Pro-Soup Propaganda

I had more hair at one point!

In seeing two posts at both Give Me Back My Five Bucks and Budgets Are Sexy about past jobs that Krystal and J. Money have done I thought it might be fun to reminisce about jobs I've done! Being of the entrepreneurial sort I have always worked a lot and had multiple jobs, so let's see what I've done! I can't say that they will be in chronological order or that I'll remember them all, but I know I've done a lot!

(I should add, I have always worked multiple jobs at once, hence the amount of them. Not like I work a job for two months, then quit, then work the next job for a month and then quit, etc.)

My very first job... Photographer's Assistant - My very first real "job" at the age of 12! My friend's mom was a photographer and I would go with her to weddings and help carry equipment, pose people, and do anything that needed to happen. I'd also put printed photos into photo albums. Do people even still get that anymore?

Professional Maid - My friend's mom had a cleaning business and I worked for her for quite a long while. This is a job where I am thankful I learned so much about cleaning because I have cleaned other peoples' houses on my own and continue to do so until this day! There are a bunch of little places to clean that a lot of people wouldn't normally think of and little tips and tricks and I'm thankful I learned them. I also really enjoy cleaning! It's kind of a zen thing. :o)

Hot Topic Sales Person - I worked here when I lived in Portland the first time, from 2001-2002. This was SUCH a fun job and I met Andi there, who is still one of my best friends!

Service Dispatcher for Tongass Business Center - I was in charge of setting up maintenance for the copier and fax machines all over Ketchikan, putting them under maintenance contracts, and keeping track of all of our supplies and such. This was a pretty fun job and there was a lot of dancing on my part in the maintenance room. I also started naming machines when they got sold and left. I'd put a label with a name on the machine on the way out and people would start calling me and saying, "Horace has a paper jam somewhere inside and we can't find it!" and that, of course, pleased me greatly.

Manager/Barista at The Green Coffee Bean Company - I worked here for a long time! From 2004-2011! When I moved to Portland I would venture back to Ketchikan fairly often and would work at the coffee shop when I was there. I was one of Steve's first employees and I remember meeting him for the first time at the Blueberry Festival and buying some Ethiopia Harrar Longberry and freaking out about how GOOD it was! I basically stalked him for awhile until he hired me. I had such a great time working there! It's weird to think about how the shop was back in 2004 and think about how it looks now. I'm so happy he's doing so well!!

Fire Department Dispatcher/EMT - I got my dispatcher job through my friend Frank, who I worked with at TBC. He eventually became one of the career firefighters, so it was cool that we both worked at TBC and then moved to KFD. Being a dispatcher was fun, but stressful! I have fond memories of it overall. I really enjoyed knowing people were getting the best possible help during their time of need. I still wouldn't mind being a dispatcher, really. Doing the EMT stuff was fun because it was neat to get out of the building and ride-alongs were cool. Badge #551, baby!

Police Department Dispatcher - The fire dispatching got moved up to the police department in 2007, so I moved up the hill. Police dispatching was way more stressful than fire dispatching. People looooove firemen but HATE policemen. I got cussed out a lot by the public, but I also feel like I was a positive person and helped make a difference in people's lives. I was on graveyard shift a lot, so my daytimes were actually at night. I would get invited to dinner parties and that would be my breakfast. I did a lot of nighttime bike riding. I'm thankful that I am fine hanging out on my own so much because I missed out on a lot of fun stuff because I was sleeping. I did get to hang out with my beloved Matty quite a bit, though, as he was quite the night owl himself!

Crab Shucker - I worked for Brandee in 2008 before I moved to Portland. (I was working seven jobs the spring and summer before I moved. Every day I worked a double and sometimes a triple. I gave myself Sundays off so I wasn't *as* crazy.) I shucked crab and helped make some of the food at her establishment. I never really liked crab all that much until I started working here. I now love crab!

Oregon Board of Pharmacy Receptionist - This was my first and longest-worked job when I moved to Portland. I worked for the state - fancy! It was a stereotypical office job. I didn't like that I sat so much and I looked out onto an empty room. I did like my coworkers a lot and it was an easy job overall!

Old Navy Seasonal Sales - This was surprisingly fun! The only thing I really remember about working this job is an epic 2am girl fight on Black Friday and one girl ripped part of the other girl's weave out. Yup, that's the mall at 2am during Black Friday sales!

