Jaime Rowe Photography Blog

 Today’s post is going to be a little different. I am going to share with you my Top 12 Past Jobs. Grab some popcorn and let’s go!

1. Babysitter  – I think everyone can put this on the list if you were a girl under 18 years old in a community. It was nice cash and I got to run around a yard or ride bikes with kids all over town. Sign me up!

2. Ice Cream Scooper – I worked at the local ice cream store called “Whitey’s”. Yes – the name is terrible but I got to eat all the PB, fudge swirl ice cream I wanted after closing! Coming home at 11pm on a summer night with my forearms stuck to my upper arms (like I was going to surgery or something) was not uncommon!

3. Gym Cleaner- Growing up in a family of 4 kids with a mom as a music teacher and a self-employed dad in the Midwest was not easy. There was little to go around. My older brother was VERY BIG into working out. I played tennis in high school so I thought it would be fun to go to his BIG gym and work out with him. This was no ordinary gym – remember MC HAMMER pants? Well – almost every guy in there sported these babies – just terrible. In order to work out at the gym you needed to pay a membership fee or clean the gym on Sunday mornings at the crack of dawn. Guess who woke up with her brother at 5am every Sunday to clean the gym? I was in charge of vacuuming and wiping mirrors so the MC HAMMER guys could see their pants swish when they did pull-ups.

4. Bagel Server- Another early morning job in college. Serving bagels and eating them which (now that I think of it) contributed to my “giantator” butt I had at the end of my freshman year!

5. Secretary -Oh yes – I was probably the WORST secretary in the world! I hung up on SO many people bc I couldn’t figure out the phone system (ever), I always wanted to do things a different way then how the boss specified and I HATED sitting at a desk. Gosh, I think I would have fired myself.

6. Refrigerator plastic-”thingy” line worker- I needed a little cash in the summer between school sessions. This was the loneliest and most boring job in the world! I literally sat down and pushed black “plastic-thingies” into a box and sealed up the box ALL DAY LONG! I also ate lunch alone bc my shift was different from everyone else’s shifts. I also couldn’t talk to anyone (torture) bc the machines were too loud. I decided that this is where serial killers were made.

7. Resume + Interview Skills Trainer - Another college job I took after my butt got too big at the bagel shop. I would wear my best JC Penney black suit with a scarf (yes – I loved scarfs back then too!). Of course, these scarfs were from thrift stores from the 80’s. Yes…very scary I know.

8. Software Tester - For crying out loud – I still don’t know why I chose this job. Maybe to get more experience with my major – Management Information Systems? It was TORTURE! I sat in a business owner’s basement with the other “captives” and we would whisper, “One, Two, Three, CLICK”. Or test WHAT IF statements. Yuck! It paid well and helped with college rent. I really enjoyed the people I worked with but the work was on the list of “yuck”.

9. IT Consultant -Out of college,  I picked up a stellar job in Denver, Colorado at a BIG 6 accounting firm. My whole family approved (which was very important for me at the time) and the world seemed to be my oyster. The work was OK, the people were Fantastic but the travel was a BIG “Grade F”. I lived in Dallas, TX or Pleasanton, CA most of the time. I missed my new husband at the time and my new puppy, Doctor A LOT. I cried a lot on the airplane rides. One time, a pregnant woman sat next to me and offer a Kleenex. Instead of using just one, I used her whole Kleenex packet! Sad and happy times….

10. Project Manager - My father-in-law purchased an almost bankrupt Sign and Stencil business in Golden, Colorado. This business dove-tailed his very successful nationwide wholesale hardware business in Illinois. I quit my IT Consultant job and started working at the Sign + Stencil business one week after my father-in-law and husband told all of the employees that they would be LAID OFF IN 5 MONTHS and we were MOVING THE OPERATION TO ILLINOIS. Yeah…that was interesting at age 23.

I was in charge of documenting and understanding EVERYTHING in the office/business area of the business and my husband was in charge of learning EVERYTHING in the warehouse area (how to run all presses, screen printing, darkroom, shipping, etc). We also had to motivate 30+ employees to continue to work and help move the business in 5 months. Initially – I would wear my best suit to work and sit with the AP/AR lady and discuss her job, gently take my papers into my office (that I shared with Matt) and document Step-by-Step her process and make a pretty little flowchart that was numbered and coordinated with the Step-By-Step process. On other days, I would be in a jeans and t-shirt loading a semi with a fork truck (and usually knocking over the contents on the floor of the semi!) or working on the “stencil line” with 10 other employees.

I could go on for days with stories from this experience. Some day I might write a book about it but for today I will end it here. We moved the company in 5 months and managed it in Moline, Illinois for several years. I am very grateful for these years as they humbled me and taught me a great deal of respect for a world I was unaware of that even existed. I learned more in those years then any schooling I have ever received.

11. VP Of Project Management -So we hired someone to run the Sign business and I started working at the “Mother Ship” wholesale hardware company (still in Illinois). I did a major IT implementation and then it was time for us to move on. The family business was getting TOO CROWDED and everyone has their own opinions of how to run the business. In addition, my heart wasn’t in it.

I think one of my defining moments was one night I was reading to my five year old at night and I started to cry. (I went through a time of random crying at grocery stores, jogging, washing dishes). I tried to hide it but I failed terribly. He asked why I was crying. I said that, “Mommy is just sad because she doesn’t know what she wants to do with her life”. He said a statement so simple in nature yet so elegant. He said,”What do you like to do?” I said, “I like taking pictures.” He then said,”Okay…then do that”. My five year old still amazes me at his wisdom. So I did it.

My husband and I made the “leap of faith”. We decided to move back to where we love – Colorado.

No jobs. No house. Just some great ideas and a truck-load of things. This was July 2008.

12. Pet Photographer – So here I am. We moved back to Colorado and after LOTS of soul-searching, writing down my values with a dry-erase marker on my bathroom mirror and looking at them EVERY DAY, reading a ton of inspirational books and quotes. I came to the conclusion (thanks to my five year old) that I wanted to be a pet photographer. I went to a Cowbelly workshop in Seattle for a weekend, spent countless hours learning about Photoshop, my camera and the business side of photography.

I am NOT special.      I just do what I LOVE.        And I BELIEVE in what I do.

You can do anything you are PASSIONATE about.

Do yourself a favor today. Grab a dry-erase marker and write on your bathroom mirror what is important to you. I kept a journal of all of my ideas with Matt. I still write in it today. I crack open that baby whenever I think of an new idea. It is a Art Sketch Book with BIG, WHITE blank pages.

Here was my list:
Family
Spirituality
Love
Respect
Honesty
Trust
Intention (Live your life with intention – EVERY DAY – thank you Mikki Williams!)
Health
Life/Work Balance (I REALLY struggle with this one still!)
Intellectual Stimulation
Rewarding/Fulfilling Work
Be Myself.

Thank you for reading my story. I hope this inspires others to “Be yourself” and to “Listen To Your Heart”. You WILL find what you are PASSIONATE about. I believe in you!