From little acorns
Even a lowly summer job can propel your career, as these success stories show
SCHOOL’S out, and for those who don’t have their noses to the grindstone year-round, that means summer jobs. That is, unless, Mom and Dad are willing to cough up the bucks for your college tuition, allowing you the privilege of lounging around. But if you’ve got big ambitions, you may be missing out on valuable opportunities, even if you don’t need the cash.
So, before you pull out your sunscreen and recline your chaise, pause. Check out how these CEOs spent the summers of their youth and what invaluable experiences such gigs brought to their careers.
Jon Stein, CEO, Betterment
Betterment CEO Jon Stein wasn’t a slacker. The 37-year-old founder of what many consider to be the world’s hottest financial-technology company did everything from selling lemonade to penning articles for travel guides to managing the Dunster Grille at Harvard.
How did those jobs prepare him for creating and running a $9 billion investment firm boasting more than 250,000 clients?
“At the lemonade stand, we tried selling things other than lemonade, but people didn’t want to buy them,” he said. “The lesson I learned — sell what customers expect.”
Stein says his most significant experience probably came from running the Dunster Grille, where he managed the crew, ordered the goods, had profit-andloss responsibility and more.
“I honestly don’t know if I’d have what it takes to run Betterment if I hadn’t done that,” he says.
Kathy Hilt, district VP, Macy’s Herald Square
Hilt initially tried her hand at frying sweet dough into tasty treats at the county fair in Waynesburg, Pa., near the town where she grew up. “I was terrible at it,” she says. So Hilt worked her way to the front of the stand, and that’s where she shined. “I saw how easy it was to connect to people with a warm smile and kind word,” she says, something she carried over to her next job — waiting tables.
But knowing how to keep customers happy in a busy restaurant requires something more, according to Hilt. This includes making decisions on the spot, multitasking under pressure and ensuring that people get what they want, all essential tools for running one of the biggest and busiest stores in the world.
Chris Spalding, president and CEO, Edrington Americas
What could the purveyor of some of the most prestigious brands of booze possibly have learned from working in a kitchen at judo camp?
“I thought if I worked my butt off, I could fix everything by myself,” says Spalding, whose firm produces brands such as Macallan, Famous Grouse, Cutty Sark and Snow Leopard vodka, among others.
Spalding tells the story of a disorganized kitchen that was haphazardly run yet had to feed 550 kids every day. He racked his brain trying to figure out what he and his coworkers could do to improve things, but when he came up with a solution, no one was interested. “So I ended up doing everything myself,” he says, which eventually left him waking up at 3 a.m. to make thousands of pancakes while his co-workers slept. Eventually Spalding burned out.
The lesson? “If you can’t motivate everyone to work for the same common good, you won’t succeed,” he says.
Tony Fragogiannis, CEO and co-founder Brooklyn Hot Dog Company
There may be no better way to learn what people like to eat than by clearing away their plates. Fragogiannis saw plenty of that busing tables. “It gave me perspective,” he says. Not only that, but working in restaurants helped turn him into a foodie, the kind who likes healthy cuisine, which didn’t mesh well with the 35-year-old Brooklynite’s love for hot dogs. Most wieners are full of nitrates and fillers, a situation that he and co-founder Justin Neiser set out to change by creating hot dogs made with antibiotic-free meats and natural casings. They added recipes including the Buffalo-chicken dog, the pepperoni dog and the gyro dog, and have been acclaimed by gourmands at Food & Wine, Epicurious and Martha Stewart Living.
Melissa Ben-Ishay, Baked by Melissa
You might suppose that Ben-Ishay spent her summers in the kitchen, but you’d be wrong. Instead, she supervised kids at Blue Rill Day Camp in Westchester County, where she led them from one activity to the next.
She also had to make sure they ate their lunches, where she learned that “flavors and how something looks are so important.”
There are now 13 Baked by Melissa locations in the NYC area as well as a booming Soho-based sweet-treat delivery and mailorder business.
“Cupcakes bring us back to our childhood — everyone wants to eat one. And when the cupcakes are tiny, everyone can,” says the 33-year-old Hoboken resident.