Kevin Downey

My first job was working for a contractor at twelve years old. We tore up the old vinyl flooring in a kitchen, scraped the concrete substrate, and then laid down the terra cotta tile. It was dirty, physical labor, but it was fun. Later, I worked several food service and retail jobs to support myself through high school and college. In retail, I learned how to multi-task, keeping track of my progress while repeatedly having to drop everything for our demanding customers. This was the most difficult, and often the most frustrating, part of those jobs. Yet, those retail environments didn’t feel like a good fit for me at the time. The truth is, everyone I worked with in those jobs didn’t want to be there either. We weren’t having a good time, and neither were our customers.

After college, I put retail behind me and landed in the office sector as a graphics designer and administrative assistant. I enjoyed the nature of the work, but it lacked variety and was far from physically challenging. During a recession, I experienced a couple of layoffs and realized I was tired of working in a cubicle. So, I decided to get my hands dirty again and found a physically demanding job outdoors that I enjoyed but which lacked social interaction. That eventually led to me returning to working in a physically demanding retail environment.

I found measurable success when I landed a new job in a great city with a diverse demographic. Unlike the others, this retail job felt like the right fit for me. Our customers were always happy to be there, and the social aspect of the job was vibrant. I worked hard, had a great attitude, and felt gratitude, enthusiasm, and passion for what I was doing. I was having fun. It was such a good fit, and I enjoyed myself so much that I caught the attention of management and was recruited into a leadership position. My management career suddenly took off. When I entered the leadership realm, I was transferred to the toughest store in our region and was working for a boss who was an infamous tyrant. But I got along with him well enough for my part and enjoyed every challenge thrown my way.

The growth that came over me during those years endured and eventually led me to greener pastures. When I had taken that career as far as I could, risen as high as I could, I said my thanks to all the company had given me, and took my management skills to the high-end art world. This eventually led to managing my own business as a writer, finally putting the combination of my degree and my work experience to use. It took some time to find my footing on my career path, and it certainly wasn’t linear. I had no idea where my degree would lead me, nor had I imagined my working experience would lead me where it did.

Now, looking back on my journey, I realized what I enjoyed most along the way was finding like-minded individuals who found their path. I discovered a passion for recruiting those I knew belonged, coaching and training them, helping them along their way, and even offering career coaching at career fairs. Today, writing for mockquestions.com, I am still enthusiastically doing what I love and looking forward to seeing where my path leads me next.

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