Look How Far You’ve Come

I was just interviewing a guest for Women In… and we started talking about her first job.

It stopped me for a second.

Because it made me think about how far we’ve actually come… and how long the story really is.

On paper, I’ve been working for 25 years. I graduated college in 2001 (yes… 2001). But if I’m being honest, it’s way longer than that.

My first real job was in 1994 at Bob Evans on South Westnedge. Kalamazoo people know exactly the one. I was making $4.25 an hour as a busser.

This was back when people still smoked inside. No cell phones. No technology. Just showing up, doing the work, and hoping your section turned fast.

I would come home smelling like syrup, sausage, and cigarettes.

And I loved it.

I had that job for about 9 months, which at the time felt like forever. But it was my first taste of making my own money. Real W2 money. Not allowance. Not “you did your chores, here you go.” This was different. This was mine.

And that feeling… it sticks with you.

What’s interesting is how rarely we stop and look back at where we started. We’re so focused on what’s next, what’s not done yet, what we’re chasing… that we forget to acknowledge what we’ve already built.

Because if you really think about it, the version of you bussing tables, working retail, waiting shifts, grinding through those early jobs… had no idea what was coming.

No idea what you would figure out.
No idea what you would overcome.
No idea what you would build.

But you did.

There’s power in looking back, not to stay there, but to recognize the distance. To see the growth. To give yourself a little credit for everything that had to happen to get you here.

We don’t celebrate that enough.

So I’ll leave you with this…

What was your first W2 job?
How much did you make?
And how far have you come?