u/becca080901

I just started a sales job recently-specifically construction sales. I’ve only ever worked in restaurants before. I (24f) had worked in restaurants for around 9 years starting at the counter, moving into kitchens, then onto the floor as a server, then up to being a bartender, before I landed in management for the last year or so.

When I was bartending people used to joke and say “if you were in sales I’d be in big trouble.” I had always thought about getting into sales as well in the back of my mind because it just seemed like a gradual next step-I can sell drinks and food, why not try selling a larger product in order to see more direct profit?

Specifically I had thought about getting into real estate because I see so many people just able to live comfortably. I never took the leap because I would need to pay for schooling and testing-unfortunately I have grown a habit of stretching myself thin and I’ve been continuously paying for poor financial choices over the years due to past decisions. I’m slowly learning how to correct my behaviors, but that’s a whole other process and story in and of itself. Long story short, I never went after a real estate career because I didn’t have the money for schooling and licensing.

The other thing holding me back was the fear of not making enough money to survive. It’s a hard world out here and I don’t have parents to rely on (again, whole other story), and I’m doing this thing called life by myself right now-it’s tough out here. So I stayed on the floor and behind the bar in restaurants because it paid my bills and was comfortable for me because I was so good at it.

However, I knew that serving and bartending would not be able to sustain the life I want for myself. I took an opportunity for management positions because it opens more doors in the long run. For example, about 5 months after I was promoted to my new position-my restaurant closed. A former coworker called me, she had also transitioned into management and there was an open position where she was working. I would not have had that job opportunity if I had just stayed behind the bar.

I took the opportunity because I needed a job and the income offered was equal to my previous management position. However, if you’re good at your job as a server and/or bartender-any management position is a good chunk of a pay cut (like 1/3-1/2 of your yearly salary), extra responsibility, and just more bullshit to deal with. Some people are good at it, are meant for it, and build good careers and awesome restaurants because of that. I am not one of those people, I had to come to realize. I don’t care about the low-mid tier sports bar I was at-and I damn well didn’t get paid enough to care. Don’t get me wrong-I cared about my people, I loved my staff and my coworkers, and my daily goal was to go in and be able to be a trustworthy and reliable person anyone can go to for anything they need. If you talk to 90%-95% of any of my former staff I believe they would say something similar.

Was I perfect by any means? Absolutely the fuck not.
Did I try daily to at least make everyone smile? Yes. Everyday.

One of the regulars works in construction sales and has for 35+years-already longer than I’ve been alive.
We were chatting one day-and mind you I didn’t really have much conversation with him before this other than just simple greetings and small laughs-and I mentioned I’ve been interested in sales, he offered to set up an interview at his company. I went and I got hired. My second sales interview (I ghosted the other company to take this position because of multiple reasons I will soon explain) and I received a 2nd job offer.

I took the position because of the connection of “knowing” my boss prior to working there because I knew he would take care of me financially and starting out which is something I couldn’t afford to do in other sales positions because bills are expensive. The starting salaries for sales positions are not enough to live on its own-you need to make commission. I’ve always been worried that I wouldn’t do well enough immediately to be able to survive while still building a book of business.

And now I’m in construction sales. There’s a lot of different products, there’s a lot of different contractors. The company I work for is already very big (another reason I chose this position over the other-the other was a newer company and didn’t have much of a reputation or known name which makes it even harder to sell) and most contractors are already set up with a rep, or have long standing relationship both personal and professional with rival companies.

I feel like a fish out of water. I feel like I can never catch up. I’ve been in my position for around 6ish weeks and I’m still introducing myself to people. It’s hard to find contractors outside working right now-literally everyone else but who I need is outside (landscapers, plumbers, HVAC). So many of my phone calls hit voicemail. I’m not getting any return calls, which makes me feel like my pitch is off. And my boss has just been having me drive around different areas looking, but I’m not finding anyone. My motivation is slipping, my follow-ups are slipping. I feel like I’m disappointing my boss and he’s like a dad/grandfather figure to me and I don’t want him to be wrong about the potential he saw in me when he wanted to hire me.

I also feel like whenever I have found someone to talk to I just introduce myself and they either say “we have an account with another rep” or they’re not really interested. And I am 24, a girl, my hair is dyed blonde-I feel like they don’t take me seriously enough to give me business.

There are house accounts I could be assigned to some of, and my boss has said he would assign some of them to me, and the other rep at my branch (who may or may not retire soon) has mentioned it to my boss as well because as he put it “we all gotta eat”. However my boss has yet to assign anything to me and keeps putting me on the road pretty much an hour after I get to work. I feel like I can’t ask questions because he’s moving so fast but I also don’t even feel fully prepared to talk to contractors when I do see them.

