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I worked at a small camera store in Minnesota until about a month ago. I wanted to note a few things that happened before/after I left.
- I received calls from three customers, asking where I went and seeing how I was doing. One asked me to be her wedding photographer. Ironically, the same super nice lady came in on my last day of work, hugged me, and just about teared up. She has been coming to our store for years.
- Our manager rocked for so many reasons. He didn't believe me when I told him he was the best of the 5-6 managers I've had, but he was.
Why?
- The #1 reason is major and is ironically a contributing factor to me leaving. The manager, like me, was a dedicated sports photographer. He covered his local school, where he met a person from a company I would later join that ironically paid more than the store itself. He was also very cool when I wanted to take days off for photography, even if it conflicted with his photo schedule, he would let me have them- even though he lived more than an hour away and often had to drive an extra day to help cover for me.
- Let me take two days off and gave me two different days to cover the state high school hockey tournament - a huge event, especially in Minnesota. I returned on a slow day, then we took three hours to decide on the 25 best out of 3,000 photos to display on my site.
Due to that gallery, I was offered a job at a HUGE sports complex in our area, headed unfortunately by a direct competitor to our portrait business. He (calmly) explained to me over the phone that HR had given him an ultimatum: If I go shoot that weekend, I would be terminated due to a conflict of interest. The decision took me a few hours, but he didn't bother me, primarily because he knew what I would do. He was "a little disappointed" but he also understood that this was the stage I was working to, and there was no way I'd turn it down.
I only gave him a two hours notice - literally. He was completely cool with it. I've stopped back three times since and he still gives me the employee discount.
He was always willing to listen to his employees and offered constructive feedback and was NEVER harsh. He would always defend his employees' decisions, even when his job was on the life. And he always won.
Bill, I've told you before, but I thank you.
- I received calls from three customers, asking where I went and seeing how I was doing. One asked me to be her wedding photographer. Ironically, the same super nice lady came in on my last day of work, hugged me, and just about teared up. She has been coming to our store for years.
- Our manager rocked for so many reasons. He didn't believe me when I told him he was the best of the 5-6 managers I've had, but he was.
Why?
- The #1 reason is major and is ironically a contributing factor to me leaving. The manager, like me, was a dedicated sports photographer. He covered his local school, where he met a person from a company I would later join that ironically paid more than the store itself. He was also very cool when I wanted to take days off for photography, even if it conflicted with his photo schedule, he would let me have them- even though he lived more than an hour away and often had to drive an extra day to help cover for me.
- Let me take two days off and gave me two different days to cover the state high school hockey tournament - a huge event, especially in Minnesota. I returned on a slow day, then we took three hours to decide on the 25 best out of 3,000 photos to display on my site.
Due to that gallery, I was offered a job at a HUGE sports complex in our area, headed unfortunately by a direct competitor to our portrait business. He (calmly) explained to me over the phone that HR had given him an ultimatum: If I go shoot that weekend, I would be terminated due to a conflict of interest. The decision took me a few hours, but he didn't bother me, primarily because he knew what I would do. He was "a little disappointed" but he also understood that this was the stage I was working to, and there was no way I'd turn it down.
I only gave him a two hours notice - literally. He was completely cool with it. I've stopped back three times since and he still gives me the employee discount.
He was always willing to listen to his employees and offered constructive feedback and was NEVER harsh. He would always defend his employees' decisions, even when his job was on the life. And he always won.
Bill, I've told you before, but I thank you.
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