  In fact right before you and I started speaking that was exactly what I was doing. But a lot of people would be surprised, especially when you say that you are a blogger, that you don’t just write.  You also have to create products to be sold, you have to go out there and line up promotions and promote other people’s products as an affiliate.  I also have to prepare webinar presentations sometimes and deal with e-mail and customer support issues.  There is a lot really.  It’s the typical things that would go into running a business.  You are doing the same exact thing when you are running a business online.

What does a typical workweek look like for you?

These days I try to work a fairly normal schedule.  I’ve got kids now, so whereas I used to work sometimes at night or even the weekends, I try not to do that anymore.  These days it is typically about a nine to five or a nine to six type thing.  I obviously I work for myself so if something comes up I can take care of it, but on a typical basis I work a pretty standard forty-hour week.

How did you get started in this career?

I started a long time ago.  I’ve been doing this since about 1999, and I kind of fell into it as a hobby.  I started a pretty large tech site which helped people with upgrading and building computers. I got into that mainly because it was just a hobby for me at the time.  Then it took maybe a couple of years, three at the max for that idea to eventually evolve into a business.  I was getting into having banner ads on my sites and things like that, and from there it evolved into an actual career rather than just a hobby.

What do you like about what you do?

I like being able to help people and to influence them.  I like the flexibility of what I do and the fact that I can do as well as I am financially but not have to report to a boss.  If I want to go on a vacation or schedule even a business trip I don’t have to arrange it with anybody else, except for maybe my wife.  So I like the flexibility, I really don’t know how well I would take to having a normal job, so what I do suits me pretty well.

What do you dislike about it?

Not a whole lot.  I would say one of the biggest challenges is the fact that when you are your own boss then every single thing depends on me.  When things go right it is because I thought up the right ideas.  When things go wrong it is because I screwed up. So I’m the ultimate point of responsibility.  At the end of the day I can’t really say I dislike it, some people probably would, but I’ve grown to take it on as a challenge.

How do you make money or how are you compensated as a Blogger?

I make money in a variety of ways.  Most bloggers out there make their money via banner advertising, and I do as well, primarily on my tech site.  So people pay to put the banner ads there and if I run it through an ad network such as Google or some other network then I will take a percentage of whatever the gross is that they are paying to be seen on my website.  But where my main focus is, at least these days, is selling products to my audience. I promote other people’s products using an affiliate link, so basically I am getting paid a commission every time one of my readers buys that product. I sell my own stuff as well, I’ve got four trade programs out there now, more are coming soon, and obviously whenever somebody buys into one of those it is 100% profit for me.  So I create these membership sites and I sell access to them as a value added service.  They are being helped for free on my blog but if they want more information or more access to me, videos and things like that, then they have the option to pay for that.

How much money do you make as Blogger?

It goes up and down, that is one of the things about it.  Last year my business brought in about $210,000.  This year, we are only about half way through and it will probably line up to being fairly close.  Whether it is going to be up or down I am not really sure yet.  But on a monthly basis it goes up and down.  Sometimes there are pretty wild variations.  If I conduct a product launch I can have a really, really good month.  On a month where I am not really promoting much of anything, then it is a lot less than that, but on the whole that is what I made last year.

How much money did you make starting out in this career?

Not much at all. That is one of the things about blogging, or even online marketing, whatever you want to call it.  There is a lot of work involved before you make money.  It doesn’t necessarily have to take as long as I took.  I didn’t know what I was doing when I started this out, and not only that I was doing it as a hobby.  There are other people who do what I do who have built up quite nice incomes online in two or three years, so I’m not going to sit here and say you have to do it for a decade like I had to before it works.  But most of the time, regardless of how good you are, you are going to have to put in a little bit of time at the beginning, and you are really not going to be making very much at all.

What education or skills are needed to do this?

Well you obviously need to know how to write, and it’s not writing like you would do in school or to pass an English class or something.  This is writing which is designed to attract people’s attention, and then hold it.  Because on the Internet there are so many things vying and competing for our attention that you need to know how to write something to keep that attention once you have got it.  So that is a skill in and of itself.  You have to apply marketing too, even just in the creation of your free blog posts to be able to do things like that. There are certain skills that go along with marketing online, quite frankly marketing at all, because a lot of the old marketing techniques like direct response marketing or something like that in the 70s and 80s.  They all still very much still apply, it has just translated into the Internet.  Those types of things can help make or break people.  On top of all that you’ve got various technical things; designing your site, installing your blog software, etc.

What would you say is the most challenging about what you do?

The reason you are not making a lot of money when you start is because at the beginning all of it is a challenge.  Just learning how to write in such a way that attracts and gets attention.  Learning how to get traffic.  A lot of bloggers struggle with how to get enough people actually reading their website.  A lot of people struggle with the technical aspect.  They let it get the best of them in some cases and they will even give up because they can’t figure out how to install WordPress or something like that, which isn’t that complicated, but can seem tough if you don’t know what you’re doing.  So again, you just need to hire somebody or just learn it, or maybe just dedicate a day to figure it out. All those are some of the challenges that go into it, but once you have been doing it for a while you’ve already mastered all that. The biggest challenges after that are just continually growing the website and not plateauing, and also continuingly being able to provide fresh value to your readers so that you are not repeating yourself over and over again.  That is probably a couple of challenges that I deal with.

What would you say is the most rewarding about this job?

