I worked for The Lincoln Electric Company as a Technical Sales Representative for 19 years in Milwaukee and Nashville. I served as District Sales Manager in Minneapolis from 1988 till 2001. I finished by next 8 years as the Automation Regional Sales Manager developing a robotic presence in the non automotive sector in the Midwest Reston. Throughout that time we saw manual type writers replaced by the Electric typewriter, then the computer and then the laptops and eventually the iPads. Desk dial phones lead to bag phones and then to cell phones. I was introduced to automobile, bridge and ship building, rail car and locomotive manufacturing and toured hundreds of plants in my experience with Lincoln. Our ability to reduce costs and guarantee the performance of our product was very rewarding and has always been welcomed by our customers. I used my teaching degree to train people in welding applications and robotic operations. It’s not everyday that one is eager to go to work to do something they enjoyed doing. Selling was fun and rewarding. The friendships made were lasting and the feeling of a job well done was there.I later bought a home Care Franchise and operated it for six years. Today I am working on year six with the Penske Automotive Group at BMW Motorwerks in their Transportation Loaner Department. I get to meet hundreds of individuals who love their cars and always enjoy talking with them. One thing I have always strived for is having the people I work with feel appreciated and heard. Listening is a key to all facets of sales and service. No one wants to be told or sold but they do want to be educated and brought around in their own time to decide to move forward with the project they are embarking on. That’s a life lesson I have enjoyed working through.