What do you do for a living?

I’m the editor of a daily paper in a southern state, having a circulation of about 6,000. We publish every day but Monday.

How would you describe what you do?

I oversee a newsroom of six; it s a small-town community newspaper, so in addition to being in charge of the daily newspaper, I do a little bit of everything. In fact, I’m one of the six. We have a news editor, a sports editor who is a one-man sports department, a lead reporter, and two hybrid positions – one does reporting three days a week and works the news desk two days a week, and one who does sports reporting three days a week and news reporting two days a week. I also edit all the news stories for style and for mistakes. We still make mistakes. But we just make a correction and go on from there. I tell my reporters to do everything in their power to keep a mistake from happening, but if they are doing everything they can and are giving 110 percent, then I’m not going to eat their lunch.

What does your work entail?

My job is administrative, in that I oversee payroll and HR issues, but I also work alongside my reporters as an active member of the team. I do what ever needs to be done. Sports, is a large part of it right now, because school is in session, and we have six high schools in our town, and one Division II University. And there is also a lot of Junior High stuff going on right now. But it is my job to make sure that everything works smoothly, and that the news is adequately covered, and that the newspaper contains the important news in our town, every day. We have no interaction with the advertising part of the business in the newsroom. There are times when the ad people will come by and ask us to do something like covering a ribbon cutting, and I always tell them no.

What’s a typical workweek like?

There’s no such thing as a typical workweek. You never know what kind of day you are going to have until you get to work and see what phone messages you have, and what is going on in town. And there is a lot of administrative work – payroll, HR issues.

Some careers, it may take years to see the results of your labor. But mine is there daily, waiting for me in my driveway every morning.

I typically get to work about 8 a.m. and work sometimes as late as midnight. Two of my reporters are on a salary, meaning they can work more than 40 hours without being paid overtime, but the rest of my staff is paid hourly, so the burden falls on me or one of my other editors if extra work is needed. We are all supposed to work five days with two days off, but that often doesn’t happen, or when it does, the next week we make up for it by working six days. My typical week is 50-60 hours, and sometimes 70. Also, keep in mind, I do a lot of my work at home. And I often eat lunch at my desk.

How did you get started?

When I was in junior college, I applied for a scholarship to work on the college newspaper, and I really loved it. There was a weekly newspaper in that town, and they advertised for a news reporter. I got the job, probably because I was willing to work cheaper than anyone else. But once I started doing this, I never looked back. When I went to my four-year college, I majored in communication and was on the weekly newspaper there. I started out as a staff writer. One semester I was sent to work in the state capitol, covering the legislature, and after that I covered college football. When I graduated, I went to work for a small county newspaper as a sports editor for two years, and then moved to another state and took a job as the news editor for a daily paper. This job, the one I have now, was the logical next step. It took me about 10 years to get to this stage in my career. It is mandatory to be able to do everything, and understand what the other people in the newsroom do. It’s not really effective to take direction from people who have never done the job you do.

What do you like about what you do?

I think the immediate return on your investment is the best thing. Some careers, it may take years to see the results of your labor. But mine is there daily, waiting for me in my driveway every morning.

What do you dislike?

I can’t say I dislike anything, but my least favorite part is the administrative work. I hate paperwork with a passion. And meetings. If it becomes monotonous, I don’t enjoy it.

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

$42,000 in salary, plus health insurance, a matched 401K, dental, vision, the usual benefits. I also get a two-week vacation, and will get three when I have been there for three years.

How much money do you make starting out?

Most newspaper reporters have to be willing to take low salaries. I started out at $26,000, went on to $35,000. But I was fortunate. Our entry-level reporters here make $22,000. With hard work, they can move up rather quickly. I want to hire people who want to move up, and will reward those who do. The devil you know is better than the devil you don’t know.

What education or skills are needed to do this?

A college degree is preferred, but there is no substitute for experience, such as having been on a college newspaper, or a smaller weekly or daily. I hire people who can do a little of everything. One of the first things I did here was phase out the photographer position. My reporters were told to get some camera equipment and take photos themselves. A photography purist might say that the quality of our work would suffer as a result, but now I feel the quality of our photos have actually gotten better since we made that move. They need to be able to write in Associated Press style, take notes, write fast, and be accurate; and they have to do it quickly, because the presses are waiting.

What is most challenging about what you do?

