The Narrative
Shoe Farm
When I first thought about my job shadow, I was thinking about interviewing a teacher or a business owner. I had the intentions of job shadowing my 8th grade Algebra teacher, Mr. Rodriguez or the owner of Shoe Farm, Will. Eventually time went by and it was due in a couple of days. I knew it would take a while for Mr. Rodriguez to respond so I decided to ask Will, he said sure and to come back the next day. The day of my job shadow was August 30, 2016 at Shoe Farm in Lindsay, California.
On the way to Shoe Farm I was pretty calm, I wasn’t nervous because I have been a customer there since I was in 7th grade. When I arrived I walked in shock his hand and we instantly began the interview.
“What questions do you have for me?” Will asked.
“What training or education is required for this type of work?” was my first question that I asked him.
“It basically just takes knowing how to speak, write, and read so, like a high school education is probably the least you need”, Will responded. When he said that, I was surprised, I was expecting him to say, maybe two years of college. I continued to ask questions and found out that he barley gets any personal time, Will works seven days out of the week for 10 – 12 hours a day and hasn’t took a day off in three weeks. When is asked him how he got the idea of creating his business amazed on how he got the idea,
“How did you get started in this field?’
Ten years ago this used to be a little stand where we sold food, I realized that there wasn’t any clothing stores around here and my cousin sold clothing in New York so me and two others got the idea of building a store, since we live all around farms we decided to name it Shoe Farm and now we’re expanding, we already have this store here in Lindsay, one in Visalia, and building two more one in Porterville and one in Hayward,” Will answered. For the remaining time he had calls coming in, he didn’t really have to show me around since I had been going there for five years. Will was telling me how even though he liked what he did, he didn’t like that he didn’t have no personal time. As I was getting ready to leave he proceeded to tell me that he suggests that I should go to college so I could have days off, vacation, work 8 hours and still get paid good etc. After that I shook his hand, said thank you for his time, and walked away.
What I learned about this job is that it is very difficult. It can be a challenge keeping up with what sells, trying to make connections so you can sell clothes in your store; having to go to San Francisco to try and get Cookie merchandise or Los Angeles to get Pro Clubs and Blvd merchandise. One day business can be doing good then the economy can go bad and ruin it but, you can always expand your store but, like will said “you never know”. Although there is no guarantee in the business industry, Will currently has a Shoe Farm in Lindsay, Visalia, and is building two more in Porterville and Hayward. That’s what I liked about what he was doing, a small town business spreading throughout Tulare County and up in Northern California.
I am still interested in this job although it might not be a sure thing. The reason I am still interested even after the odds is because of the thought of expanding. From being a small town business to expanding throughout the county and state is what would motivate me to work for my goals.
On the way to Shoe Farm I was pretty calm, I wasn’t nervous because I have been a customer there since I was in 7th grade. When I arrived I walked in shock his hand and we instantly began the interview.
“What questions do you have for me?” Will asked.
“What training or education is required for this type of work?” was my first question that I asked him.
“It basically just takes knowing how to speak, write, and read so, like a high school education is probably the least you need”, Will responded. When he said that, I was surprised, I was expecting him to say, maybe two years of college. I continued to ask questions and found out that he barley gets any personal time, Will works seven days out of the week for 10 – 12 hours a day and hasn’t took a day off in three weeks. When is asked him how he got the idea of creating his business amazed on how he got the idea,
“How did you get started in this field?’
Ten years ago this used to be a little stand where we sold food, I realized that there wasn’t any clothing stores around here and my cousin sold clothing in New York so me and two others got the idea of building a store, since we live all around farms we decided to name it Shoe Farm and now we’re expanding, we already have this store here in Lindsay, one in Visalia, and building two more one in Porterville and one in Hayward,” Will answered. For the remaining time he had calls coming in, he didn’t really have to show me around since I had been going there for five years. Will was telling me how even though he liked what he did, he didn’t like that he didn’t have no personal time. As I was getting ready to leave he proceeded to tell me that he suggests that I should go to college so I could have days off, vacation, work 8 hours and still get paid good etc. After that I shook his hand, said thank you for his time, and walked away.
What I learned about this job is that it is very difficult. It can be a challenge keeping up with what sells, trying to make connections so you can sell clothes in your store; having to go to San Francisco to try and get Cookie merchandise or Los Angeles to get Pro Clubs and Blvd merchandise. One day business can be doing good then the economy can go bad and ruin it but, you can always expand your store but, like will said “you never know”. Although there is no guarantee in the business industry, Will currently has a Shoe Farm in Lindsay, Visalia, and is building two more in Porterville and Hayward. That’s what I liked about what he was doing, a small town business spreading throughout Tulare County and up in Northern California.
I am still interested in this job although it might not be a sure thing. The reason I am still interested even after the odds is because of the thought of expanding. From being a small town business to expanding throughout the county and state is what would motivate me to work for my goals.