Banging My Gong - The Brand, Part 2
It seems I’m going to have to continue spending some time talking about myself. Honestly, its one of my least favorite subjects. I’d rather talk about all of you, and what you are all up to. Twitter has been helping me with that in the last few days, so I suppose I can continue banging my gong for a little while.
So, where did I leave off?
Ah, yes. I’d just arrived in Marion, Indiana, with the intention of studying for the ministry. But, what does that have to do with branding, and with my journey as a writer?
photo credit: Rainer Ebert
Well, like a lot of kids, I went through several different branding attempts over the first couple of years I was in college. I was the super-devout mystic, the carefree surfer dude, the professionally-groomed and dressed megachurch minister type, the cool youth pastor, the music devotee, and others. I finally settled in on being the “academic.” I spent most of my college career debating and discussing the big picture ideas with folks. I decided that I’d rather help folks by educating them than pastoring them, so I switched from Christian Ministries to History and Philosophy.
In college, I worked a bunch of different jobs. I did work study in the library’s media center, where I was first exposed to PCs. I worked as a Youth Pastor in a small church where the Pastor sold snake oil on the side. I worked for a small manufacturing company called American Mobile Power driving their truck to Ohio to pick up inventory.
American Mobile Power was a neat experience. The owner had invented a particular type of plastic polymer to use for hydraulic oil tanks on Semis. Apparently this polymer was much better than steel and much cheaper than other plastics. He was making a killing. It was there I first got a taste for entrepreneurship.
In terms of college and my eventual writing career, there’s not a whole lot more to say except for this: if I hadn’t been a decent writer, I never would have met my wife. We met via Prodigy in 1995. This was back when the online services were still big, and few folks had a direct Internet connection. I placed an ad on the Prodigy Personals area entitled, “Philosopher/Poet.”
Somehow, she fell for it.
Prodigy Personals would eventually evolve into Yahoo! Personals. There’s a brand I’d support today, even though the product looks nothing like the one that meant so much to me all of those years ago. The quality outcome of that experience has created a customer for life.
After college, I tried a semester of grad school. I wasn’t really ready to be there; I was more interested in other things. I wandered around from one customer-service type job to another for a while. I worked for a bank (NBD), the Avon-equivalent of women’s fashion (The Worth Collection), and Hellyer Communications.
Hellyer was a voicemail company. We don’t have too many of those today, but back then they were quite common. At any rate, Hellyer Communications was the one job I ever quit based purely on principle. To make a long story short, the terms of my employment required that I do my best to mislead (not lie to, but distract and misdirect) an 80 year-old woman named Pulaski into agreeing to keep voicemail service she had been subscribing to for five years but never used and would never use. I refused, and quit that moment. I didn’t even bother to put in a letter of resignation. Hell, I didn’t even tell my boss. I didn’t feel like these morally bankrupt people deserved that common courtesy. I got up, walked out, and never went back.
My branding, in my early 20s, was very unsettled. I suppose it is that way for a lot of folks. It wasn’t until 1996 when I would settle into a brand. By 1996, I was a family man working for Charles Schwab doing Windows NT Administration. Thus began my career in the IT field that spanned the better part of the next 8 years.
I’ll tell you all about that tomorrow.
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6 Responses to “Banging My Gong - The Brand, Part 2”
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Thanks for sharing your story.
Your experience with Hellyer reminds me of my experience with telemarketing. I was supposed to be selling lunch coupons to a local steakhouse that were only good on weekdays after 1:00 PM. (!?) Right away, I got a sweet, lonely little old lady on a fixed income on the line. She said, “I’ll buy them if you think they’re a good deal.” My basic decency kicked in and I said, “No, ma’am, they’re not a good deal, and I’m sorry to have wasted your time.” Needless to say, I was spared the trouble of quitting.
I really enjoy reading about your life, etc. I’m very much in that unsettled branding stages (I’m 27).
By the way, did you receive my e-mail? I’d love to hear your response to my questions.
Thanks.
Lindsey
@ Laura - You’re welcome.
@ Debra - I can’t say I’ve always been the best at following my moral compass, but stealing from old ladies is where I draw the line.
@ Lindsey - If you could look through a magical telescope and see your life in a decade, I think you’d be surprised. I can tell from your blogs that you’re getting closer to settling in on your own by the minute.
I apparently missed your e-mail indeedy. I just found it in my inbox, and I’ll reply tonite.
Hi Bob,
I saw you at Cath Lawson and just checking in. Can’t find your email address, so allow me to leave a comment here.
I’ve put on some different hats, like language teacher, translator, admin, and now I coach . . . Gee it doesn’t sound as dramatic as your background, does it? I also love writing, and looking to do motivational speaking.
Interesting blog you do. I’ll be checking back!
Hiya there, Akemi! Thanks for stopping in. Those are plenty interesting hats!
Thank you for your kind words. Also, I’ll update things here so as to have a way to email me, too.