The whole thing is challenging. You have to look out for the overall future of the newspaper, how it is perceived in the community, you have to look out for your staff. But the most challenging is getting people to reach their potential.

What is most rewarding?

The most rewarding thing is when you are actually able to help someone. My favorite success story is a man I hired when I first got here, who didn’t have some of the qualifications of the other applicants, but who had a strong desire to be a professional journalist. I decided to give him a chance. Since then, he has moved on to be an assistant editor in another town, and I feel I had something to do with that.

What advice would you offer someone considering this career?

One, if you don’t want to work like a dog, don’t get into this business. Second, be willing to listen to people and take their advice. The inability to listen can ruin careers. The biggest problem that you run into from my end is that most college graduates don’t want to take the low pay. I find that hard to understand, because I was willing to work practically for free to get my foot in the door. This is not the kind of job that leads to large salaries, except in very rare circumstances. You have to love the work; otherwise, you are wasting your time.

How much time off do you get/take?

Not a lot of time off. We get holidays and about two weeks a year of vacation, but we work a lot of weekends and late nights.

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

I don’t know if the people outside of the business, looking in, realize how much time goes into it. We give up a great deal of personal time to do this job.

What are your goals/dreams for the future?

I am in my dream job right now. This is it. I have no desire to work for a larger newspaper, because community newspapers are all I have ever known.

What do you do for a living?

I’m a professional bass fisherman.

How would you describe what you do?

My job really consists of two ways for me to make a living. Number one is to catch fish in tournaments and the prize money is a big way that I pay my bills. And the second way that I make a living is through sponsorships and representing a whole host of different companies with my main sponsor being Kellogg’s.

What would you say your work entails?

Well, it entails, number one, working hard and going to numerous lakes all over the country and meeting some of the best fishermen in the world and really trying to figure out the fish.

You’re competing against 150 of the best fishermen in the world. To compete at the highest level like that is the most challenging thing I’ve ever done in my life.

I have to pattern fish going into an event and then make good decisions and catch those fish during events so you can place high. If you do that you get paid well. The second part of that is promoting products everywhere I go.

What’s a typical workweek look like for you?

If it’s a tournament week it gets pretty hectic. We have three official practice days on the FLW tour. We have an off day where we get equipment ready and we also do things for sponsors. Then our events starts. We have two days of events then they cut the top 20 the third day and down to the top 10 on the last day. So if I don’t make those last two days, I have to work an outdoor expo show that I do at a convention center.

So I’m usually tied up for about 7 days on a tournament week.   And then between tournaments I spend a lot of working out physically. I do a lot of annual quarterly reports for sponsors and then just do some computer work. So it’s really different from a tournament workweek. I spend a lot of time with my son and wife at home between these two.

How did you get started in this career?

I got started by competing at the lower levels and I qualified my way up to a tour level in 2008.

But I really got started first as a young boy growing up on a farm; hunting and fishing and spending a tremendous amount of time outdoors fishing in creeks and ponds and that kind of thing. And then when I got into High School I had a really close family friend of ours, named Danny Sincoat, take me to a tournament and he did pretty well.  I really got bit by the bug after that competition.

So that’s really all I wanted to do. I’ve wanted to be a professional fisherman ever since I was probably 10-years-old.

I went to college and got an Ag/Business degree from Arkansas Tech. I actually worked for Tyson Foods, where I started as a supervisor trainee in one of the plants and then worked my way up. I became a plant manager when I was about 28 and then did that job for about 6 years. And at the end of that, about ’07, I actually started working my way towards qualifying for the FLW tour. I had to make a decision there to continue working for Tyson Foods and pursue that career long-term or fish full time. So I chose, with the help of my wife, to be able to pursue my real dream of bass fishing.

What do you like about what you do?

Number one I love to be outdoors. I like to be out in God’s creation all the time and be outdoors. I also love the competition. I’ve been a competitive person and involved in competitive sports my whole life, so I just love the competition.  I love getting to work with people and kids too. I get to speak to a lot of different schools so I really enjoy that portion of it as well.

What do you dislike about this job?

Probably the travel. My family gets to go with me about half the time. I’m away from home some. So I don’t like being away from my wife and my little boy. But on the other part of that, I get a lot of quality time, 2 and 3 weeks at a time solid with them so it probably evens out. But I hate being away from home.

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

Two ways; prize money in the tournaments and sponsorships money.  And some sponsors are product sponsors only. Some sponsors are product and pay, and some sponsors are just pay. It varies across the board.

