Babysitting. What Was Your 1st Job and Earning Experience
Learning to earn and form a strong work ethic is a great and life transforming habit!
Today, we are pleased to share stories from community leaders around the world, whose first job was babysitting.
What was your first job and earning experience?
Share it with Sammy. We would be delighted to feature your story and share it others to help spread and end financial illiteracy!
Are you providing your children earning opportunities?
Bobbi Olson: Budget Coach & Host of "CentsAble Chat" Podcast
"I was 9 when my obsession with Duran Duran began – too young to go to their concerts. By the time I was old enough, they’d broken up. But I had faith! One day, they were going to reunite – and when they did, I wanted to have enough money to pay for a concert ticket – I knew what the answer would be if I asked my mom for the money! So I started babysitting when I was 12 and saved every dime. I called the concert hotline every day, hoping they’d be listed…a year later, my dream came true! The date was set and I’d saved enough to buy tickets for me and my best friend, with enough left over to buy a t-shirt, program, whatever I wanted! I don’t remember how much I earned – probably between $50 and $100."
Connect with Bobbi on LinkedIn - Bobbi Olsen.
It’s a Sammyriffic way to infuse joy and knowledge in the financial literacy education process. Click. Take a listen to Lemonade Stand and wonderful lyrics like: "... discovered something new, earning money is fun to do..." Share it with a child you want to help develop a strong and positive earning ethic!
Theresa Carpenter: Leader, Storyteller, Advocate
"My first jobs were babysitting and delivering a weekly newspaper 📰 called The Booster. Rain or shine every Wednesday I had to deliver it, and each week I had to bag the papers. Then each month, I had to go door to door and ask people if they would “donate” just $1.00. It was a very interesting experience. Some were irritated I was collecting for a paper they did not order, while others gave me tips and small talk. I learned quickly by their posture at the door the interaction I was about to have. The newspaper and babysitting experience instilled in me at a very young age the importance of saving money and how empowering it was to have control of my finances."
“Looking back, the experience taught me that every child can learn how to earn money. Generating an income gives us the power to make our own choices and not be reliant on others."
"Looking back, the experience taught me that every child can learn how to earn money. Generating an income gives us the power to make our own choices and not be reliant on others. Those early jobs stressed the importance of being reliable and consistent. I also knew later in life I wanted to have a skilled trade. While I loved the children I cared for and sometimes the customers were nice, I began to see the value in self creation, meaning to create a differentiated product that adds value not only to society, but that can generate sustainable income."
Connect with Theresa on LinkedIn - Theresa Carpenter
Danielle Bautista: Marketing Associate, Graduate Student
"When I was about 14 years old, I really wanted a new desk. The one I had in my room was a hand me down from my parents and it was falling apart. At the time I decided to start looking for a new one, I was using tape to hold the desk up.
I had been babysitting for about a year by then and charged $10 an hour. The desk I had been eyeing for some time was on sale for $125.
I didn’t receive an allowance from my parents, so I calculated how many hours I’d have to babysit in order to buy the desk in cash. One day, my family and I were running errands and I asked if we could stop by Staples. My parents were a bit confused because I never asked to go into an office supply store on a whim. So we went inside, I inquired about the desk, and they had one left. My folks gave me the funniest look as the store employee pushed the unassembled desk to the front. On the way to the front of the store, my mom asked me in a hushed tone, “Danielle, how do you plan on paying for that?” I smiled and pulled out my Hello Kitty wallet that I had stuffed every hard earned dollar into. She was definitely taken aback."
Connect with Danielle on LinkedIn - Danielle Bautista.
Here are 6 celebrities and jobs they performed prior to becoming famous!
(1) Singer and The Voice Judge Gwen Stefani: Dairy Queen Custodian
(2) Movie star Brad Pitt: El Pollo Loco, Fast Food
(3) Talk show host Steve Harvey: Paper boy
(4) Movie star Dwayne Johnson "The Rock": Dishwasher
(5) Rapper, Producer Kanye West: Gap, Retail Worker
(6) Actress Eva Longoria: Wendy's, Fast Food
Jennifer Goldman: Business Transformer and Management
"I started with babysitting when I was 13. I didn’t love kids, but I did want to make money and I didn’t want to cut lawns with my brother. I don’t remember what I earned, but I know I tried to save every penny. By 16, I added a second job of working at a local pharmacy and delivering medicine to sick people. This is when I learned about income taxes and how your salary is not what you pocket."
Connect with Jennifer on LinkedIn - Jennifer Goldman.
Amy Irvine: CFP®, Owner Rooted Planning Group
"I did a lot of babysitting and worked part time at K-Mart starting at age 16. This was for extra spending money and because I really wanted a car – but I had to pay for it as my parents didn’t have the extra cash flow."
Connect with Amy on LinkedIn - Amy Irvine
Read to Kids. It's a Great and Life Transforming Habit!
Linda Lipovetsky: Client Director
"I started babysitting at 10 or 11 (crazy to think about now that my own son is 11!). I think I earned $2.50/hour, more on holidays and New Year’s Eve was always the best night to work – especially for families with multiple kids. I did this for many years, giving up most of my Saturday nights. Since I didn’t know any better at the time, I unfortunately spent it all!"
Connect with Linda on LinkedIn - Linda Lipovetsky.
Have your audience visiting and thinking about you repeatedly with a Sammy Rabbit Resource Hub! Turnkey. Co-Branding. Stories. Songs. Activities. And More.
Jamie Bosse: CFP®, Author
"I remember being really confused about money. I felt a negative association with it, but I also wanted more of it to buy the things I desired. Dr. Martin boots were all the rage when I was in middle school and I wanted a pair desperately! They cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $100 a pair, which might as well have been a million! They seemed so expensive and out of reach. I decided to figure out how to earn some money to buy a pair. I put together a babysitting ad to hand out to people in the neighborhood and families with young kids at our church. As a result, I ended up working for several families and finally earned enough for those coveted shoes."
Connect with Jamie on LinkedIn - Jamie Bosse.
Share your story and childhood money memories with Sammy Rabbit and his global audience. Receive valuable exposure. Raise awareness for financial literacy education.
Be featured in one of Sammy’s Interview Series on childhood money memories. Be a guest blogger. Have your book or enterprise highlighted.
Contact Sammy to learn more.
If you have questions, suggestions or would like learn more about Sammy Rabbit and his mission to teach kids great money habits and other important life skills, contact us!
CLICK to contact Sammy via our website contact form; or
email us at: contact@SammyRabbit.com
Enroll 1 Child, Class or School Today!
Have your audience visiting and thinking about you repeatedly with a Sammy Rabbit Resource Hub! Turnkey. Co-Branding. Stories. Songs. Activities. And More.