Why I Am So Happy I Worked in the Used Car Businessfeatured

I worked in the used car business for about 6 years. The whole time I thought to myself, “I am not using my degree while I work here.”

People would talk so much shit to my face and behind my back it was incredible. It was mostly about appearances, and even so, appearances were usually grim. The morale would be down when business was down, which was a lot of the time since tax season meant “GAME TIME” for most dealerships.

I worked in the field for a finance company so that meant long days filled with lots of driving and a lotttt more Starbucks that I would like to admit. It was a lot of manual labor as well as emotional labor since I always had to be “on.” I couldn’t ever risk not smiling or laughing because I was the face of the company at all times.

Things were tough. I quickly learned I was not special and that no one gave a shit about my little communications degree. I was supposed to have that magical job by 21, right? Well, that wasn’t happening, so I made the most out of it.

I kicked ass at being a sales and marketing representative. I learned what it takes to sell something that so many other people sell. I learned that people will slam doors in my face no matter how “pretty” I look. I learned how to deal with sexual harassment on the daily and how to shut a man down when he looked me up and down with those dirty little eyes.

There is one thing in particular that I know I would have never learned while in school. Adaptability. I learned how to bend even when I felt like breaking. I learned how to take action instead of ever asking questions. I learned that the world is my resource no matter where I work or what I do.

It’s safe to say I became a spoiled little chameleon. I blended the best I could but stood out at the same time. Why? Because while many people were miserable, I was always lit up like a Christmas tree. Why? Because I was happy that I was learning in the playground we call life. I was busy falling down and not worrying about the dirt on my knees.

I can honestly say I do sometimes miss the unpredictability of it all. Not knowing what the day would bring was sometimes great and sometimes the exact opposite. I don’t miss crashing my car multiple times or being so hungry it hurts. I don’t miss fighting traffic on my way to the LA area.

The content writer I am today is so much different than that used car finance sales girl I used to be. I am more tame but just as fierce on the inside. And that girl I used to be sometimes makes surprise appearances. I have a lot more constraints now but the safety of it all is self-reassuring.

I know I am good at what I do and I know if things ever changed, I could easily adapt. I can be whatever I want to be that day, and today I am the writer I always wanted to be. I might be something completely different in 10 years and that is totally okay because life is all about reinventing yourself and finding new goals, passions, and opportunities.

I know a lot of us go to school thinking it’s all about the degree, but it’s really not. It’s about getting your hands dirty, adapting, failing, persevering and always giving it your all. Whether you work in food service, retail, law, or medicine, if you can’t adapt, I promise you will never make it.

So if you are wondering when you will actually use that degree you worked so hard for, look around and remember that you are worth so much more than that piece of paper. If you constantly adapt you will constantly succeed in all that you do, degree-related or not.

Love Deeply and Forever,

Karen

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