My guidance counselor called me into the office. Was I in trouble? I couldn't think of what I had done wrong lately.
She said, "Brian, there is a man looking to hire a student for part-time work in the afternoons at his business. His name is Angus MacDonald, and he requested a student who is good with computers."
Perhaps she thought of me because of the time I was called into the Principal's office for changing the computer lab machines to boot up to an emulated version of Super Mario Brothers.
I called Angus back and set up an interview. Arriving a few minutes early, I descended into the portion of his split-level 1970s-era suburban home dedicated to his business. Angus, a booming 6'8" former construction worker, greeted me with a bit of tobacco in his teeth.
"So, you know how to type?" he asked. I said, "Yes," and he motioned for me to sit. In front of me was a typewriter. It was 1997, and I had never typed on a typewriter. I started typing on a Commodore 64 my grandfather won in a bowling tournament in 1986.
He pointed to the phone book and told me to type a few lines. The mechanical keyboard had a funny feel, and I had to figure out what this carriage return was, but I survived.
That was it. I was hired.
For the next four years, I worked for Angus—a purveyor of all things bagpipes—in a 1,000 sq ft shop that consumed half of his house.
I didn't know it at the time, but I learned everything about business in those 3-4 hours each afternoon: inventory, vendor management, order intake, receiving, shipping, marketing, responding to customers, and more.
I got my start in a bagpipe shop. Where did you get your start?