Lessons Learned Along the Way

At every stage of my life, I picked up at least a tidbit of knowledge that helped me when I moved on to the next step. Here is some of the curriculum from my school of life. 

1. Don’t Drive Like My Brother, 101. Dave is three years my senior. We used to go out driving around after he got his license. He drove like a mad-man. Tickets, accidents, street racing, you name it. He was a one man wrecking crew. I did some stupid things behind the wheel of a car, but not quite like Dave. Ironic that he became a policeman, and later a magistrate. 
2. Box Cutter, 102. My first job was at a supermarket. I learned how not to open my veins when opening cases of Sugar Frosted Flakes with a razor cutter. More importantly I learned the value of networking. I befriended a vendor who got me my first full time job, which set the stage for much of my life's story. 
3. Community College, 103. I never graduated, still, I did learn a thing or two. There was a communications course that taught me the basics of writing. I still don’t know the difference between an adverb and a pronoun, but I manage to write in a manner that sometimes gets me an up-vote or two. I also composed quarterly newsletters for my fledgling tax practice, which helped the business grow and to maintain a very low turnover rate. I took a basic accounting course that didn’t really interest me at the time, but would prove useful several years later. And after just barely escaping high school math classes without being sentenced to summer-school, there was a business math class that, for some reason, came extremely easy to me in college; I actually had the highest GPA in the class, something that my high school math teachers never would have believed. That too, helped me down the road.
4. Beer Truck Driver, 104. The number one most important secret of my success as a tax preparer came from my time selling beer; customer service. I encountered difficult personalities and power trippers, and of course, nothing was worse than dealing with a drunk when I was sober, and there were plenty of those. Treating people with respect, returning phone calls, and following through are all things that I learned while I worked as a driver-salesman. 
5. Union Rep, 105. I became involved with my labor union, I wore every hat there was over a 25 year period. Remember that accounting class I had? It came in very handy when I took over the financial secretary position. The business math class proved useful during contract negotiations. Also, I learned all aspects of payroll processing, which became an early part of my tax practice. 
6. Financial Services, 106. After being the beer guy, I became security and insurance licensed. I did not care for that job, but I learned that if you conduct yourself professionally and play well with the other children, they will remember you fondly. A couple of the advisors funneled their clients to me, which jump-started my tax practice.
7. Tax Guy, 109. There were some prerequisites for this one. DIY Tax Return, 107, and H&R Block, 108. My own taxes had a few complexities that served as learning experiences, such as apartment rentals, and capital gains. Later, training and working for Block gave me confidence when the opportunity for Dan’s Tax Prep came along. 

 Early in my beverage selling days I had a customer who owned two very  profitable pizzerias in a college town. His first job as a teenager? Making pizzas at the store he would eventually own. My point is that there are things to be learned all through life and at any job that can lead a person to more lucrative opportunities and a better situation.

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