I started my first full time job when I was 18 years old in place of going to college. I wanted to make a difference in my community and pursue the connection I had with my Martial Arts instructor to open up a small business location in my hometown. I was hired as a Program Director/Sales Manager for the brand new Martial Arts school that is called Elevate Martial Arts and Fitness in Sugar Hill, GA. My responsibilities in this role included marketing and branding our company daily to attract new customers and post updated content regarding our classes we offered. I also was the person responsible for meeting with new leads/students, selling myself and our program to each family that I scheduled for an evaluation, and my goal was to sell them on a month to month or paid in full yearly contract necessary for enrolling themselves or their child into our program. We started with only 30 people on active contracts (mostly composed of close friends and family) before I started marketing and selling in September of 2020. By the time we opened our doors officially in March of 2021, we were up to 90 active paying members on contracts, and by the time August of 2021 hit, I had doubled that number to 184 active paying members. The school today has eclipsed 300+ active paying members on contracts. However, I left this position in late 2021 in hopes of starting a new and more challenging endeavor to broaden my horizons. I put my sales talents to the test by serving at a new restaurant 10 minutes from my apartment called Seaside Oyster Bar, and instantly had success nightly with high tips and 5 star reviews from customers. I built such a fan base at the restaurant they promoted me to Assistant General Manager within 4 months of me being hired as a server, and a few months after that I replaced our old General Manager at just 20 years old. I was running a restaurant where I was one of the youngest members on staff. However, I never had an issue with staff members not showing respect and performing the tasks and ordinances I put in place. While this job really boosted my confidence and knowledge in sales and management, I became very disappointed with how much room I had to go up in the company. The salary I was being paid and talks of my future pay structure were way below what I felt I should be payed for the value I brought to the company, so I recently quit the job. I am currently trying to find a more self performance based sales job that I can make the money I feel I should strive to make, and a company that values me and provides incentive for longevity.