MOST VALUABLE LESSON

I was 24 when I got my first real post-college job. I shunned the then Big 8 accounting firms for an opportunity to work at the same bank as someone I call, ‘number one.’ She was my first girlfriend. But that’s another story for another day. I was a Staff Auditor in the Internal Audit department. My mind was a sponge ready to absorb everything I could about Finance, Accounting, and Auditing. I wanted a solid foundation with which to build a so-called career.

I lasted just over two years before moving on to American Express. I got the foundation. But you wanna know what the most important thing I learned during job #1? Her name was Minerva Chalwell. She was African-American and very motherly toward me. She was very eager to help me transition from college to the real world. One day, she noticed a flaw in my attire. My button-down shirt was sans one button. True. It came off while I was at work. I was stuck plain and simple. Or so I thought.

Miss Minerva told me she was a sewing expert and offered to sew the button back on right then and there. She told me sewing buttons was easy and proceeded to show me. Less than five minutes later, my button was fixed.

19 years later, I’m still sewing buttons. I just fixed up my shorts with a button and thought of Minerva and what a wonderful lesson she taught me all those years ago. When people ask me what was the best thing I learned on my first job, I always tell them the button story. Thanks, Minerva.