Meeting people, hearing what they have to say and what they've been through can nearly always be an eye-opening and interesting event. Learning about other people's lives always opens up new perspectives for us, and helps us see the world in a different way. It can also change the lens through which we perceive our own lives, and give us a measure by which to understand our successes and failures. Having worked on Wall Street for so many yeas, entertaining and talking to others have long been part of my, Jim Giovinazzo's job. I have heard some fascinating tales and been able to recount some of my own to others, contributing to the spreading of stories, information and viewpoints which helps us connect as human beings.
Sales has always been a large part of my profession. On Wall Street, I was pushed to sell myself to achieve my career goals- our skills and personalities are the currency in the competitive world of finance. In my current work as a business and technology consultant, I have steered more towards selling products rather than abstract ideas. And as others will know, sales always involves telling a few stories.
I remember one in particular, a few days in to my new job and recovering from the NY to LA jet-lag I was experiencing. After the conference I had attended, I was grabbing I decided to grab a beer at a local grill and bar before I headed back to the hotel. The other conference attendees were just stumbling out of the bar and heading to another. Mark, the bartender, introduced himself, gave me a warm welcome and made a few sly comments about the departing gang of conference goers. Then in an empty bar with all the stools open --a large biker comes in and plonks himself down right besides me. He had an usually long goatie, his hands were pretty banged up from what looked like years of scrapping, and he introduced himself as Smiley. I felt instantly that sitting next to a chap such as this could be a risky situation.
After a couple of beers and intro we became friends, and went deeper into our life stories. I learned he was banned from Disney, had been incarcerated for the last two years and his idea of what I did for a living- selling “application monitor systems” was selling the little green alien on a android phones to major corporations. Needless to say, I knew exactly how Smiley had felt after talking to chief architects, developers and engineers all day! Probably a little dazed to be back in the real world. For me, Vincent James Giovinazzo, encounters such as this are the little gems in life which make it all the more interesting.
Sales has always been a large part of my profession. On Wall Street, I was pushed to sell myself to achieve my career goals- our skills and personalities are the currency in the competitive world of finance. In my current work as a business and technology consultant, I have steered more towards selling products rather than abstract ideas. And as others will know, sales always involves telling a few stories.
I remember one in particular, a few days in to my new job and recovering from the NY to LA jet-lag I was experiencing. After the conference I had attended, I was grabbing I decided to grab a beer at a local grill and bar before I headed back to the hotel. The other conference attendees were just stumbling out of the bar and heading to another. Mark, the bartender, introduced himself, gave me a warm welcome and made a few sly comments about the departing gang of conference goers. Then in an empty bar with all the stools open --a large biker comes in and plonks himself down right besides me. He had an usually long goatie, his hands were pretty banged up from what looked like years of scrapping, and he introduced himself as Smiley. I felt instantly that sitting next to a chap such as this could be a risky situation.
After a couple of beers and intro we became friends, and went deeper into our life stories. I learned he was banned from Disney, had been incarcerated for the last two years and his idea of what I did for a living- selling “application monitor systems” was selling the little green alien on a android phones to major corporations. Needless to say, I knew exactly how Smiley had felt after talking to chief architects, developers and engineers all day! Probably a little dazed to be back in the real world. For me, Vincent James Giovinazzo, encounters such as this are the little gems in life which make it all the more interesting.
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