I love the fact that I can help people from the comfort of my home. I love being able to influence other people, help them, communicate with them and do all that without having to travel all over the world or the country.  And not only that, you are providing value that actually helps them get things done, and they can turn that into an actual business.  So the fact that I can make a living doing all that is just awesome.

What advice would you offer to someone considering this career?

The first thing would be to make sure you give it time.  But the caveat there is that time itself is not going to bring success, it is a matter of doing the right things in that time.  So you need to learn from the people that are making it in this career already, learn what they are doing and consider the products they offer.  I’m not saying go out there and buy everything everyone offers, but typically these people are providing real value, they have the right to charge for it and you might want to consider it.   I know that one of the ways my business really took off was when I finally stopped trying to get everything for free and I actually started paying people for what they knew and what they were teaching.  I put that information to use and I took action and it really worked out.  So that would be my biggest advice, just taking action, learn from the people who are already making it work and on top of that make sure you understand that this is not something that is going to happen overnight.

How much time off do you take each year?

I don’t really have a set amount, but basically I can kind of do it whenever I want. Things need to get done in the business, so it is not like I can take off six months without coming back to something that has essentially collapsed without me.  But at the same time I don’t have a set amount.

What is a common misconception people have about what you do?

Probably one of the big misconceptions, is the fact that you can’t make money doing it.  That is why a lot of times when I tell people I am a blogger I sometimes now will tell them I’m an online marketer or something like that.  This is because a lot of people associate the word Blog with people that are out there writing about their pets or something like that, and nothing serious.  Whereas if you are doing this as a business then you are not doing that at all, you are actually doing things that are actually valuable to people, so that is probably the biggest misconception, the fact that you really can’t make money doing it.

What are your goals and dreams for the future in this career?

Right now I am basically focused on simply growing what I am already doing.  I want to just help more people.  There is still a lot of room for growth in my business.

What else would you like people to know about what you do?

It is a lot of fun.  There are a lot of people out there, especially these days who are having a hard time finding a job, or they have lost the one that they had, and I am not saying you need to go out and become a blogger because I am not going to sit here also and say this is the easiest thing in the world to do.  It takes a lot of time and it takes a lot of the right moves, but there is a lot of opportunity online, and there are a lot of people who have given up trying to find a job and they are simply trying to do the entrepreneur thing using the Internet.  Because the Internet is a global marketplace, there is a lot going on there online.  So I think I would just leave it off with that.  There is a lot of opportunity online.  If somebody has not considered doing something like that, even if it just a spare type of thing then I think they should look into it.

What do you do for a living?

Retail sales, sporting goods

How would you describe what you do?

We sell climbing and camping equipment, canoes and kayaks, and related clothing and accessories. My job is the owner, so I’m the Chief Supervisor.

What does your work entail?

I largely supervise everything that goes on here, I have managers that do a lot of the work, and I supervise them more than I actually participate in everything that’s involved.

We’re basically a toy store for adults, but not in a bad way.

I don’t work nearly as much as I used to. Until recently, I used to put in 50, 60 hours a week. Now, I’m down to 25 or 30 hours per week. I’m gradually weaning myself away from it and giving it over to my managers to do everything.

How did you get started?

Well, about 35 years ago, I was in college to get my degree in chemistry and realized that I was having too many problems with my allergies to the chemicals that I worked with and that I had to do something else. But I liked the area and wanted to stay, so I looked around to find something to do to support myself that I could stay in this area. I’ve always liked the outdoors, I was raised that way as a kid.

What do you like about what you do?

The interaction with people. We’re basically a toy store for adults, but not in a bad way. We used to advertise it as an adult toy store and people thought we sold sex toys.

I would encourage anybody that has the potential and ability to do something like this, to do it because it is a lot more fun than working for somebody.

Like I said, we sell outdoor equipment, camping equipment, canoes and kayaks, and gear for outdoor sports. And that’s largely a toy store for adults.

What do you dislike?

The hassle and paperwork.

How do you make money/or how are you compensated?

We purchase stuff from vendors all across the country and then resell it.

How much money do you make?

I get a salary of about $26,000, plus I get a bonus depending on how well we do which is usually about about eight percent of my salary. But also, as chief stockholder, I get all income from the corporation. Last year, we netted $96,000 on $1.956 million in sales.

What education or skills are needed to do this?

Apparently, none, because I had my degree in Chemistry and I got into business without any real hassle. I’m sure having a degree in Business gives you an upper edge in learning since you would know you marketing and accounting and stuff like that. But I managed it fine by without having those things.

What is most challenging about what you do?

Dealing with the mail order places that I compete with that are discount-oriented.

What is most rewarding?

The interaction with customers. When you help someone when they have a problem.

What advice would you offer someone considering this career?

I’d say, if they’ve got the opportunity then to do it. There is a lot to be said for running a business yourself. If you do well, you get all benefit and if you screw up, it’s all your fault. But there’s an awful lot to be said for working for yourself because you don’t have to deal with other people telling you what to do.

How much time off do you get/take?

It varies, about two to four weeks.

What is a common misconception people have about what you do?

That I just come in at nine o’clock and go home at six o’clock and sell stuff. They have no idea how much earlier I come in sometimes, and how late we stay at times, and how many times we worked on Sundays or Saturday nights to get things done. People think we have banker’s hours.

What are your goals/dreams for the future?

My goals are to get out of working day to day and begin traveling, sightseeing, and hiking more. And to let my employees finish running the business until I die and give it to them.

What else would you like people to know about what you do?

I would encourage anybody that has the potential and ability to do something like this, to do it.  Because it is a lot more fun than working for somebody else.