How much money do you make as a pro bass fisherman?

It varies from year to year. My first three years in the sport were around $130,000 a year. The last couple have been kind of tough, they were in the $50,000 range. So it varies for me between $130,000 down to $50,000, depending on the year.

How much money did you make starting out?

I was very fortunate in 07’ my first year on the FLW tour.  I think I won about $130,000 that year. So having that happen on my first year out was a big blessing.

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

I would say definitely a college degree. When I speak at schools, I always tell people if you want to be a professional bass fisherman you really need a college degree.  I think you’ve got to have a degree, especially nowadays. There’s a lot of competition. A lot of people try to do it and there’s only so many sponsor dollars. And really a marketing degree is a big part. Marketing and public speaking are a really big part of being professional fisherman as well.

As far as skills, you’ve got to be blessed with some outdoor skills because you’re going up against guys that are just unbelievably good.  You’ve got to have a really positive attitude and you’ve got to be willing to work really hard.

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

You’re competing against 150 of the best fishermen in the world.  To compete at the highest level like that is the most challenging thing I’ve ever done in my life.

What would you say is most rewarding?

No doubt about it, it’s when you make a top 10 or win in a tour event and you have success against the top guys in the world, and have success against some of the guys you’ve grown up reading about and have so much respect for.  It doesn’t get a whole lot better than that.

What advice would offer someone considering this career?

A couple things. Number one, there’s no substitute for time on the water. Experience is a huge thing. So I would spend as much time in the outdoors as you can.  Number two is start off as co-angler in some of the lower levels. When you’re first starting off, try to fish with as many different people as you can and it’ll give you a different look. Each angler is going to fish a little bit different. I would really recommend someone spend some time in a coangler’s division or as an amateur in the back of the boat first.

How much time off do you get or take?

Three solid months off at the end of the year and then there’s sporadic weeks throughout the year that I’m off.  I fish about 16 events a year. There is quite a bit time off as far as when you’re not actually having an event.

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

That it’s really easy and you just go out there and fish and it’s really relaxing. It’s the farthest thing from that as you can be. There’s nothing relaxing about it.

You’re trying to represent your sponsor and you’re trying to do well.  If you have some periods when you don’t do well, you probably start losing sponsors. That hurts the pocketbook.  There’s a lot of pressure to perform just like any other professionally athlete.

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

Number one, I’ve won every level except the tour level, so I want to win at the tour level. Number two, I want to make as many championships as I can.

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

What I would encourage everybody to do is really look into the sport more and see really how big it is. If you’re not familiar with professional bass fishing, go to www.flwoutdoors.com. Go to my website, www.gregbohannan.com or watch it on TV on Sunday on the Versus station and take a minute to see really how big the sport is. I think there’s 70 million people that fish. So that’s a big portion of the people out there.

Hollywood Stuntman John Stewart was kind enough to visit with us about his career as a stuntman.  You can find more information about him at his site www.hollywoodstuntman.com

What did you do for a living?

I was a stuntman and a stunt coordinator.

How would you describe that job?

It is very physically and mentally demanding.  We are not daredevils either, we calculate and try to eliminate risk as much as possible.

What did your work entail?

It was different everyday.  One day you would go to work and pretend to be drowning in a swimming pool, the next day I could be jumping off a sixteen story building on fire, and the next day I’d be jumping a car over a train.  It was different all the time.

What does a typical workweek look like as a professional stuntman?

It is never nine to five.  You are always in a different location, different country, and different city.  It is kind of like being a rock band on tour.  You never know what you are going to be doing.  One day you are going to work and you are doing fights, the next day you stand around doing nothing all day.  Sometimes it’s a lot of hurry up and wait.

How did you get started in this career?

I doubled for Matt Dylan on a film in Boston.  I did a few films there and then moved to LA.

What do you like about being a stunt man?

It wasn’t 9 to 5, you are doing something different all the time.  You get to travel a lot, and I get to be creative, especially when I’d get the scripts and there wouldn’t be stunts in the scripts yet.  So I would get to write and direct the stunts and actions scenes.

What did you dislike about it?

When a job ends it could be your last one.  For the most part a movie would last for a month or two and then you have to start looking for work again.  In general stunt guys are always looking for work.  It is not a career where a huge percentage make it either, it’s very difficult.  It is not how good you are, it is who you know.

