Work?

Is it really "work" when you have so much fun in a job that it never seems like work? I sometimes have to pinch myself and realize that what I do really is, work. I do this and I get paid for it so, it must be work, but it never really feels like work.

I had left the sporting goods business a number of years ago and went into sales work in a completely different and foreign area for me. I was told that I had outstanding communications, relationship building and sales skills. I would/should do well. It's a long story, but the short version was that, it never really worked out the way, I hoped it would. I never worked harder and longer at something with so little to show for those extraordinary efforts. A contact of mine was good enough to have coffee with me when I was at a low ebb. He said you need to get back to something that you are really passionate about - and the success will follow. Of course, I knew all this, but for several years had been blind to it. He was right. I needed to get back to selling something and working in a business that I was really passionate about. And that's why I am back in the sporting goods business - specifically the triathlon wetsuit business working as the Sales Manager for Nineteen wetsuits.

The picture above is of our rack of Demo wetsuits at the recent Ironman Lake Placid triathlon. Getting out and doing these demo sessions at big triathlon events is something that I really love to do. It never feels like work. I could stand there all day talking wetsuits and swimming with people . . and never get tired of it. It's not bad - standng out there in the sun, on the shores of a beautiful lake watching fit women and men go swimming. It's all good! As a wholsaler, a lot of what I do is focussed on our retail customers. At events like this, I get to interact with and talk directly to our end-user cusomers - the people that are actually buying our Nineteen wetsuits and using them in triathlons and for open water swimming.

The feedback and information gathering that I get at these events is amazing and I always return to the office on a high and ready to carry on and take it to the next level.

I wish that I could do more of these sorts of events. It really is one of my favourite things to do. But it never really feels like work and yes, I get paid to do it! I am lucky.