My parents decided to build a new house when I was in high school. This meant living in a rental house for a while since our old house sold quickly. The rental was within walking distance from school which meant no more taking the bus - yay! I usually walked in the mornings and would get a ride home from class or swim practice from a friend.
I somehow befriended a new kid in town who happened to live on the way. Each morning I would stop by his house to get him, if he was running behind I would talk with his single mom. I remember thinking she was so pretty and glamorous, her hair and makeup were always on point. Let's call her Victoria. Think Bev from the Goldbergs.
I recall seeing her when at the mall with friends and saying hi to her - again, she was pretty glamorous so I felt pretty cool knowing her. My friends were impressed, how did I know someone who made one of our favorite things?
One day when I went to pick my friend up, Victoria asked me if I wanted a job at the jewelry kiosk - she would train me on how to transform the chains into necklaces and how to open and close the kiosk. Wait, what? That sounded scary. I was more worried about the jewelry-making part since I had already experienced opening and closing duties at my other job. But, the pay was more than I made at my $3.65/hour job and the idea of being paid to be at the mall sounded pretty sweet.
I spent time learning from her and asked about the paperwork I would need to complete - she said we didn't need to worry about that. I was confused because I had to fill things out at my first W2 job but I trusted she knew what she was talking about.
The time came for me to work my first solo shift. Mostly it was boring because this kiosk was pretty slow on the weeknights I worked. I vividly recall making my first necklace. I was super nervous and who wants a customer breathing over their shoulder while trying to do delicate work? Not me. My hands were shaking, it took several attempts to get the clasp on. What if I ruined this precious gold-plated chain? Completing the necklace and successfully handling the financial transaction felt like a huge accomplishment. I hoped no one else needed a chain that night. I'd bury my nose in a magazine or whatever reading materials were available if someone looked my way. I fumbled through a few more shifts and soon it was time to get paid. Victoria paid me directly in cash. No taxes taken out? No pay stub? Something felt off deep down but I didn't ask questions. I had some Guess jeans to buy.
I am not sure why Victoria asked me to work for her initially, I vaguely remember she needed to go out of town for something important. I think it was initially meant to be a one-time thing but she got used to having a backup. I later found out from my friend that sometimes Victoria had me work for her because she had dates to go on.
Though it wasn't official, this was my first experience with outsourcing. Victoria was ahead of her time - outsourcing in corporate America wasn't named as a business strategy until 1989. Maybe those dates were with a CEO of a publicly traded company? There were several in the area after all. Wink wink.
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