Month: August 2024

Question: Is doing summer sales worth it?

Dear readers,

Sweat dripping down my shirt, knuckles bruised from knocking over 100 doors, and an empty water bottle that ran out an hour into the seven-hour day of my door-to-door summer sales job.

Wait, did I forget to mention that no one wants you on their doorstep and the select few that are brave enough will tell you that? Did I cry? Yes. Quite often. But was it worth it? One hundred percent. 

Over the summer, I had the opportunity to sell solar door-to-door in California with a team of about 20 other summer sales bros. Never in a million years did I think that I would do this as my perspective of summer sales had me thinking it was saturated with empty promises and too much testosterone. Not to mention, knocking on doors in California by myself gave me nightmares. But when my fiancé says he’s going to sell solar in California, trust me, we are all going. 

It was a rocky start as I did not make a single sale in my first week. What I came to learn about summer sales is that it stays consistently rocky. Not many things go your way, and in a matter of seconds, everything can go wrong, and everything did go wrong many, many times. I’d be lying if I were to say that I earned more money than I lost, and I’d be lying even more if I said I didn’t cry almost every single day.

But if all of this is true and if it really was that crazy and difficult, why would I do it again? Here’s why. 

Summer sales taught me more about myself in two months than I’ve learned in my entire 20 years of living.

I learned what it’s like to be rejected 100 times a day. Being told no and having doors slammed in your face for seven hours a day, six days a week is not for the weak. But the thing about rejection is it never really goes away. Might as well get used to it the hard way. Through dealing with rejection every day of the summer, I developed thicker skin and resilience that has shaped my approach to challenges ever since.

I also learned how to be more grateful for my victories. Getting a sale in the sales industry can be hard. Some days, you go the entire day without anything. Other days you get multiple sales that make up for a month full of 9-to-5 work. Success for me was anything but consistent, which taught me to be truly humble and grateful for every win. Those moments of triumph, however rare, became even more meaningful and taught me to stay persistent and positive. 

The biggest blessing of the summer was being brought on to a team that was full of love, support and positivity. Although work took up the majority of my summer, being able to connect with the team on my days off and explore the beautiful sights of California produced some amazing memories that I will never forget. Watching fireworks on the Fourth of July. Seeing the Golden Gate Bridge. Watching grown men take each other down for an electric scooter. And being with my fiancé through it all made the experience even more worth it.

And of course, with a high-stakes job comes some pretty high-stakes rewards. Because I thought summer sales was a joke, I had the goal of only making $1,000. Well, I have far exceeded that goal and am still making money as I write this. And if you get lucky enough to be brought onto a team that makes incentives for those who perform well, you too may leave the summer with an electric scooter, a pair of Jordans and a Dyson Airwrap. 

At the start of the summer, no one could have convinced me that by the end of it all, I was going to love it. No one could have convinced me I would be good at it. No one, and I mean no one, could have convinced me that I would be able to knock on 100 doors and confidently pitch to random strangers, selling them $20,000 systems. But by the end of it all, I had become one of the top sellers on my team, proving to myself that perseverance, grit and confidence could turn even the toughest challenges into remarkable achievements.

So if you are going to take anything from this story, take this. Is summer sales insanely hard? Absolutely. But, is it worth it? Without a doubt. Not only did I leave this summer with the most horrendous tan lines, but I also left it with fuller pockets, richer memories and sharper skills. The challenges were real, but so were the rewards. And those, my friend, are worth every ounce of sweat, sunburn and sacrifice.

Sincerely, 

Angel Wood

If you are seeking advice on something, message me on Instagram at @angel.utahtech.

People are consumed by celebrities. Their names are thrown on billboards and scattered within commercials. Hardly anyone doesn’t know the names “Taylor Swift” or “Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson.” They are so ingrained in our lives.

However, this has proved to be an issue. People have put celebrities on pedestals. They have become idols and obsessions with followings almost like cults.

For instance, Taylor Swift.

Swift has been very successful in the music industry and has touched many people with her lyrics. This has led to a huge fanbase that calls themselves “Swifties.”

To Swifties, Swift can do no wrong. There has even been Taylor Swift themed worship services, taking celebrity worship to a whole new level. She has gone through controversy in recent years, but they will not allow that she could be the problem.

For instance, Swift has the highest gas emissions out of any celebrity worldwide. This is a major problem, and one that cannot be overlooked, especially for someone who has previously supported global change publicly.

Reporter Chris Panella wrote an article lightly criticizing the Era’s Tour. The article got severe backlash from Swifties, including death threats and slurs sent to his inbox. The original article did not deserve the response it got. This highlights the danger of celebrity worship, causing people to defend their idols at all costs.

Kylie Jenner also showed us the issue with celebrity worship during the COVID-19 pandemic.

During this pandemic, we were all under strict lockdown rules. Many celebrities, encouraged by healthcare workers, posted on their social media asking people to listen to these rules. Jenner was among them.

She urged people to stay home and told them that nobody was immune to the virus. Unfortunately, she decided she was. She visited her friend during quarantine, defying the guidelines she previously supported.

Other celebrities such as Tom Brady, Josh Brolin and Madonna also decided they were above COVID rules.

This told people that they did not need to follow the rules. The celebrities weren’t, so why should they? These celebrities are now negative role models, encouraging people to ignore the safety guidelines.

Justin Bieber is another example. He has always had a big fanbase. They call themselves “Beliebers.”

Bieber has had his fair share of scandal. He has had drug and DUI charges. He also has been accused of many accounts of assault and violence. He has posted extremely offensive racist comments and an insensitive comment about Anne Frank.

His fans have supported him throughout all of this scandal, brushing it off because his music touched them. And since his music is so good, he must be.

While he has reinvented his image in recent years, it does not change the fact that he is not a person to be idolizing. If we can excuse that behavior in him because he’s famous, what does that mean for everyone else?

Another danger of celebrity idols is comparison.

Many people are insecure and a large part of that is due to social media. We all play the comparison game. She’s got this or he’s got that. We wish we could be more like him or look more like her. This is hard enough without looking at celebrities and their seemingly perfect lives, and most of it is fake. The picture is filtered and edited. The celebrity has had extensive plastic surgery to look the way they do. They show the glamorous and leave out the in between.

All of a sudden, nothing you have is enough. Your life will never be that perfect, so you keep scrolling, scrolling and scrolling living through their posts and stories.

Celebrity worship is wrong. Everyone makes mistakes. Nobody is above doing so, despite the number of followers they have. Putting these people on a pedestal is putting them where they do not belong.