How someone's grandma got me hot and bothered for nothing
When I think about bizniz, I think about my first proper "boss."
I was fresh out of university, flirting with an elderly lady at my old summer job (and I mean elderly), and she was asking me about myself and what I wanted to do with my life.
I explained that I'd just graduated with an English degree and was thinking about getting a qualification so I could travel the world while teaching - you know, standard graduate shyt. She confidently told me that I didn't need a teaching qualification and that she had a job for me in Italy, and she asked for my phone number.
I'd just broken up with my university girlfriend after we'd both returned home, so I thought, "f*ck it." Best case scenario, I get a better job and get the hell out of Dodge. Worst case scenario, I go on a date with a woman old enough to be my grandmother.
It was, as they say in the business, a "win-win."
So we exchanged contact details, and a couple of days later, I got an email from someone I didn't know but apparently knew me, asking me when I could start work. I was sceptical (growing up with the internet has morphed me into a jaded and untrusting beast of a man), but I asked whether they would need me to apply or send a resume... at least something.
I was told I'd been vouched for, so things like that weren't necessary. "If [elderly lady's name] says you're good, you're good. When can you start?"
It was my first real example of the power of a few important concepts in business.
The power of network.
The power of reputation.
The power of your word.
I "knew a guy who knew a guy" now.
I'd been vouched for by someone respected - therefore, the vouch was legitimate. Their word was trusted... therefore, no proof was required. I explained that I had to attend my graduation ceremony but could fly out the next day.
I used the last of my cash to fly into Naples Airport - and was met by absolutely nobody. I wracked my brain, trying to understand how they'd scammed me if I hadn't given anyone any money. But then, after a short while, my new boss, [boss's name], arrived with her husband, [husband's name].
The three years I spent teaching for [boss's name]'s private language school on the Amalfi Coast changed my life in many ways.
To see a thriving business that had been built out of [boss's name]'s spare room, teaching English because she loved England and had a dream of building a business of her own... It stuck with me. That one day you can decide who you want to be, and if you stick with it and keep telling everyone who you are and what you do...
The momentum slowly builds.
I came to understand after I returned to England three years later, got myself a corporate job, and tried to "grow up" and "get serious" about my life, that I wasn't built to swim in the mainstream. I often wonder if I had gotten a corporate job after graduating, whether I'd have ever had the courage to start.
But to see someone living on their own terms, building something of their own, their way, is part of why I'm building my own business. I took something I'm skilled and passionate about and started telling everyone who I was and what I did. And slowly, the momentum builds.
If you're reading this, you likely feel the same.
But the climb in the beginning is the steepest - that's why so few start. Because they've never seen someone go from zero to one with their own eyes or see what they focus on or how they think. So when it comes to them advertising themselves...
Their copy is all over the place.
If you'd like to skip the pain of being unclear on how to position yourself... What angle of attack works best for your unique skills and experience... There's a way. An outsider's perspective, who's already gone through what you're starting to go through, who knows what to keep and what to cut.
If advice from someone like that is valuable to you, you can book a call to save months or years of struggle in just 60 minutes.
Here's the link:
James Perkins
