While I’m still basking in the thrill—but mostly tremendous relief—of turning in yet another tome of a novel, I asked my husband Joe if I could share one of his life lessons from his book From Start to Finish that released earlier this year. He said, “As long as you choose it.”

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So I chose the following lesson about always giving our best, no matter the situation.

It’s a favorite memory from our daughter Kelsey’s college experiences at Belmont University here in Nashville…

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Lesson 14
Hold the Onion

Our daughter, Kelsey, did what most college students do—she changed her major halfway through. I think it was near the beginning of her third year in college when she had learned enough to finally make an informed choice. 

After toying with one completely different path for a while, she landed back where she began, in marketing. Like her dad, and to some degree, like her grandaddy. 

But also like her dad, she was finishing her degree at a time when the world’s economic cycle was mired in a recession and when finding the right job was a real challenge for someone approaching graduation. Many of us know that when you major in marketing, you end up in areas like sales, advertising, retailing, or maybe product management. But banking?

Toward the end of college, Kelsey was waiting tables part-time at a local establishment in downtown Nashville, and she often worked the lunch shift in between classes. The restaurant was in a multi-unit building complex that included numerous businesses, one being the headquarters for a local bank. As a result, the restaurant where she worked was a convenient lunch option for many of the bank’s executives. 

As her job search continued, she read about an opening for a “concierge banker” at that nearby bank on the other end of the same building where she waited tables. After reviewing the job description, she thought it would be a good match for someone with her marketing background. Only one problem—she knew nothing about banking beyond a single finance course, and with the lack of available jobs out there, she knew competition would be stiff.

Still, she applied and managed to make it through the first two rounds of screenings, an interview or two and ultimately, the final interview where she was offered the job. The offer took her somewhat by surprise as she knew at least one other candidate with whom she was competing, and he was a finance major from her university. But when she ended up being offered the position, she couldn’t help but ask the executive VP Vickie Storm somewhat sheepishly, “But why me? I don’t really know anything about banking.”

Vickie’s response? “Yes, we’re aware you’ll need to learn more about the banking industry. But we can teach you that. What we can’t teach you is what we observed when you were waiting tables for some of us who grabbed lunch at the restaurant down the hall. The first time you served me, I ordered a salad and asked you to “Hold the onion.” From that point on, each time I came in for lunch, I never again had to tell you how I wanted my salad prepared. You remembered. We can’t teach that.” 

And that’s how Kelsey secured her first full-time job out of college. She was interviewing long before she began her job search. She just didn’t know it at the time. And that’s something I’ve learned over the years. We are continuously interviewing for future opportunities a lot more frequently than most of us recognize at the time. 

Putting your best foot forward and being your best self is a great habit to develop.

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Giving your best matters. No matter how big or small the opportunity may seem at the time.

What “small” opportunity has God put in your life that turned out to be bigger than you originally thought? What did it lead to? And have you taken the time to write down important life lessons and family history not only for you to remember, but for the encouragement of loved ones coming after you?

I’m so grateful Joe did this. From Start to Finish was certainly a labor of love—and a season of remembering how faithful God has been to us in our 40+ years together.

Love from Nashville where I’m baking Pumpkin Spice Muffins in the hope of hurrying fall along. It’s my favorite time of year.

Tammy