I don’t want to fail. I’ve met with reps from our suppliers and they’ve all pretty much said that I’m smart, I’m asking good questions, and that I’ll be fine. My boss keeps saying I’ll be fine too. One rep mentioned that this industry is something a lot of people stay in for life-I’m assuming because of how lucrative it can be.

That also scares me because I don’t even know if I want to do this the rest of my life. Honestly I would love to make enough money to pay off my debts (around 29.5k from credit cards and car payments-I know, still paying for poor choices, don’t even get me started on myself), live comfortably (a 1 bed, 1 bath apartment, decently new but I’m not asking for a penthouse or overly luxurious), be able to put money into savings consistently to help with retirement (hopefully if we all even survive that long), and more importantly into the stock market or some form of investment that will allow my money to grow and work for me. I don’t want to work for my money, I want my money to work for me.

That is what I honestly truly desire. I know it’s beyond difficult and insane to think of when you don’t come from generational wealth that was set up to do this, but that’s what I want for myself. I don’t ever want to worry about money, and you can never work enough for that amount of money-your money has to work for you to get there.

Long story short-I’m scared. I’m nervous. I don’t want to blow this position. If I can catch on and start making commission I’ll be okay and I can see myself staying long term. I’m having trouble staying motivated in the meantime. I just needed to voice my thoughts somewhere. Hopefully someone out there can relate to this in some way.

I just started a sales job recently-specifically construction sales. I’ve only ever worked in restaurants before. I (24f) had worked in restaurants for around 9 years starting at the counter, moving into kitchens, then onto the floor as a server, then up to being a bartender, before I landed in management for the last year or so.

When I was bartending people used to joke and say “if you were in sales I’d be in big trouble.” I had always thought about getting into sales as well in the back of my mind because it just seemed like a gradual next step-I can sell drinks and food, why not try selling a larger product in order to see more direct profit?

Specifically I had thought about getting into real estate because I see so many people just able to live comfortably. I never took the leap because I would need to pay for schooling and testing-unfortunately I have grown a habit of stretching myself thin and I’ve been continuously paying for poor financial choices over the years due to past decisions. I’m slowly learning how to correct my behaviors, but that’s a whole other process and story in and of itself. Long story short, I never went after a real estate career because I didn’t have the money for schooling and licensing.

The other thing holding me back was the fear of not making enough money to survive. It’s a hard world out here and I don’t have parents to rely on (again, whole other story), and I’m doing this thing called life by myself right now-it’s tough out here. So I stayed on the floor and behind the bar in restaurants because it paid my bills and was comfortable for me because I was so good at it.

However, I knew that serving and bartending would not be able to sustain the life I want for myself. I took an opportunity for management positions because it opens more doors in the long run. For example, about 5 months after I was promoted to my new position-my restaurant closed. A former coworker called me, she had also transitioned into management and there was an open position where she was working. I would not have had that job opportunity if I had just stayed behind the bar.

I took the opportunity because I needed a job and the income offered was equal to my previous management position. However, if you’re good at your job as a server and/or bartender-any management position is a good chunk of a pay cut (like 1/3-1/2 of your yearly salary), extra responsibility, and just more bullshit to deal with. Some people are good at it, are meant for it, and build good careers and awesome restaurants because of that. I am not one of those people, I had to come to realize. I don’t care about the low-mid tier sports bar I was at-and I damn well didn’t get paid enough to care. Don’t get me wrong-I cared about my people, I loved my staff and my coworkers, and my daily goal was to go in and be able to be a trustworthy and reliable person anyone can go to for anything they need. If you talk to 90%-95% of any of my former staff I believe they would say something similar.

Was I perfect by any means? Absolutely the fuck not.
Did I try daily to at least make everyone smile? Yes. Everyday.

One of the regulars works in construction sales and has for 35+years-already longer than I’ve been alive.
We were chatting one day-and mind you I didn’t really have much conversation with him before this other than just simple greetings and small laughs-and I mentioned I’ve been interested in sales, he offered to set up an interview at his company. I went and I got hired. My second sales interview (I ghosted the other company to take this position because of multiple reasons I will soon explain) and I received a 2nd job offer.

I took the position because of the connection of “knowing” my boss prior to working there because I knew he would take care of me financially and starting out which is something I couldn’t afford to do in other sales positions because bills are expensive. The starting salaries for sales positions are not enough to live on its own-you need to make commission. I’ve always been worried that I wouldn’t do well enough immediately to be able to survive while still building a book of business.

