Updates & Random Thoughts

Well, good old Malibu's on fire again - 35 homes destroyed since 3:30 AM. Lap of luxury, huh? I'm no longer as envious as I used to be of people who live there - options for driving in and out of the area are limited anyway, and apparently Mother Nature is trying to tell us something about the area.

Moving on...I don't mean to brush that off; I know it's serious and people are once again losing homes, but I am not aiming to be CNN here so I will stop reporting on it. You guys know how to find the news...

Anyhoo. I've been so busy with the new job that I haven't really devoted much time to writing. The job is a lot of fun so far. In my old job, I was usually prospecting to mid- to low-end public schools all over California, and later, just the southern region. All I did was drive. School quality ran the gamut depending on the area and the district. I really don't blame people for the moods they were usually in when I had to call on them, having taught in a highly bureaucratic district myself. It was tough to keep spirits up when I was pushing in a clutch every 1/16 of a second in L.A. traffic for 8-10 hours a day. I was putting between 80-200 miles on my car on an almost daily basis.

With this job, I am prospecting mainly to high end private and independent schools. What a difference in how I am treated on a day-to-day basis! For the most part, I am greeted with friendly smiles when I stop by unannounced - turns out people love free food, especially when it is healthy and tasty :). I plan a small route in a concentrated area of 10-12 schools to drop samples to and I usually end up driving only 30-45 miles daily, if that. When I call to ask for someone on the phone, I am actually transferred to the person or their correct voicemail in under 5 minutes (this is nothing short of a miracle for sales). People are eager to hear about our program and if they're not, they're either polite about it or have referrals for people who might be. It's quite a difference! So far it's going very well and I hope it stays that way. If I've learned nothing else this year, it's that you need to be very happy with what you do every day or else every single thing feels like a struggle. I really was starting to give up hope that I could be one of those people that loved what they do!