Five Things Failure Taught Me
I hate wearing suits
I fell into the mortgage industry in April of 2009. It was the best career move that I ever made, monetarily anyway.
I would not have the life I have today without it. I worked in a call center which I never thought I would do. Barely any salary, all commission. Not a big deal.
Inside Sales is my jam. You get leads, the clients come to you, generally over the phone.
Outside Sales or “retail” you gotta go get ’em. Wine and dine, realtors, wear suits, do cheesy presentations for them, etc. “Come learn about down payment assistance”! Eye roll.
But I decided to try it. Instead of sitting at a desk waiting for calls to come in, I went out into the world of retail and tried to hunt for realtors and build relationships that way.
I failed…miserably. I sat in a real estate office and was apparently, a “preferred lender.” Well, apparently I wasn’t the only “preferred” lender with these people.
My manager told me that I needed to walk around the office and talk to people, take them out to lunch, grab a coffee. It was so awkward. I would get up and walk around, knock on doors, offer to get lunch, take them out for coffee, do presentations, wear suits and ties that were too tight..
I went back to my call center job, tail between my legs, and crushed it. Debt — gone. Third child — no sweat. New house — check.
I took some heat for the seven-month experiment. “You lost out on a lot of money by doing that.” But guess what? I figured some things out. Here’s what I learned:
- I’m not a schmoozer…at all. It’s not that I don’t like shooting the breeze (after all, I do talk for a living), but everything was forced. When I shot the breeze at that job, I always had the endgame in mind — I hope this realtor digs this conversation so I can get some business. Again, it was miserable.
- I also learned that it was ok to suck at something. I’m better at selling over the phone. Who cares?
- I also re-learned that I hate wearing a suit and tie. Hate it. Just not me, but that’s ok it doesn’t have to be. I’ll still wear one when I need to but a job that requires that isn’t for me. Suits are a waste of money. You spend a bunch of money and usually don’t wear them often. Then you put a few pounds and it feels like putting on a sausage casing.
- It’s alright to admit defeat. I lost, plain and simple. I wasn’t good at it but, more importantly, I didn’t like it.
- Loyalty is overrated and that’s ok. There were a lot of people who I connected with who said they would send me clients but never did. I wasn’t a fan of that, but it’s the way it goes. They didn’t owe me anything.
A call center was for me. I enjoyed being jammed into a row with other Loan Officers and hearing their conversations. Laughing, walking out to get coffee every hour. Going to Chinese Buffets.
Most of us were pretty large. There was even a season where a bunch of us lost a whole lot of weight by following the same formula. It was fun. I wouldn’t trade it.
Then Covid happened and we all went home. Jeans and T-shirts went to sweatpants and T-shirts, and four showers a week.
And I love that too. I wouldn’t trade the fact that I don’t have to spend close to two hours in the car. I get flexibility. I have no desire to commute again.
I just left that job the other day. It had zero to do with the company or the people there — I love them. But another thing I have realized about myself is that I need change, I need stimulation, a lot.
I became stagnant there. It was just a feeling that it was time to go. Breaking up sucked, that’s what it felt like.
Another lesson learned again: I always hated breaking up.