And now I’m in construction sales. There’s a lot of different products, there’s a lot of different contractors. The company I work for is already very big (another reason I chose this position over the other-the other was a newer company and didn’t have much of a reputation or known name which makes it even harder to sell) and most contractors are already set up with a rep, or have long standing relationship both personal and professional with rival companies.

I feel like a fish out of water. I feel like I can never catch up. I’ve been in my position for around 6ish weeks and I’m still introducing myself to people. It’s hard to find contractors outside working right now-literally everyone else but who I need is outside (landscapers, plumbers, HVAC). So many of my phone calls hit voicemail. I’m not getting any return calls, which makes me feel like my pitch is off. And my boss has just been having me drive around different areas looking, but I’m not finding anyone. My motivation is slipping, my follow-ups are slipping. I feel like I’m disappointing my boss and he’s like a dad/grandfather figure to me and I don’t want him to be wrong about the potential he saw in me when he wanted to hire me.

I also feel like whenever I have found someone to talk to I just introduce myself and they either say “we have an account with another rep” or they’re not really interested. And I am 24, a girl, my hair is dyed blonde-I feel like they don’t take me seriously enough to give me business.

There are house accounts I could be assigned to some of, and my boss has said he would assign some of them to me, and the other rep at my branch (who may or may not retire soon) has mentioned it to my boss as well because as he put it “we all gotta eat”. However my boss has yet to assign anything to me and keeps putting me on the road pretty much an hour after I get to work. I feel like I can’t ask questions because he’s moving so fast but I also don’t even feel fully prepared to talk to contractors when I do see them.

I don’t want to fail. I’ve met with reps from our suppliers and they’ve all pretty much said that I’m smart, I’m asking good questions, and that I’ll be fine. My boss keeps saying I’ll be fine too. One rep mentioned that this industry is something a lot of people stay in for life-I’m assuming because of how lucrative it can be.

That also scares me because I don’t even know if I want to do this the rest of my life. Honestly I would love to make enough money to pay off my debts (around 29.5k from credit cards and car payments-I know, still paying for poor choices, don’t even get me started on myself), live comfortably (a 1 bed, 1 bath apartment, decently new but I’m not asking for a penthouse or overly luxurious), be able to put money into savings consistently to help with retirement (hopefully if we all even survive that long), and more importantly into the stock market or some form of investment that will allow my money to grow and work for me. I don’t want to work for my money, I want my money to work for me.

That is what I honestly truly desire. I know it’s beyond difficult and insane to think of when you don’t come from generational wealth that was set up to do this, but that’s what I want for myself. I don’t ever want to worry about money, and you can never work enough for that amount of money-your money has to work for you to get there.

Long story short-I’m scared. I’m nervous. I don’t want to blow this position. If I can catch on and start making commission I’ll be okay and I can see myself staying long term. I’m having trouble staying motivated in the meantime. I just needed to voice my thoughts somewhere. Hopefully someone out there can relate to this in some way.

I just started a sales job recently-specifically construction sales. I’ve only ever worked in restaurants before. I (24f) had worked in restaurants for around 9 years starting at the counter, moving into kitchens, then onto the floor as a server, then up to being a bartender, before I landed in management for the last year or so.

When I was bartending people used to joke and say “if you were in sales I’d be in big trouble.” I had always thought about getting into sales as well in the back of my mind because it just seemed like a gradual next step-I can sell drinks and food, why not try selling a larger product in order to see more direct profit?

Specifically I had thought about getting into real estate because I see so many people just able to live comfortably. I never took the leap because I would need to pay for schooling and testing-unfortunately I have grown a habit of stretching myself thin and I’ve been continuously paying for poor financial choices over the years due to past decisions. I’m slowly learning how to correct my behaviors, but that’s a whole other process and story in and of itself. Long story short, I never went after a real estate career because I didn’t have the money for schooling and licensing.

The other thing holding me back was the fear of not making enough money to survive. It’s a hard world out here and I don’t have parents to rely on (again, whole other story), and I’m doing this thing called life by myself right now-it’s tough out here. So I stayed on the floor and behind the bar in restaurants because it paid my bills and was comfortable for me because I was so good at it.

However, I knew that serving and bartending would not be able to sustain the life I want for myself. I took an opportunity for management positions because it opens more doors in the long run. For example, about 5 months after I was promoted to my new position-my restaurant closed. A former coworker called me, she had also transitioned into management and there was an open position where she was working. I would not have had that job opportunity if I had just stayed behind the bar.

