I got my first job when I was fourteen. I picked strawberries for a local grower. It was backbreaking work. (I know what you’re thinking; a 14 year old complaining about back pain? Well you stoop over 4 inch tall plants all day, loading flats, and tell me how you feel 8 hours later.) When growing season ended, I applied for a job at the Keg and Butcher Block where I was trained in an artisanal method of washing dishes: scour pad, sink and soapy water. Resumes were not required. At the same time, my mother was trying her hand at small business ownership. Her restaurant, the Duncan-villa served up homemade meatballs that became a regional favorite and the business provided our family with a solid middle class living.
Now some 20 years later, my nieces are taking their first jobs. Walmart. Petco. Their first work experience is entirely different from mine. Their managers are more organized; their work schedules are more accommodating. I have a tendency to think of corporate work as isolating and unforgiving of individuality. My nieces do not perceive these workplaces to be like that all. They live, shop and work in the era of the big-box, corporate store.
Wal-Mart ran an ad in today’s New York Times called Paths To Success: Smart companies are investing in employees by giving them the training that they need to get ahead. It’s probably one of the most expensive and well-written employment ads ever written. Read the article and Wal-Mart is not a company that’s ‘now accepting applications’; it’s celebrating a culture in which employees’ individual strengths and differences are recognized and acclaimed. If Wal-Mart is the statue of liberty, it’s not the part that reads ‘give me your tired, your poor and your hungry’; it’s the lighted torch.
I’m increasingly impressed by the savvy ability of corporate competitors to wow me with their marketing and management. A recent Banfield newsletter that was dropped into my inbox contained the latest 2015 State of the Pet Health Report. It’s hard for me to contain my envy of such sophisticated graphics, messaging, and audience targeting.
The Connection? The CVC San Diego Expert Lunch
I bring all of this up because I’m thinking about today’s expert lunch at the CVC San Diego. It will be a chance for fellow practice managers, practice owners and me to step back from our day-to-day work and think about small business competitiveness in this sophisticated digital and corporate age.
Though my introduction into the workforce came with red stained, dishpan hands, I believe in American small business. Small business is America’s insurance policy for a strong middle class. It’s also a vital ingredient to making sure that the size and wealth of corporations is kept in check. Provided small businesses continue to exist, Americans will always have the ability to vote with their feet and their dollars.
CVC San Diego Expert Lunch: December 4th, 2015, 12:10pm
Today I celebrate the fruit compote, the banquet napkin, the round table and this delightful way that CVC San Diego helps us exchange ideas, inspire goals and cement our resolve. Here’s to the expert lunch.