Let’s hear some rags to riches stories.
Hey everyone. I’m kind of in a rut right now in life financially and I just wanna hear some of you guys rags to riches stories for anyone making a TC that’s over 6 figures or $200k+.I used to work as a store manager for Sprint about two years ago and had a TC of around $80-90K but unfortunately I lost that job and I have not being able to recoup since. It’s hard moving around in the retail sales world because most retail sales corporations don’t hire upper manager externally and require you start all the way from the bottom up. I’ve now restarted jobs twice. I moved along to AT&T where I would have made about 50k starting over as a sales rep but then I quit due to workplace harassment (which I won a small claim).
Now I started over again last November in the banking industry but the pay is horrible. No comp right now due to the pandemic and even with quarterly comp bankers are still underpaid by a lot. My TC is probably 45k now and is barely livable for me. I’m now living paycheck to paycheck and it’s difficult to make ends meet. I also don’t have a degree making high end jobs harder to obtain and I don’t have funds to finish my education (I have about a year left I can probably get a business bachelors). I was thinking to maybe stick around for tuition reimbursement at my job and try and finish school.
Anyone else ever been in a situation like mine? How did you make it out?
#ae #enterprise #sales #misc #pandemic #retail #telecommunications
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first job out of college was $11/hr working at a finance startup
converted that to salary and left making $55k
joined an ecomm startup at $75k, raised to $85k, got laid off
joined an agency at $75k, worked for 3 years and left as an associate director at $115k
now making $175k, I could never have dreamed I would make this much money in a non-tech role, and I am very grateful to wake up living the life I do. 8 YOE.
connect with people who are smarter than you, ask them questions, say your insecurities out loud, write down your goals. if you want it, you know you have what it takes to succeed.
Here's my advice:
1. Think outside the box... you might've been born to work in sales but you weren't born to work retail sales. Find the companies or industries where you could do the exact same thing you're good at or enjoy but make more money.
2. Industry matters A LOT. It's mind-blowing. I was doing the exact same job, same level, same skills, same hard work but making 2x the money instantly in technology versus my previous industry. Prioritize getting into the right industry because it gets harder to switch this with more seniority. In your case, you could be making 3-4x+ current salary in a sales career if you're good. It will still take work, so focus on building the skills or background to get into the new industry.
3. Believe in yourself and be hungry. It's unfortunate but so many of my friends and prev coworkers want the high salary but for whatever reason they make up all sorts of reasons about why they don't want to put in the work to switch tracks. Their internal monologue tells them it's too hard to switch, the learning curve is too high, they'll fail, etc. People a lot more hard working and smarter than me, holding themselves back. Don't be that person... in every job there's guaranteed to be lucky idiots in it that aren't as smart or don't work as hard as you do. If they can get it, you can too.