Here is a secret about me: I love people who love what they do. As a resume writer, it gives me great pleasure to help those who are looking for the perfect career. So, whenever I meet someone who exudes passion for their job, it makes me very happy!
Last year, I was on a cruise with my husband. There were stores on board, including one that offered fine men’s and women’s watches. Now, I have worn the same $35 Timex watch for about 50 years (which I guess would be worth about $250 today), so I’m clearly not the target market for these products. And my husband has never worn a watch in his life. When it comes to watches, we just want them to tell time.
But it looked like a nice store, and we were on vacation, so we went inside to take a look around. There was a good-looking young man behind the counter. We told him that we would not be buying anything but just wanted to look. We promised to make ourselves scarce if a potential customer walked in.
Out of curiosity, I asked him to tell me the difference between a $500 watch and a $5,000 watch. I expected him to launch into a sales pitch about why the more expensive $5,000 watch was superior, but he surprised me. Instead, he told me that they both tell time and they can both be beautiful. Wow, that was refreshingly honest! He was so happy to have a receptive audience that we got a fabulous 20-minute tutorial all about watches. It was inspiring to see!
His love of watches comes from his family who lives in Sardinia. As he was young, he only had seven fine watches in his personal collection, but he was saving money for more. His grandfather shared his love of watches and taught him everything he knew. He was pulling out books from a cabinet, catalogs, watches on display, and anything else he could use to teach us about fine watches. I will certainly never meet anyone else in my life who was as knowledgeable about the technology, the artistry, and the history of watches.
We were on a Princess cruise. He confided in us that he would soon be moving to another cruise line specifically because those ships carry different brands of watches he would rather sell. We thought that was great!
So, why am I sharing this story? We often hear “Find your passion and the money will follow.” Well, sometimes yes, sometimes no. That would be true in an ideal world.
What can you do? If you can find a job or create work for yourself that you believe in, don’t be shy about sharing your passion and your excitement. You will draw other people in and create a real connection with them.
If you are working in a job that you are not 100% in love with, that’s ok. Just make sure that you are at least properly trained in all aspects of the work, particularly if you are selling a product or a service. This will help you truly engage with customers and likely help you close sales through your detailed and thorough knowledge. And who knows, you might be surprised. You might fall in love with watches!
This young man would have made his grandfather proud! I wonder what cruise ship he is now… I will always remember him.