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

You’re salary is paid through the screen actors guild just like the actors.  You also get what is called a stunt adjustment, depending on how dangerous the stunt was, and then you get residual checks just like the actors.

How much money did you make as a stuntman?

Back in the 80′s and 90s I was making over $150,000-$200,000 a year.  But that didn’t happen every year after that, it all depends on how much work you get.

How much do you make starting out in this career?

$600 dollars a day or so is your daily rate.  You can find the exact figures if you go to the screen actors guild for stunt performers, they have the day-to-day and weekly work rates.  Then you get a stunt adjustment on top of that if it is a dangerous stunt, which can be anywhere from $100 to $50,000 or $100,000 depending on the stunt.

What education or skills are needed to do this?

A gymnastic background helps.  Mathematics helps for figuring jumps and stunts.  It is not a dare devil sport at all, it is very calculated.  Most stuntmen come from gymnastic backgrounds though.

What is most challenging about this career?

The most challenging thing about it is finding work.  Once you’ve you’ve found the work the next thing is to try and do something that hasn’t been done before and keep it fresh and new because the movie audiences now are really sophisticated.  It is not like the old days where you used to jump off a ten foot building and impress people.  Now it is twenty stories and on fire, and of course now they have a lot of computer CGI too(computer generated imagery).  A lot of stunts you see in movies today are not even real, it is faked.  When I was doing it in the 80s and 90s everything was real.  What you see is what they did, that is how a lot of people got hurt and killed.  Now it is a lot of  CGI in the bigger movies.  They are still using the stunt guys, but they are doing some of the stunts and they are making it look crazier with CGI.

What is most rewarding about this career?

I guess for me I broke some world records back in the 90s jumping high falls off multi-story buildings on fire.  So, setting records was rewarding. Also, it’s rewarding to see what you wrote into a script being in the final outcome of the film.

What advice would you offer someone considering this career?

To be honest I would say walk away.  Find another job.  Try and follow your dreams of course, you should always do that, but the reality is very few people make it in this business.  I don’t even know the stats, but probably less than 3% will come out here to try to be a stuntman and actually make a living at it.  Like I said it is not how good you are, you could be the best stunt guy in the world and never work a day.  It is all about who you know and being connected.

But, you always want to follow your dreams to so I would say have a plan B in case it didn’t work out.

How much time off or vacation would you take with this type of job?

Well it depends.  If you are shooting in Hawaii then you are on vacation.

You don’t really get vacations in this industry.  You work when you work and you take time off when you take the time off.  It is not a 9 to 5 job where you work and then get a vacation.  A lot of the films you do on location so it is like being on vacation.

What is a common misconception people have about this job?

That stunt guys are superheroes and that we don’t bleed or break arms. It is all real and a lot of people get killed doing it.

What else would you like people to know about this career?

Take a good look at the names on the credits on some of the older movies on stunts.  A lot of those people are not around any more, and a lot of films are dedicated to some people that were killed.  People think it is all glamour and glory and truth of the reality is people get hurt all the time.  People end up in wheelchairs for the rest of their life.  Some people die.

What do you do for a living?

I am a football coach and Co-Defensive Coordinator and linebackers coach at Mississippi State.

How would you describe what you do?

I’m a coach and a mentor to my players. I try to instill values, work ethic, motivation and those kinds of things to eighteen to twenty year old kids.  I game plan and do schemes for upcoming opponents during the week.  I try to put out the best product that we can on Saturdays and hopefully win championships.

What does your work entail?

The biggest part of it is recruiting. And the recruiting aspect is a 365 day a year process. There’s also the coaching and practice preparation, and those kinds of things change throughout the year. Starting in August we have a preseason camp that will last about a month and then the season starts. We’ll be constantly game planning during the season. Game days are on Saturdays or Thursdays, whatever the case may be. And then come December and January, we’re out on the road recruiting and visiting schools and homes every day for two months.

If you can live without football or can live without coaching, don’t do it. But if that’s what your passion is, and you wake up in the morning and that’s what you’re thinking about, dreaming about, and wanting to do, then just go all out for it.

Then February and March is off-season conditioning, getting the players ready to start spring ball and getting them in shape. Then the end of March, beginning of April is spring training where we practice amongst ourselves for about a month. Then during May, we’re out on the road recruiting again evaluating juniors and seeing high school coaches. And then the early part of June will be high school camps where we’ll have kids on our campus working out.  Then halfway through June and most of July is vacation.  Come August we crank it back up again and do the same schedule.