I took the opportunity because I needed a job and the income offered was equal to my previous management position. However, if you’re good at your job as a server and/or bartender-any management position is a good chunk of a pay cut (like 1/3-1/2 of your yearly salary), extra responsibility, and just more bullshit to deal with. Some people are good at it, are meant for it, and build good careers and awesome restaurants because of that. I am not one of those people, I had to come to realize. I don’t care about the low-mid tier sports bar I was at-and I damn well didn’t get paid enough to care. Don’t get me wrong-I cared about my people, I loved my staff and my coworkers, and my daily goal was to go in and be able to be a trustworthy and reliable person anyone can go to for anything they need. If you talk to 90%-95% of any of my former staff I believe they would say something similar.

Was I perfect by any means? Absolutely the fuck not.
Did I try daily to at least make everyone smile? Yes. Everyday.

One of the regulars works in construction sales and has for 35+years-already longer than I’ve been alive.
We were chatting one day-and mind you I didn’t really have much conversation with him before this other than just simple greetings and small laughs-and I mentioned I’ve been interested in sales, he offered to set up an interview at his company. I went and I got hired. My second sales interview (I ghosted the other company to take this position because of multiple reasons I will soon explain) and I received a 2nd job offer.

I took the position because of the connection of “knowing” my boss prior to working there because I knew he would take care of me financially and starting out which is something I couldn’t afford to do in other sales positions because bills are expensive. The starting salaries for sales positions are not enough to live on its own-you need to make commission. I’ve always been worried that I wouldn’t do well enough immediately to be able to survive while still building a book of business.

And now I’m in construction sales. There’s a lot of different products, there’s a lot of different contractors. The company I work for is already very big (another reason I chose this position over the other-the other was a newer company and didn’t have much of a reputation or known name which makes it even harder to sell) and most contractors are already set up with a rep, or have long standing relationship both personal and professional with rival companies.

I feel like a fish out of water. I feel like I can never catch up. I’ve been in my position for around 6ish weeks and I’m still introducing myself to people. It’s hard to find contractors outside working right now-literally everyone else but who I need is outside (landscapers, plumbers, HVAC). So many of my phone calls hit voicemail. I’m not getting any return calls, which makes me feel like my pitch is off. And my boss has just been having me drive around different areas looking, but I’m not finding anyone. My motivation is slipping, my follow-ups are slipping. I feel like I’m disappointing my boss and he’s like a dad/grandfather figure to me and I don’t want him to be wrong about the potential he saw in me when he wanted to hire me.

I also feel like whenever I have found someone to talk to I just introduce myself and they either say “we have an account with another rep” or they’re not really interested. And I am 24, a girl, my hair is dyed blonde-I feel like they don’t take me seriously enough to give me business.

There are house accounts I could be assigned to some of, and my boss has said he would assign some of them to me, and the other rep at my branch (who may or may not retire soon) has mentioned it to my boss as well because as he put it “we all gotta eat”. However my boss has yet to assign anything to me and keeps putting me on the road pretty much an hour after I get to work. I feel like I can’t ask questions because he’s moving so fast but I also don’t even feel fully prepared to talk to contractors when I do see them.

I don’t want to fail. I’ve met with reps from our suppliers and they’ve all pretty much said that I’m smart, I’m asking good questions, and that I’ll be fine. My boss keeps saying I’ll be fine too. One rep mentioned that this industry is something a lot of people stay in for life-I’m assuming because of how lucrative it can be.

That also scares me because I don’t even know if I want to do this the rest of my life. Honestly I would love to make enough money to pay off my debts (around 29.5k from credit cards and car payments-I know, still paying for poor choices, don’t even get me started on myself), live comfortably (a 1 bed, 1 bath apartment, decently new but I’m not asking for a penthouse or overly luxurious), be able to put money into savings consistently to help with retirement (hopefully if we all even survive that long), and more importantly into the stock market or some form of investment that will allow my money to grow and work for me. I don’t want to work for my money, I want my money to work for me.

That is what I honestly truly desire. I know it’s beyond difficult and insane to think of when you don’t come from generational wealth that was set up to do this, but that’s what I want for myself. I don’t ever want to worry about money, and you can never work enough for that amount of money-your money has to work for you to get there.

Long story short-I’m scared. I’m nervous. I don’t want to blow this position. If I can catch on and start making commission I’ll be okay and I can see myself staying long term. I’m having trouble staying motivated in the meantime. I just needed to voice my thoughts somewhere. Hopefully someone out there can relate to this in some way.