Do Not Despise Small Beginnings

Especially when life forces a complete reboot of literally everything...

Life is full of surprises; not all of them are pleasant. But they can all be understood and turned for good.

Getting Promoted From Executive Vice President to Stocking Groceries

“Randy, can we walk with you as you go in the store to get some b-roll?” said the camera person for the Netflix film “Pray Away” that I was in. I instantly felt ashamed and embarrassed as I looked at my green uniform shirt, name tag, Dickies work pants and sensible rubber soled shoes. On the verge of tears I replied, “Maybe not. This is hard enough as it is.”

“Can we stay in the car and film you walking toward the store?” My shame deepened and I said, “Fine, whatever.”

Later, the documentarian followed up on that asking me if I was ashamed of going from an non-profit executive management, with a corner office, to stocking groceries. I admitted my embarrassment but upon reflection I said, “I am more proud to be doing an honest job that honors my true self and not selling a lie to others; that I am not having to pretend I am who others think I should be. I am proud to be doing whatever it takes to provide for my partner and his daughter.

Sidenote: She’s now our daughter and he is my husband.

Have you rebooted your modem yet?

My stint at the grocery store lasted only four months before a massive telecommunications company hired me for Internet and landline customer service.

It was a different circle of hell. While I wasn’t digging through pallets of dog food for a customer’s requested treat, I was enduring a literal shrieking in my ear, convinced that our internet service had fried their computer’s hard drive.

Sidenote: that’s not how any Internet service works.

Early in my training, I set my sights on a particular department because it best suited my skill set. I knew my talents were not being properly utilized by being verbally abused on the phone.

Before “conversion therapy” via ex-gay ministry hijacked my career, I had actually started building a career in computer tech support, and I loved it. “But God…” called me, and I abandoned it.

Believe it or not, being the executive vice president of a sketchy/weird/harmful nonprofit does not translate to a parallel position in the for-profit world. I knew I would have to rebuild my entire career. With this gigantic national telecommunications company, providing phone support was the first step.

I also did an honest assessment of my skills and looked for opportunities to use my best skills. Knowing that info about myself helped me win a contest to rename the main knowledge tool used by over 100,000 employees. I was then promoted to a department that expanded my scope of support, which prepared me for the department I wanted to be in all along. From there, I was promoted two more times and was eventually hired as the corporate trainer for that department and I have participated in other projects within the company.

While I am an important part of the leadership team, is it executive management? No. And I am very cool with that at this point in my life.

If I had despised stocking groceries or given up on the phones, I’m afraid of the turn my life might have taken. Those experiences were the stepping stones that affirmed my character and leadership strengths. They led me on the path to a truly fulfilling career that I thoroughly enjoy and have found more success in than any of my previous jobs.

I learned that not to despise the small things means to accept humility. Humility is an honest assessment of reality, including both character weaknesses and strengths, and that is the greatest foundation for most of us to start from; you can’t walk in personal knowledge and wisdom without it.

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More about Randy…