What does a typical work week look like?

Sunday we’ll come in if we played a game the night before and watch the previous nights or afternoon game. We’ll grade it, evaluate it, take notes on it and that same day we will start game planning on our next week’s opponent and actually have a short practice with the team. We go over corrections and start implementing the game plan for the next week’s opponent.

Then Monday we’ll get in at six in the morning and go till about eleven or twelve at night game planning for the next Saturday. Then Tuesday we’ll game plan all day, practice in the afternoon and come back in that evening and have more meetings, and watch practice on video tape. Wednesday is a little more of the same thing as Tuesday except on Wednesday nights we make recruiting calls. So when the second practice is over, we’re on the phone with recruits and coaches.

Thursday we do meetings, game planning, and finish up the weeks schedule and have practice again. And Thursday nights is usually date night with our wives, so it’ll be the first night of the week we’ll get to see our wives. Fridays are a little bit more low key but we’ll do our picture and reminders for the week for the players and we’ll have tests that we’ll have ready to give to our players that Friday night. Then we’ll have a short practice, and meetings at the hotel. And if we’re traveling, we’ll travel to wherever the game site is of whoever we’re playing. And Saturday’s is just getting ready for the game with the walk through and the pregame and then hopefully have a victory that night.  We have twelve weeks of that.

How did you get started in this career?

I played college football, and when I was done playing my college coach told me that he thought I would make a great coach. I hadn’t really thought about it that much before but I said I’d look into it. So I did student teaching at a high school and while I did that, I actually coached the high school team and just fell in love with the environment and coaching.

After that first year of coaching high school ball I got a graduate assistant job at a wonderful school up in New York City. I did that for a year, and went to graduate school. I got to coach, got my feet wet, and did a lot of grunt work. And then the next two years I was a defensive coordinator for a small Division III school up in Pennsylvania called Albright College. I then went back and did another graduate assistant job at Georgia Tech, just to get a taste of Division I, and see what division one coaching was all about. I did that for two years. After two years doing the graduate assistant job I got promoted to full time, so I was a full time division one coach. I think I was at the time twenty nine years old. I started moving up and going different places from there.

What do you like about what you do?

I just love being around the players, it helps you stay young. I also love college football and football in general. I get paid to watch tape, coach, and be involved in a college football environment every day. The impact you can have on young people’s lives and seeing them develop from an eighteen year old to a twenty two year old young man and have a big impact in their lives is extremely gratifying as well.

What do you dislike about this job?

Maybe at times the hours and the stress that the job comes with would be the only negative. But, you know, it comes with the territory. Actually, with all that being said, there is some excitement along with the stress too, it gets your adrenaline pumping so even though it could be viewed as a negative, it’s still part of what makes the job so fun.

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

Salary. I’m a salaried employee and then we’ll get bonuses for going to bowl games or good GPA’s etc. We also get paid for working camps during the summer. And then most places have either a car deal where you get a dealers car or they’ll give you a stipend to rent or lease a car.

How much money do you make as a Co-Defensive Coordinator?

Currently $280,000-300,000, in that range.

How much did you start out making in this career?

We start off as a graduate assistant, we basically get tuition and books, some meals, and maybe eight hundred dollars a month to live off of. And then my first defensive coordinator job I made twenty four thousand dollars a year. I did that for two years. I was making about $60,000 at a Division II job and then I started getting more and more compensated as I started moving on up the ranks.

What education or skills are needed to do this?

I got an undergraduate degree in sports management with a minor in coaching. A lot of people get their education degree. I went back and got my education certificate as well, just in case I wanted to coach high school football. But to be honest with you some of the classes that helped me the most were when I did some graduate work in psychology. I did graduate work in educational psychology at Fordham University and undergraduate work in educational psychology or organizational psychology at Georgia Tech.

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

The recruiting part is probably the most challenging, because you’re going against the same scholarship that every school is able to give. And you’re competing to get to know the recruits and learn what makes them tick and what they’re looking for in a school or in an athletic program.

What would you say is most rewarding about this?

Probably when a young man calls you five, ten, or fifteen years after you’ve coached them and tells you how things that you’ve taught them or lessons that they’ve learned from being around you are actually helping them in their current profession or even with their kids. Those kind of things are probably the most rewarding, knowing that you’ve had an impact on somebody’s life.

What advice would you offer someone considering this career?