Papaya Retail Sales - This job was hell on earth. The boss was horrible, the job was horrible. I had just moved to Portland was working full time at OBOP but wanted to take on a seasonal job. I applied on Halloween and had an interview while I was wearing my Halloween costume. I should have run for the hills when I was asked at my interview if I could work that evening, but...no. It's Halloween and I'm wearing fuchsia eye shadow up to my eyebrows. I had told my boss I could only work part time but he kept scheduling me full time. House-sitting a friend's house for two months + moving to a new state + living with someone for the first time (a boyfriend, no less) + working a new job + working ANOTHER new job on top of the first job = Very Stressed Brittany. I cried a lot. I was angry a lot. I was sad a lot. I was so thankful when I quit Papaya. The plus side (?) of the job is that we were supplied with all the free Cup o' Noodles we wanted. So, you know, there was that. (My manager was also 18 and routinely came to work with hickeys. This job was like my own personal hell.)

Mr. Green Beans Retail Sales - Such a fun job! We sold green coffee beans, coffee-making equipment, coffee roasters, DIY stuff, jars, all sorts of goodies! This was a fun job, but I needed more hours so I moved on. This was definitely the most fun job I have worked in Portland!

Outlet Store - I worked here for two weeks earlier this year when I was in Ketchikan to house-sit. I'm thankful Aimee hired me to work that time period because I couldn't had gone without work! We did a lot of prep for the tourism season. I met a lot of really nice girls that worked there! They seemed to make up a good team. Good times!

Ketchikan Mining Company - I have worked here for Amy twice now and It Is So Fun. I was usually a bagger but I also cleaned things, stocked things, etc. I folded a LOT of t-shirts! I like schmoozing with people, so this was a GREAT job for me! Heck, maybe she'll let me come work for her next year for a month? :oD

Ketchikan Dry Goods - I worked here for a few weeks while Ashley was out of town. SO fun! This is my favorite shop in Ketchikan and it was an honor to work here! I talked with customers, cleaned, stocked our wares, and generally was just Really Excited about our products. It's easy when it's your favorite shop, right?!

Good Fortune server - I was both a server and a delivery girl working here. My Chinese name is "Bernie" because that's what they called me. They cooked me both amazing food items (fish) and not-so-appetizing (to me) foods (fried pig intestines that apparently go great with beer). I love eating here still! The food is always so yummy. I learned some helpful words in Chinese at the time, but don't remember them now. Oh, well!

Petsitter - Still doing this! I originally started doing this when I worked at TGCBC because people would ask me if I knew any one who took care of pets and I decided that I could do that. It was fun! And I'm still enjoying it!

Royal Tea Company Sales Associate - I worked here briefly in 2002 when I returned to Ketchikan from Portland. It was very slow and I didn't sell all that much. I did not work here long.

Alaska Rose Jewelry Sales - Working for Tina was great! I really like her jewelry and it was fun to sell it and the other goodies she had.

Packager for Angel Face Botanicals - I helped Jessica during one holiday season. I did a lot of packaging. I have packaged squillions of her fizzy aromatherapy shower steamers! Her products are super yummy!

Sales Person for B. Hive Designs - Barbara is no longer selling her fun shirts, but I worked a holiday season for her. I sold her wares at holiday shows and chatted with people. It was really fun! I really liked her shirts.

Independent Contractor for Amy Wing Designs - I do all of the menial jobs Amy assigns me. (Ha ha! You know I love them, just in case you read this. ;o) No, no, I do tasks for her that don't require any sort of artistic ability. I do things like cut 100 pieces of sterling silver wire and then sand the ends, stamp logos into charms, and drill holes. It makes me feel like I have some sort of artistic street cred. ;o) We have good conversations and there is often lots of giggling! I also get to pet her cute cats, so it's a pretty sweet gig.

Tutu Sales Girl - I worked a couple times for my friend Whitney at the Saturday Market, selling tutus! It was really fun and it's easy to get excited when customers do because the tutus are so freaking cute.

Clothing Sales for Luna - I met Karina at a holiday show when I was working for Barbara Soule. I eventually bought several of her skirts, we became friends, I started helping her at Saturday Market, and now I own even MORE of her goodies! I loooove her products and I'm so thankful that I've gotten to help her out as much as I have!

Soap Seller - Still selling soap in my Etsy! This was something I wanted to learn for a long time, finally did, and then rocked it! I just made a new batch of charcoal soap a few days ago because it's the one that sells the most. I know I said I'm no longer making soap anymore, but I still own all the ingredients and decided to make this one since it sells so well. So enjoy it! I'd still make soap if I made more sales, but sales were soooooo slow this year that I think I'm going to hold off. Maybe I'll just make a couple soaps and rock those. No choices. Just charcoal soap, my beer & honey soap, and the couple other good-selling ones. :o)

Tea Shop - I worked here briefly and helped get the shop set up. It was fun and I learned a lot, but, alas, not a good job fit for me!

Various help for crafty friends - I have helped Shana, Shawn, Amy, and more this year!

Sooooo, I think that's it! I don't think I've missed anything. Crazy! I would have never guessed that I've worked at least 26 jobs. At least you can't say I'm lazy, right? What are some of the more crazy jobs you've worked and how many are under your belt?