u/Crazy_Celery_4874

Since I started working at Costco, I’ve been called, how do I say this lightly, pretty much every slur in the book lol.

For context, I’m a white guy, but I speak Spanish pretty fluently, and I’ve literally been called racist for speaking Spanish somehow? 😂

Apart from that, it never fails to surprise me how creative members can get when they’re really angry and the kinds of things they’ll call you when they’re emotionally riled up.

The funniest part is that we’re literally just following policy. Members will act like I’m personally the one who created the rules and that I have some kind of vendetta against them and I’m out to get them. Like trust me, I promise I do not care enough to make your life harder on purpose lol.

Just curious, what’s the craziest or worst thing an angry member has ever called you? I know I can’t be the only one with some wild stories lol.

A while ago, I heard that a lot of people pitch the Executive Membership and credit card together from the start. Something along the lines of, “The best membership we have is the Executive with the Costco Visa,” and then explaining the benefits and how you can earn 2% back with the Executive Membership plus the rewards from the card.

Do people with good numbers still pitch it this way?

I’m curious what the “playbook” is for consistently selling Executives and Triple Plays at the desk. One thing I’ve learned recently is to avoid getting into the whole “how much do you spend per month?” conversation because it can immediately turn people away, which honestly makes a lot of sense.

For the people consistently hitting or exceeding benchmarks, what does your pitch actually sound like from start to finish? How do you transition from the membership into Executive and then the Visa without making it feel like you’re throwing a bunch of stuff at the member?

For some context, I started with Costco when I was 18 in 2022 after moving away from my hometown to Florida. I started in the food court, worked there for about six months, and then became a part-time membership clerk, which is where I’ve been ever since.
When I first started, my biggest goal was to grow within Costco as much as possible. I was extremely ambitious about moving up and eventually pictured myself becoming a Regional VP or reaching another high-level position within the company.
My situation changed a little in 2024 when I started music production as a side hustle. It’s grown significantly since then, with my music income increasing by roughly 80% from 2025 to 2026.
Now at 22, between working about 25 - 30 hours a week at Costco and music production, I’m making $80k a year. I’m extremely grateful to be in that position and definitely not complaining.
The dilemma is that if music continues growing anywhere near its current pace, I’m on track to potentially break six figures around 24. At some point, I feel like I’m going to have to decide whether I want to fully pursue something I’m extremely passionate about with music, or continue pursuing a career with Costco, which I also genuinely enjoy and offers significantly more stability.
I’d especially love to hear from managers or people who have moved up within Costco. If you were in my position at 22, how would you approach the next few years? Would you continue trying to move up while building the side business, stay part-time as long as possible, or eventually take the risk and pursue music full-time?
Any perspective is appreciated.

I’ve been in Membership for about four years. When I first started, I was consistently around 60–70% Executive and 20–30% Triple Plays.
Over the past year, my numbers have fallen off drastically. Most weeks I’m barely breaking 50% Executive, and I honestly don’t think I’ve hit the Triple Play benchmark once this past year.
I’m still really good with auto renewal, emails, and app setup, but Executive and Citi have become a huge struggle. I explain the benefits, try different approaches, and even ask coworkers for help with tougher signups. I genuinely don’t know what changed.
There also feels like there’s some politics involved. Some of the senior employees with the “best” numbers seem to be able to spot an obvious Gold Star signup from a mile away, and sometimes I feel like I’m left eating those.
My integrity is really important to me. I don’t want to become someone who avoids a signup just because I can tell they’re probably going Gold Star. I’ll pitch Executive, but if Gold Star makes more sense for them, I’m not going to pressure them just to protect my numbers.
Has anyone gone through a rut like this and gotten out of it? What did you change? I’m willing to improve my approach, but I’m honestly stuck and don’t want to eventually get kicked out of the department because of my numbers.

I recently signed with a modeling agency — and not just a small one, one of the biggest agencies in the world. Since signing, they’ve already been sending me castings and jobs, which is exciting, but a lot of them are in other states and require flights/travel, sometimes on really short notice.
The thing is, I still work a normal job that pays my bills, so I can’t realistically just drop everything and leave whenever a casting pops up. Right now, since I’m still new to modeling, I can really only take local jobs or things that fit around my days off.
When I signed, they told me they’d work around my schedule, but I’m worried about constantly turning things down and being seen as lazy, difficult, or not serious about modeling. I don’t want to become “the guy who always refuses castings.”
I’m also a little confused about what jobs I should and shouldn’t be taking this early on. Part of me feels like I should say yes to everything to build experience, but another part of me worries about the type of work I’m doing. For example, if I start doing commercial/non-fashion jobs like Party City, random retail campaigns, etc., could that hurt me long term if I eventually want to move more into fashion/editorial/high-end work? Or is that not really how it works?
Basically I’m trying to figure out:
How selective should a newer model be?
Is it normal to turn down travel jobs because of a regular job/life responsibilities?
Do agencies get annoyed if you can’t travel often at first?
Can doing too much commercial work hurt your future image/career direction?
How do you balance modeling with a normal job when you’re just starting out?
Would really appreciate insight from people actually in the industry because I’m trying to approach this professionally and realistically.