Only do it if you love it. If you can live without football or can live without coaching, don’t do it. But if that’s what your passion is, and you wake up in the morning and that’s what you’re thinking about, dreaming about, and wanting to do, then just go all out for it.

How much time to you get off?

After signing day, which is the first Wednesday in February, most coaching staffs get somewhere between three and five days off. Most coaching staffs get spring break off when the university takes spring break. Then during the summer it varies but the vacations range anywhere from three weeks to five weeks vacation during the summer. But the number of Saturdays and the number of Sundays that are spent invested in this profession far compensate any time off.

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

Probably the biggest thing that most people think is that we only work from August until November. Many people can’t understand that there are actually things to do outside of football season, and truth be told, that’s probably some of the busiest times.

What are your goals or dreams for the future for this career?

To try and put myself in a position to be a head coach of a division one school, positively impact a lot of people, try and do things the right way, help kids get their degrees and an education, and win a lot of football games.

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

I guess just that everybody sees the glory that comes from when you win games and now a days it’s almost like a TMZ society with college football on blogs, message boards, and ESPN.com. There’s a lot of negative that’s always being written about college football coaches or college football players. But the truth of the matter is 98% of the time people that are in this profession are in it for the right reasons and 98% of the kids that are involved in college football are some of the best and brightest in the country. And I think sometimes the small percentages of people that are doing negative things get overblown where the majority of people are doing great things and are really trying to make a difference. That kind of gets underplayed a little bit. There are just some great people in this profession and there are some great great kids that play this game.

What do you do for a living?

I am an assistant buyer for Dallas Cowboys merchandising.

How would you describe what you do?

Well we have forty retail stores that we buy apparel and merchandise for like clothes and games. I assist the two buyers with selecting merchandise and then watching sales, watching margins, watching inventory, etc.

What does your work entail?

There are a lot of reports and looking at sales on the previous days, and the margins. We’re always watching how our margin is compared to inventory.

How did you get started at your job?

I just kind of got lucky through word of mouth and other people that I knew in the company. And then I got promoted from being successful as a manager. I was at one store for a year and then at another store for a year and then I moved to the corporate office.

What do you like about your job?

I like that it’s different every day. I like getting to pick out the merchandise. I like the people I work with. I like that I can still be involved in the retail part of it without having to actually work in the store. I think basically I like it’s that it’s always changing and it’s just been an exciting company working for a football team. So it’s just fun.

Is there anything that you dislike?

It can be different each day. But a lot of things can be the same too.

How do you make money or how are you compensated?

Salary. I’ve gotten bonuses but right now I’m not really set up on a bonus structure. I’m in more of a support role than an actual buyer.

How much money do you make as an assistant buyer?

$42,000

What education or skills are needed for your job?

You should have either my degree which is a Bachelor’s in Merchandising or some kind of business degree because it is a lot of understanding numbers that we use every day. I definitely think it is good to move up from being a manager so you understand how a store works. That way you’re not just buying for something you’ve never worked in before. I think that’s probably most important, just experience and knowing what you’re doing.

What is the most challenging about what you do?

I think that for me it’s mostly the amount of material to learn. I’ve been there almost a year and I’ve learned a ton but there’s still a whole lot that I feel like I’m learning every day.

What is the most rewarding?

Seeing the stores do good when you pick out a piece of merchandise or an article or clothing or something and it sells out really well and the stores like it, your managers like it, your customers like it.

Is there any advice that you would offer to someone considering this career?

You would definitely have to be willing to work the hours and move up in the store. I think that’s something they look for, somebody that has experience in a store and just kind of understands the ins and outs of the job.

How much time off do you get or do you take?

I get two weeks vacation.

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

I guess a lot of people think buyers just get to go and pick out stuff and that’s it, like shopping, when really we have to know how items do in a retail environment. We have to study it from year to year. We have to see how things trend and look at numbers etc. It’s not just picking out merchandise.

What are your goals and dreams for the future?

I’m hoping I can learn enough and be successful enough to maybe become a full time buyer and probably the women’s buyer if I stay with the Cowboys.

Is there anything else you would like people to know about what you do?

When I was in school I thought I wanted to be a buyer because it’s fun and you could just go shopping for a living.  You get to do that and that is fun, but there’s also math and meeting with senders and knowing your product and knowing your stores and who you’re buying for, who your customers are, and all that. So it’s much more than just shopping.

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.