"At my old store, our back room was always a mess. It made stocking difficult and taking inventory nearly impossible. When the staff complained, the managers insisted the problem was due to a lack of space. I disagreed; it looked like there would be enough space if the room was better organized. I asked my manager if I could take a shift to come up with an organizational system for the back room. My manager agreed and picked out a typically slow shift, but they told me I could take no more than one shift, and if there was no improvement, that would be the end of it.

It took the entire eight-hour shift, but by the end, every item was shelved and organized in easy-to-find locations. The new setup made stocking and inventory easier, and my manager complimented my ingenuity."

"When I began my most recent job at a small, family-owned business, the owners didn't have any marketing strategy. They were operating with the same website and Internet presence they had had for ten years. Everything was outdated, and business was suffering because of it. Outside work hours, I researched marketing plans and successful websites, built a presentation, and presented it to the owners. They implemented the marketing plan with a few minor changes. Since then, they have seen an increase in web traffic and several new clients who have all raved about our updated website and community marketing plan."