Boots Over Suits… But Sweats Over Boots!

I said I would never work in an office at a desk again. I said that life wasn’t for me. Staring at a computer screen for hours at a time, knocking off tasks on a list. I said that wasn’t for me. It’s still not… but this is.

So if you’ve seen my Instagram @boots_over_suits you know I’ve been a construction worker since the pandemic hit. I was humbled working in water and wastewater. Yep, I worked on shit pipes for a living for a year. One time, we had a lift station fail (a lift station is a gravitational deposit for waste water based on an areas gradient into a facility that processes and transports it to a plant) and I waded through two feet of waste water, unclogging a pump filled with “rags”. It was spraying everywhere. My partner and I were soaked from head to toe. We were down there for three hours, then I had an overnight shift until 8am, babysitting the system to make sure it didn’t fail again. The pay was absolute shit, but fuck me if it didn’t build character.

I was also a union fire sprinkler fitter apprentice. My foreman ran my ass into the ground. This fucking guy was 50% fuck off and 50% hardest worker you would ever meet. During his 50% fuck off, I was left to my own devices, facing down the barrel of the gun of a new trade all on my own. The lessons and confidence I learned from that experience are invaluable. I loved construction. I will always have respect for the blue collar men and women that build the world. And you should to. If your one of those dickheads who treats your electrician or plumber with less respect than your office buddies because they're a tradesman, fuck off, and this blog isn’t for you.

All that being said, I want more. I want freedom. Freedom needs money. Money that my trade wouldn’t provide me. I moved to Austin for opportunity and when the time came I made that opportunity myself. I quit my Union trade and put all my effort into learning everything about tech software as a service sales. People told me, “you’ll never break in”, “the competition is too heavy”, “it’s a saturated field”, “you don’t have B2B sales experience”, “no one is going to hire you”. Me being me, I didn’t listen and used all my savings, with much support from Jess, to stay at home, complete certifications, complete numerous courses, read sales books, and connect with hiring managers on Linkedin in a personal manor. I used all my resources. My buddy is a software engineer, my girlfriend's mentor and now boss, is the CEO of a SAAS tech start up, and another buddy is an experiences SAAS salesperson. I soaked up everything they told me like a sponge on steroids. The interviews started rolling in. Recruiters started contacting me because of my qualifications. Sometimes the old adage of being the hardest worker in the room really pays off.

I landed an interview with an amazing company that is an absolute powerhouse in the data space of tech. I was so nervous for my interviews. It took four interviews, including with the VP of sales. With no modesty, I fucking nailed them. When the VP looked at me and said, “Flip, do you want to come work for X ?” My whole body felt like wet paint running down a wall. The relief. After three months of hard work, it all paid off. I am now starting as a sales development representative with an amazing starting salary and benefits. I work from home, and do what I love to do, use words to express a passion to others. I couldn’t be happier.

Never let anyone discourage you, tell you dreams are impossible, or that you’re not capable of something. I know this is an inspirational cliché, but it’s all true. I had a buddy of twenty years tell me I would never be great at sales (like he was) and now I’m selling on a scale he could never even dream of. If he reads this, I’d like to say, fuck you bud. Petty spaghetti for sure, but sometimes proving the opposition wrong is great motivation. Always be confident, back it up with hard work, but never give up because anyone tells you different.

“For me punk is about real feelings. It’s not about, ‘Yea, I’m a punk and I am angry’ Thats a lot of crap. It’s about loving the things that really matter: passion, heart, and soul.” - Joey Ramone

• Flip